High Tax Bills Rile Conesville Residents

CONESVILLE — At last Tuesday’s regular Conesville town board meeting, Town Supervisor Bill Federice and Town Clerk Carrie Sutton reported that several residents received significantly higher property tax bills than expected.

Federice said that he received an 87% increase in property taxes and upon opening the statement, remarked, “what the hell?”

The supervisor said that the increase was due to a relevy of taxes from the Gilboa-Conesville School district. He said that he would check with the school for more information. Sutton said that three or four people called the town clerk’s office to report the same. The newspaper also received one similar call.

Resident Joanne Noone asked if any town employees received health insurance other than those on the highway crew. The supervisor said that yes, the town Code Enforcement Officer Rob Giordano does have a town health insurance policy, but that he reimburses the town for the cost fully out of his own pocket.

Town Historian Kim Young commented on the passing of former Gilboa resident and community philanthropist Nick Juried, who died earlier this month at the age of 95. She said that Juried “really valued history” and “valued these communities.”

Highway Superintendent Ward Apgar said that he posted two job postings on Zip Recruiter and hoped for a positive response. He also reported that the highway crew plowed and sanded roads eleven days in December and also worked in the shop on plow trucks doing repairs. The crew changed cutting edges on three trucks and received salt and stone deliveries. The highway team also removed downed trees and branches for a few days from heavy winds.

The supervisor gave a report from his role as chair of the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors. He discussed the $30 million broadband grant the county received in conjunction with SEEC. He said that the grant ran through NYS Empire State Development (ESD) but that he was skeptical as the agency “owe[s] us a ton of money.”

The county can submit a monthly report for reimbursement over the two year projects. The grant hopes to work with MidTel to connect about 1,000 potential customers. However, Federice said that the actual number of new customers was likely to be about 500-600. He said that under the grant terms, the county would own the broadband connections for the next ten years.

“I freely admit we don’t know how to run this stuff,” he said. Federice said that the operation would be done in conjunction with MidTel. He also added that some individuals took an “early victory lap” in announcing the grant

He also reported that the county filed the final paperwork on an Article 78 proceeding regarding its lawsuit about solar property tax valuations.

Federice said that the situation was “in the judge’s hands now.”

The supervisor said that if Schoharie County wins “we’ll make history” and that the state would have to “admit they did something unconstitutional.”

He also addressed the recent debate over 8,500 yet-to-be reconciled checks and $1.5 million in a potential overpayment for the county’s health insurance. He said that he didn’t believe anything “underhanded” happened, but instead called the situation “more of a matter of competence.”

Federice made brief comments about recent comments on Facebook, saying that he disagreed with the assertions of an unnamed resident.

He cited the discussion about the unreconciled checks and funds at a recent county Board of Supervisors meeting.

“We embarrassed some people. Good,” he said.

Federice also said that there would be a public hearing prior to the regular February meeting to discuss the future of the Conesville Light District. He expressed no opinion on what such a future should be, but said that the district could stay as-is, be absorbed, be abolished, or something else. He said that the town would like to hear public opinion.

The Town Board approved a recommendation to reappoint town board members as representatives to the Schoharie Watershed Stream Management Implementation Program.