Clayton property reassessment triples taxes, say residents

CLAYTON, New York (WWNY) - Some residents in the town and village of Clayton are up in arms about a recent property reassessment. Some say it may even triple their property taxes.

This, year the town of Clayton brought in an independent company, GAR Associates, to handle the area’s property assessment. According to the company, some of the land is a lot more valuable than previously thought. That means property taxes will be going up.

“You can’t do that. That’s totally immoral. I don’t understand what happened. I don’t understand who thought this was a good idea,” said

Jonnie Muckley, Clayton property owner.

Muckley tells us the property taxes on her Grindstone Island seasonal home are expected to triple so she may consider selling it.

“Not without a huge fight, but yeah, I would have to. My problem is who am I going to find that is going to pay,” she said.

Another property owner, Charles Baum, also owns property on Grindstone Island. He’s already had to sell off parts of his property to contend with taxes.

“I got the taxes down and now I’m back to having it even higher than it was before I started selling this land. It’s almost like they want you to get rid of it,” he said.

Business owners like Matthew Turcotte are also concerned by the reassessment. He tells us he’s going to have to pay nearly $9,000 per year in extra taxes.

“It will definitely hurt our bottom line. It’s just a very unfortunate expense,” he said.

We were unable to reach the town assessor or supervisor, but the head of the board of assessment review tells us all residents are allowed to file informal and formal grievances about their property reassessment. His suggestion?

“The bottom line is: make sure the data is accurate,” said Justin Taylor.

The deadline for a formal grievance to be filed is March 24, also known as Grievance Day.

Copyright 2023 WWNY. All rights reserved.