BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

CANTON – St. Lawrence County officials and a legislator signaled willingness to explore a proposal from Ogdensburg where the county would take over tax collection and foreclosure from the city.

County Attorney Steve Button discussed the proposal with the board during their Monday, Feb. 22 Finance Committee meeting.

Button said if the county were to agree to the shift, it “could have a significant bearing on the county.”

“It has implications for Real Property, implications for the Treasurer’s Office, implications for my office,” he said.

Button added that the county could also choose “it can only assume a portion of it, or assume none of it.”

He said none of those options are unusual in New York state.

“It might be wise to at least hear out what the city has to say,” the county attorney told the legislators, adding he thinks they should form a committee to further explore the proposal.

“I 100% agree if we are interested in doing this, he’s right on the mark with setting up a committee to investigate it. There’s a lot of variation as to how it will be done,” County Treasurer Renee Cole told the board.

“I think the idea of a committee is absolutely a great idea,” said Legislator Dave Forsythe, R-Lisbon. “These are things on the burner that need to be discussed and I hope we can resolve them.”