By JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – City residents who are unhappy with their assessments will have a chance to meet with the assessor for potential reductions.

The tentative roll was completed recently and was put on the city's website on Monday, May 13.

Anyone interested in seeing his or her assessment can do so by visiting Ogdensburg.org.

Grievance day is Tuesday, June 18 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Informal hearings to meet with the assessor and discuss the assessments beforehand will be held May 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., June 4 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., June 8 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and June 13 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Call the assessor's office at 315-393-4030 for more information and to ensure you have any documentation you may need.

This year, and in recent years, the city has been criticized for its methodology in how assessments are handled. Under former assessor Bruce Green, the city began assessing neighborhoods on a rotating basis. Some properties are also individually targeted for hikes following sales or improvements, even if they are not with the neighborhood undergoing revaluation in a given year.

In 2016 residents called for changes to how assessments were performed with hopes of reducing such volatile increases in a single year. That year, assessments were hiked by a total $2.5 million across 165 properties.

Several residents at the time asked the city to place a cap on how high assessments could be raised in a given year. They suggested increases over certain percentages be phased in gradually, so that residents aren’t hit with volatile jumps in their tax bills.

At that time, City Attorney Andrew Silver the city’s hands were tied until next year.

However, no such system was implemented.

Now, 2019 Ogdensburg Chamber of Commerce Business of the Quarter recipient Jeffrey M. Skelly has been vocal about a major hike in his newly renovated apartment complex. The assessment rose from $80,000 to $785,000 in a single year.

He has called on city residents to attend Monday’s city council meeting to speak their mind about the way assessments are being handled.