OGDENSBURG — It started with a Facebook message post on Saturday that got shared around the Ogdensburg online community.
Jeffrey M. Skelly, owner of JMS Mechanicals Inc., shared a photo of the downtown theater he had recently purchased and said because of high property taxes he would no longer be able to work on reopening the theater.
On Sunday, the electronic message board on the theater marquee read, “PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS HIKED AGAIN.”
The marquee was later changed to, “Check Your Assessment.”
Later still, it was changed to “It’s ok to get mad, I AM.”
What Mr. Skelly was upset about was the assessment on the recently renovated Washington Elementary School.
He purchased the school in 2015 for $25,000. After seeking and getting a zoning change to turn the 27,000-square-foot building into apartments, he then spent about a year seeking grants and other funding sources before deciding to rehabilitate the property with his own resources.
The new apartments are in a section of the city that has been reassessed.
One section of the city is being revalued each year, Ogdensburg City Manager Sarah Purdy said. Property owners in that section would have recently received their notices.
Mr. Skelly said in a letter to the Journal that his assessment was out of line.
“I was recently shocked to find that the city of Ogdensburg has assessed my new apartment building at $785,000, an incredible number, making it one of the highest assessed properties in the city,” he wrote. “By comparison I am now assessed higher than the Community Bank complex on Ford Street, and McDonald’s restaurant, businesses that generate millions in revenue. There are a number of other commercial and business properties, long established in the city assessed far below my $785,000 mark.”
Now that the revaluation of this section of the city has been completed, Ms. Purdy said, the appeals process will begin.
Property owners will have four opportunities to appeal their assessments.
The meetings will be scheduled on 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 noon and June 13 from 8 a.m. to noon.
Property owners should contact the assessor, Suzanne Arquette, ahead of time to find out what kind of data they should bring to their appeal. She can be reached at 315-393-4030 or sarquette@ogdensburg.org.
Ms. Arquette was not in the office Monday.
If property owners and the assessor cannot come to an agreement on a new assessment the dispute will go to the Board of Assessment Review which will meet on June 18 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The tax bill, Mr. Skelly said, will keep him from developing property.
“In addition to remodeling the Washington School building, I also recently purchased the former Ogdensburg Cinemas building with plans to re-open it. I planned to use income from the Washington Street apartments to help defray those costs. But that will not be possible now, because the city couldn’t wait to tax the profits out of the new apartments,” he wrote.
On Monday morning, Mr. Skelly was overcome with emotion after having laid off workers from his company.
Even during the recession of 2008, he said, he had never had to lay a person off.
“It is no wonder the city continues to struggle and decline. Who can afford to live here? Who wants to invest, only to see their profits taken by the government at the first opportunity,” he wrote.
Mr. Skelly sees the revaluation as a call to action.
“I am asking all homeowners and businesses in the community who feel they are being overtaxed to step forward and be heard. They can reach out to me if they want, or go directly to City Council, the assessor of the city manager. Our voices have to be heard,” he wrote. “Please join with me in protesting our ridiculous tax burden in the city. As a businessman and Ogdensburg native, I am saddened at how they have repaid me for my efforts. I’m not going to take it laying down.