Some people get mad and simply complain.
But others get mad – and do something about it.
We put Bruce Konkoski of Norwood in the second category.
He was fuming after his property taxes went up more than $1,640 this year, despite an estimate of just $99 that he received from the town following Potsdam’s revaluation.
If he had known his taxes were going to go up so much, he said he would have protested his new property assessment. But he didn’t grieve the new property valuation, based on the $99 estimate provided by the government.
So, in addition to appearing before the town board to object to the misleading information he received, he has become the driving force behind the Potsdam Taxpayers Organization. The next meeting will be Nov. 19 in the Norwood Municipal building.
So far, the new taxpayers group has reviewed taxation in the town of Potsdam and the recent assessment review tour by county and town officials. The group hopes to become a non-profit corporation, develop standing committees for the collection of tax data, and develop a mission statement and formal charter.
Konkoski is president. Other officers are Julie Colbert, vice president; Julie Kuenzler, recording secretary; Ned Meader, treasurer; and Mike Landoll, public relations manager.
The group appears to be off to a strong start. And Konkoski’s original complaints are certainly valid. It will be interesting to see what the new organization accomplishes.
The reassessment notifications are based on the prior year’s budget and are required by state law. Hopefully, for future property revaluations in St. Lawrence County, local officials will include an additional notice that points out the estimates may be way off the mark from what actual taxes will be.
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7 comments:
I was a Town Supervisor for 12 years. I did the best I could do to control spending, but in the end after I left office the spending I tried to control won the game. Taxpayers need to get more invloved with how their money is spent, and vote the people out that fail to excercise common sense fiscal habits. It is quite obvious TODAY that we cannot trust government to spend our tax money wisely. Get Involved !!
The Only way to improve the situation is to VOTE incompetants out and get better candidates to run for office
If that means you or me we need to get off our rear ends and take action , OTHERWISE we get regression to the mean and that's what has happened
Local Goverments are clearly out of control! and respectfully , our elected officials dont always tell the truth ! is there not supposed to be a hiring freeze ? employes at St Lawrence County Highway recently signed for a Mechanics position, will it be filled in house, or from the outside ? it shoudnt be filled at all are we not supposed to be saving taxpayer dollars through attrition and retirements ? apparently not!!! I am not complaining I am informing the taxpayer call your local elected legislator and ask whats going on .
I beleive a hiring freeze would refer to adding new positions. When you fail to fill much needed positions that become vacant, it can actually cost you more in the long run. (In the case of the mechanic, the county would possibly pay high amounts to outside contractors & lose a lot of time in doing so)
Common sense needs to come from both sides!
What a joke- unless you are exceedingly wealthy one cannot enter the political scene. The most recent election (local even) were some of the most expensive ever recorded. The well oiled machines in Albany & DC don't want average citizens working for average people- so unless someone wants to finance my run for Town Office- well I will just keep doing what I am doing and voting to try to get change that never comes....
Taxpayers are not always aware as to how their tax dollars are spent. what taxpayer in st lawrence county knows that there are 6 yes 6 supervisors on the plow shift at St Lawrence County Highway, 3 supervisors per shift thats a lot of supervision ! of course each supervisor has a pickup furnished by the taxpayer, filled with taxpayer gas,to whom does one complain to about this monumental waste of taxpayer monies ? RESPECTFULLY, COMMON SENSE ISNT COMING FROM BOTH SIDES.
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