By Matthew Avitabile
CONESVILLE — The Conesville Town Board had a light agenda during their regular monthly board meeting this Tuesday evening before a sparse crowd. Much of the discussion centered around covering the cost of property tax exemptions provided to local residents.
The reports were relatively brief. Town Assessor Marie Stuber said in a written statement that she mailed exemption renewals on Dec. 1. Residents must mail back information by Mar. 1 to continue their renewals. Town Clerk Carrie Sutton said that there was one death certificate issued. Town Tax Collector Laurel Mattice said in a written report that she attended the Schoharie County meeting of tax collectors and is preparing to send out tax bills. The sewer plan flow meter flume was cleaned according to Chief Operator Travis Castle in a written report.
Conesville Highway Superintendent Ward Apgar said that the town crew replaced the culvert at the intersection of Shale Pit and Upper Horseshoe Roads. The crew also regraded Ackerly, Hughes, and Horseshoe Roads. The crew did well in responding to the first significant snowfall of the year around Nov. 22.
Supervisor Bill Federice gave a report regarding his service as Schoharie County Board chair. He said that Schoharie County is revisiting the “forced assessment process” for renewable energy projects with the state.
“We didn’t like it but we hired an attorney that was really good at this stuff.” The county and all 16 towns sued the state.
“We didn’t think we had a chance,” said Federice.
The state was represented by the Office of the Attorney General. While the AG’s office attempted to have the case dismissed quickly, the judge found that the county and towns had standing.
Revised renewable energy assessments, which Federice said would more accurately reflect value, could be worth “millions to towns in the county.” A project in Greenville in Greene County is worth about $10 million alone.
“We really have some good grounds here.”
The judge is expected to issue a judgment in the next 80 days or so.
“It’s only fair,” said Federice.
Federice also reported on the announced $30 million broadband grant for “last mile” services. The county is working with the Middleburgh Telephone Company on 298 miles of fiber, which will be both buried and on poles.
Federice expressed caution, however, saying that it was “not a 100% done deal.”
The program is reimbursable but Federice reminded the audience of the Schoharie County Streambank Project, which the county is still processing after about a decade.
The supervisor also said that he was “pleasantly surprised” by a visit from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer this week. We have an article about the event in this week’s edition. The money will assist Schoharie and the Schoharie Fire Department.
“I have a new best friend,” he said.
Much of the discussion during the meeting centered around agricultural and forestry tax exemptions. Supervisor Federice said that a Conesville resident brought up the topic recently and that members of the town board met with the individual to discuss the concerns. The resident had originally stated that there were $30 million in local exemptions that cost him personally $3,000 more in property taxes. He also said that this could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars of new tax revenue for the town, which could give it a large surplus.
However, Federice said that the original estimates by the resident were incorrect. He said that the $3,000 figure had been “corrected” and that the true exemption value was about $5 million, or less than 3% of the final total property value in Conesville.
Federice called the exemptions an “unfunded mandate.”
“Good luck going to the state,” he said.
The supervisor said that the resident focused on whether or not all exemptions should be reimbursed by the state. This included tax exemptions for age, the disabled, and veterans. The resident asked the town to lobby Albany. Federice said that he spoke to the attorney for the New York Association of Towns, who said that there was “not a lot of interest” of reform at the state.
“Fact of the matter is that the [New York State] Comptroller’s Office says we’re on the way of being broke,” referring to state finances.
Federice asked whether the state would give up millions of dollars in tax revenue annually to reimburse towns for the value of the exemptions. Furthermore, the resident requested that the value of previous years’ exemptions also be clawed back.
Federice said that action would be unlikely because it had to be done by the state legislature. He argued that a state legislator “from Queens, New York” was unlikely to want to “pick up the tab for Conesville.”
The resident was enthusiastic, Federice said. “I’ll give him that.”
The board met with the resident but no specific detail was given. The supervisor added that he did not like a Facebook post from the resident claiming that the “Town Board doesn’t do anything,” in Federice’s paraphrasing.
The supervisor said that “someone forgot” that the Town has received more than $10 million in grants.
“I take umbrage at that,” he said. Federice called it a “keyboard coward’s way.”
“People believe it,” he added
“Some things just cannot be done. Such as this idea,” Federice said.
The supervisor said that the resident was welcome to proceed but that he would not.
Federice said that he didn’t mind paying a little extra in taxes for veterans and the disabled.
Town Councilman Carl Fancher said that even if the exemption reimbursement occurred, the “taxes come from somewhere.”
The town planned its organizational meeting for Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7 pm. All are invited.
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