HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975 FROM: Assessor
z TO: Board of Assessment Review
RE: TRANSMITTAL OF GRIEVANCE FORMS (complaints)
DATE: Juty14. 197
This is to certify that the tentative assessment roll for the
Town of 9outbald was prepared by the Office of the Town
Assessor on _ July 1. 1;9„
As of the public declaration of the tentative roll for the
tax year 1975/7 , the office of the Town Assessor has not, in
accordance with the State Laws, permitted or allowed any amendment
to the assessment roll which increases, decreases or amends assessments .
Also, as of the public date of the tentative roll , the Assessor' s
Office has acted in a custodial way in accurately keeping all
grievance or complaint forms which are transmitted in their entirety
at this time to the Board of Assessment Review.
Total number of grievance forms attached herewith - Z,
Sole Assessor
(Chairman Board of Assessors
R.P.T.S.A. - 200 - 4/72
BAR-1
FROM: Board of Assessment Review
TO: Town Assessor
RE: ORD FOR CHANGE IN ASSESSMENT ROLL
DATE: -t. `��. ;•.
The Board of Assessment Review for the Town ,
has duly met to hear complaints or grievance's on the tentative
town assessment roll for the tax year 19 Ias prescribed by law.
The Board, having duly convened, has considered each and every
complaint or grievance on the assessments for the tax year indicated,
as filed with this Board, as prescribed by law.
A majority of the Board had determined that all of the changes
indicated on the attached pages) will be made on the assessment
roll by the Town Assessor. (BAR-2 - Part II)
Total number of complaints submitted by assessor
Total number of complaints received on Grievance Day -
Total number of complaints reviewed by the Board -
Total number of recommended reductions in assessment -
Total number of- recommended increases in assessment -
Total number of grievances without a change -
i"
j NOW, THEREFORE, the Board of Assessment Review hereby orders the
assessor or board of assessors to make all changes in assessments as
determined batoard of Assessment Review on the asse ment roll
of the Town .�-C CC for the tax year 19 � , in
! conformance wi h this order.
i
' BAR-2 - Page 1 of 2 ,
FROM: Assessor
. TO: Board of Assessment Review
RE: AC OWLEDGMENT OF CHANGE TO ESSMENT ROLL ' -
DATE:
This will acknowledge order from the Board of Assessment Review
to amend (Number of) �-" sessment items in the
assessment roll in the Town of for the tax
year
This will acknowledge that the Office of the Assessor has completed
all changes as ordered by the Board of Assessment Review.
- Sole Town Assessor
hairman of th Board of
Assessors
R.P.T. S .A. - 200 - 4/72
BAR-3
FROM: and of Ass ment Review
/L j
TO: �t G4-+-0
RE: REPOR BOARD OF ASSESSMENTjREVIEW - TAX YEAR 1);r--
DATE:
9DATE: S
Attached herewith please find for public filing in your office, the
complete file covering the public hearing (s) of the Board of
Assessment Review, together with changes ordered by this Board to
the assessment roll, Assessors ' acknowledgment, etc.
The duties of the Board of Assessment Review for the grievance
riod covering the 19/- / assessment roll are completed.
Chairman Member
Member-
Me e
1
Member
R.P.T. S.A. - 200 - 4/72
Attachment: Form BAR-1, Parts I and II, Form BAR-3 , Form BAR-4
CC: Town Supervisor - with attachments
Director, Real Property Tax Service Agency - with attachments
Office of Town Assessor - with attachments
Form BAR-4
STATE OF NEW YO
COUNTY OF ) ss :
TOWN OF )
The undersigned, being duly sworn do severally depose and
say that deponents are members of the Board of Assessment Review;
that deponents have read the foregoing and know the contents thereof;
and the matters set forth are true to the best of the deponents '
knowledge.
Sworn to before me this t-4/qday
of 19
N y Public
JUDITH T. BOKEN
Notary Public, Slate of New York
No.52-0344953 Suffolk Count
Commission Expires March 30, 19,7
Chairman Member
ember F =-
Memb r
Member
R.P.T.S.A. - 200 - 4/72
BAR-2 - Page 2 of 2
ASSESSMENT R L - YEAR 19 / l
TOWN OF
Complaint Last Name
or Of Owner Property Assessment Assessment
Grievance No. On Roll Desc . From To
00 1
/ a
/`3
T .0-/
100,
R.P.T.S.A. - 500 - 4/7
BAR-2 - Part II
it
M I N U T E S
GRIEVANCE DAY
TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
July 15, 1975
PRESENT:
MRS. HENRY B. LYTLE
Peconic, New York
THEODORE J. HEUSER
Mattituck, New York
l ANTHONY DE MAULA
Mattituck, New York
ROBERT W. BROWN
East Marion, New York
ASSESSORS PRESENT:
EDWARD W. FOX
EDWIN F. FICKEISSEN
MELVILLE A. KELSEY, JR.
4
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -2- July 15, 1975
I N D E X
page
# 1. Mattituck Associates (mail) • • • • • 58
# 2. United Artist Eastern--Theatres, Inc. (mail) 60
i
# 3. Arthur W. Hahn, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,9 {
i
# 4. Annette & Laurence Geoghegan • • • • • . • • • . • • 13
# 5• Westbury Equipment Co. , Inc. (mail) • • . • 58
# 6. Westbury Equipment Co. , Inc. (mail) • • • • • • • • • 59
# 7. Arthur H. Zaenker (mail) • . • • • • • • • • • • • • 60 i
# 8. Mildred Bitses (mail) 60
# 9. John F. & Genevieve Stiles (mail) • • • • • • • • • . 59
#10. James J. & Despina Sideris (mail) • • • • • • • • 60
#11. Rose Sahm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
#12. James E. Callahan • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 47
#13. Stanley -Pylko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
#14. Arthur W. Hahn, Jr. • • • • • • • • • 9
#15. Kyrillos Charalambides • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 25
#16. Tom Levin • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 26
#17. Edward J. McGurn • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 28
#18. Dorothy K. Verderese • • • • • • • • • • • • 30
#19. Peter and Andria Pappas • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 33
#20. George & Barbara Lomaga • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 38
#21. Julian P. Zurawski • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 41
#22. Thomas Jurzenia • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 43
#23. Silvestro Morin . • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 50
#24. Corbett & Yvonne Jones • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 52
#25. 235 Mill Street, Inc. (mail) • • • • • • • • • • 59
#26. William Luhrs (mail) • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • 59
#27. Carol R. Smith • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 55
#28. Edward A. Reynolds (mail) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 60
#29. Terry S. Triades (mail) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 61
-----------
Grievance
__Grievance Day
Town of Southold -3- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Henry B. Lytle, Chairman, opened the Grievance Day
proceedings at 9:00 a.m. , July 15, 1975.
#3. Arthur W. Hahn, Jr. , 4565 Bayshore Road, Greenport,
New York. Property located on Route 25, Southold.
N - Mill Creek
E - Mill Creek
S '- Railroad - Adams
W - Lang - Adams
Land - $11,400
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Mr. Arthur Hahn, do you solemnly swear that the
information you give herein will be given accurately
and truthfully to the best of your ability?"
Mr. Hahn: I do.
Mrs. . Lytle: Mr. Hahn, would you give us your story.
Mr. Hahn: This property was originally owned by my
grandfather and was left to my father around 1949 when
my grandfather passed away. This land as I brought in
a survey of it here is virtually, I said on there half
wetlands which is really not right, it is more than
half wetlands. I understand you can't build within 300
feet of wetlands so I sketched a line across here which
virtually leaves no property at all after you figure
the wetlands and I figure the tax should be lowered
because you have absolutely no use of this wetlands.
My father has had it on the market since last fall. He
has had absolutely no offers on it. I was a real estate
salesman working for George Wetmore, a local real estate
broker, ten years ago. At that time, I had a $120,000
offer on this when we were asking $150,000. We now have
it on the market for $_135,000 which I told the brokers
is a flexible price. There are no offers and what I
have gotten from them, they said they don't know if they
can get any kind of an offer out of this. I talked to
one local broker today and he said you have to come down
considerably and I said, "What' s considerably" , and he
he says probably around $80,000 and even then it is
questionable that you can sell it. I talked to him since
I filled that out.
It was determined by the Chairlady that there are two
parcels involved here and that Mr. Hahn will have to
complete a form for each one. In addition, he failed
to include the amount which he would like his assessment
reduced to. Mr. Hahn left the room to complete the forms
and will return.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -4- July 15, 1975
#13. Stanley Pylko, Reeve Avenue, Mattituck, New York
Property located on Reeve Avenue, Mattituck
N - Presbyterian Ms
S - Lindsay
E - Marratooka Lake
W - Reeve Avenue
Land - $1,400
Land and Building - $6,800
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Mr. Pylko, do you solemnly swear that the information
you give herein will be given accurately and truth-
fully to the best of your ability?"
Mr. Pylko: Yes.
Mr. Pylko: This is an old homestead and to get reassessed
for 135% on the land and 80% on the house or an aggregate
of 95% on a house that was built fifty or sixty years
ago with no improvements being made, I think it is an
unreasonably high reassessment for what I've got.
Mrs. Lytle: The increase was on the land, wasn't it?
Mr." Pylko: No, ma' am, it' s on both. I don't know if
• there' s a mistake here. I think originally the land
was $600 and they reassessed it $800 more to make it
$1400. The house was $3,000 and they jumped it on both.
Mr. Heuser: The land is the same as last year.
Mr. Pylko: It is an old house built fifty years ago.
I don't know when that thing was built. When we bought
it, it was reassessed. We had to put shingles on it,
it was reassessed. I know there is inflation, rates
are going up but I think this is really unreasonable in
comparison to what other people have got. It far exceeds.
Mr. Heuser': I would like to state here that the last
time this property was reassed was 163.
Mr. Pylko: I couldn't do anything with the roof because
it is all constructed with shingle lath. It' s got a
cedar course underneath. There ' s no plywood sheathing.:
on any of those things. You can't get anybody to touch
it.
. Mr. Heuser: According to your form here, your land is
the same as it has been right along, $1,400.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -5- July 15, 1975
Mr. Pylko: No, a year or two ago it was $600. I
think there ' s a mistake on this form because here are
the tax bills.
Mr. Heuser: In 1974-75 the land value was $1,400,
last year, and it is still the same so your complaint
is not with the land.
Mr. Pylko: The land was $600 on the previous tax bill.
When they reassessed the house and the land at the same
time, it was $600 and $3,000 or a total of $3,600 which
I'll grant you is low. I expected an increase but 135
on land and 80% on property on the house or 95% overall,
I think the rates are going up. I wish my salary would
go up at that rate. I feel I 've been put against a
double barrel shotgun and got it both ways.
Mr. Heuser: Give us the names of some property adjacent
to yours.
Mr. Pylko: On the Main Road is Breese. The land value
is $700 and house $3,600, total $4,300. That house is
about the same, with a new roof. There isn't a building
there with shingle lath. We have Al Harker' s down the
way, $800 land and $3,600 house with a total of $4,400.
Next door is Bob Lindsay. His house was built later
than mine. He has the same property, $1,000 land and
$4,400 on the house for a total of $5,400.
Mr. Heuser: His land is assessed for $1,.000, the same
size as yours?
Mr. Pylko: Yes and the house at $5,400. He' s a thousand
less on the house. Stan Staron, his house was burned,
it was Simmerling' s old house two doors down, $900 on
land, he hasn't got as much land, $3600 on the house and
it has been done 100% over for a total of $4,500. Bird
across the street which Dolores Russell had owned, land
$600, house $3,100 for a total of $3,700. Now, you go
down Sound Avenue a little ways to Al and George Walgo
whose house is about the same vintage,. two story, land
$600, $3,100 on the house for $3,700. George $800 on
land, $3,100 for $3,900.
Mrs. Lytle: How large did you say your property was?
Mr. Pylko: I think it says a half acre there.
Mrs. Lytle: There ' s a discrepancy then because the
records show 1.6 acres. That makes a dollars and cents
difference right there.
..x:.::.m.,..:...e;.63.sac:.,n.an ...,.�• 9..._.. ._'- ._.e wfo9N'aaluYi3ua,44'.aRc:.; ..- . - ^ _ .- .,..x.l<
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -6- July 15, 1975
Mr. Fickeissen: This card says one half acre but by
the measurements you can see it' s over an acre.
Mr. Pylko: Now we go across the street 300 feet on the
Main Road Mrs. Pike which is a real lovely person, has
a lovely home. Harold Reeve redid way after my house,
I had put a coat of shingles, I can't get anybody to work
on the roof because of the shingle lath, they were made
from crating. Sargent was a plumber and put plumbing
crating into the house. Those outbuildings, there isn't
a foundation on them. There isn't a footing there. There
are locust posts that are deteriorating. They're sagged
all over. You can see through them. Mrs. Pike has two
acres, the land is assessed at $2, 300 but that house has
been done 100% inside and out, new roofs. The house is
only $4,100.
Mr. Heuser: Let' s get back to the land, first of all.
We have now established that the land valuation is not
excessive.
Mr. Pylko: I know rates have gone up but to reassess
on a house that is fifty or sixty years old with no improve-
ments in it, I just can't see where it comes in. I'm
willing to pay my share but I don't think I owe the Town
anything more than paying them what I owe them.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. Fickeissen, what percentage are we
working on this year?
Mr. Fickeissen: It' s pretty hard to pinpoint any
percentage. What we are actually doing is using 25% of
the 1965 value. Only the state has established 13.5.
Mr. Brown: What do you have down there for Mrs. Pike?
Mr. Pylko: $2,300 on the land. I am just picking
houses in the adjacent area, houses of basically the
same construction and houses that I have been in.
Mrs. Lytle: If you were to sell this house, what would
you want for it?
Mr. Pylko: I haven't the faintest idea. Here is an
appraisal when my mother died eight years ago and Stan
Sledjeski of Mil-Mat who I am sure is a reputable
person, the total land and house which is eight years
ago the total is $25,000, the house was $15,000. The
25%, the house well exceeds that quota.
Mrs. Lytle: It was appraised at $25,000 eight years
ago?
z
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -7- July 15, 1975 '
r Mr. Pylko: Yes.
Mrs. Lytle : Mr. Fickeissen has given us an approximate
guideline.
Mr. Fickeissen: I don' t want to knock down Mr. Pylko,
but an appraisal for settling an estate is an entirely
different thing. That' s altogether two different
appraisals.
Mrs. Lytle: In an estate appraisal they use the lowest
figure possible because of taxes. You had an appraisal
of $25,000 which as Mr. Fickeissen just brought out is
on the lower side for tax purposes. We are taking an
approximate 25% valuation. If I have my figures correct,
the assessed valuation of the property at the moment of
$6,800 and four times that comes to $27,200 which is
more than the assessed value eight, appraised value,
eight years ago and it must have increased a little bit
since that time.
Mr. Pylko: There isn't anybody that' s willing to sell
their property for four times what it is assessed. I'll
buy all the land that you've got in here now and I can
get a loan on it without any problem.
Mrs. Lytle: Your property technically is assessed at
* 100% of today' s market value. For ease of working,
handling records, figuring, we are taking an approxima-
tion and using the 25% figure so the 25% figure brings
it to $27,200. I am talking about today' s figures.
Mr. DeMaula: Is your house insured, sir?
Mr. Pylko : Yes, it is insured. The latest figure was
a year ago and, as I say, Mil-Mat came in and examined
the house. The current thing is insured with every-
thing for $27,000, the house plus contents.
Mr. DeMaula: It is 10% for contents.
Mr. Heuser: It also doesn't cover any indestructible
parts of the house.
Mrs. Lytle : Mr. Fickeissen, can you help us in any
way. I'm fully aware that it' s not your assessment.
Mr. Fickeissen: Was it reassessed last year or the year
before? This is two year' s old, right? You got this
notice last year.
Mr. Pylko: Right and this is the first Grievance Day
we've had since.
77
-
n
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -8- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: No, we had a Grievance Day every year.
Mr. Fickeissen: I don't think Mr. Pylko has any gripe
on his land. It is strictly on the building, is that
right?
Mr. Pylko: That' s right. I only want to make one
comment in regard to the land. The Town and, of course,
we are being run by the Town. These old deeds read to
the center of the lake. The State Conservation says no.
If you can' t do anything with it. Just because I mow
the old weeds and throw a case of paint on the house, I
cart let that go for three months and I've got a jungle.
Mrs. Lytle : Gentlemen, are there any further questions?
Mr. Heuser: Have you made any improvements on that
house since the assessed valuation has changed?
Mr. Pylko: None whatsoever. There hasn't been a
tradesman in there in forty years.
Mrs. Lytle: Have you any questions, Mr. DeMaula? Have
you, Mr. Brown? (The answer was in the negative in both
- instances. ) We cannot give you an answer today. The
law does not permit us to. We meet again and make our
decisions so you will be notified.
Mr. Pylko: This is a comparison. The house value
exceeds anyone of these which I am picking at random
and close and the same vintage house. I 'll leave this
slip with you. The house was constructed fifty or sixty
years ago about the same time all of them. All I've got
to say and we discussed the waterfront conservation depart-
ment. Everytime you take a shovelful of sand, they come
down there. I won't question the land. The garage and
outbuildings, they were made from old plumbing crating.
Mrs. Lytle: Leave that with us.
Mr. Pylko: Are you going .to check this?
Mrs. Lytle: Yes, we have another meeting and go over
all this. It will go into your file.
Mr. Pylko: The front porch has locust posts.
Mr. Heuser: To put your mind at ease I would like to
state that we will take adjacent pieces of property that
you have there. We will compare the area of the house
and everything to get the valuation.
Mr. Pylko: I don't know if you will be able to ;read
my writing but according to the house plan that they
w.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -9- July 15, 1975
have, because I checked yesterday, there is no full
cellar, they have it as a full cellar. Under the
front porch there' s a back entranceway.
Mr. Fickeissen: When we say full cellar, it' s the main
'body of the house.
Mr. Heuser: Take a look at this and Mr. Fickeissen
will show Mrs. Lytle that you're not charged for a full
cellar.
Mr. Pylko: It says hardwood floors. There isn't a
piece of oak in that thing including the door saddles.
It' s a poured foundation.
Mrs. Lytle: What kind of floors do you have?
Mr. Pylko: I have soft pine that they used years ago.
Mrs. Lytle: You still think you .would ask $27,000 for
the house even with this condition?
Mr. Pylko: Oh, I think I would, yes. They have me
down as a block foundation. It' s a poured foundation.
Years ago in order to save lumber and money, it' s an old
poured foundation. Then they took those pines off and
used them under floor joists. They've got even locust
posts in the cellar.
Mr. Heuser: That foundation isn't cinder blocks?
Mr. Pylko: No, poured. To move it you need dynamite.
Mrs. Lytle: Leave the list.
Mr. Heuser: Your case will be compared to adjacent
properties before any decision is made so if there is
merit you will get it, if there is no merit you won't
get it.
#3. (Resuming Arthur W. Hahn interview)
#14. Mrs. Lytle: One will be #3 and the second form he
filled out will be #14. Your oath has been given before.
Mr. Hahn: I will start over. This is my father' s
property and I am representing him. He was left this
property by his father on his father' s passing in 1949.
I was a real estate salesman at George Wetmore' s real
estate office in 1965.
Mrs. Lytle: You have two parcels?
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -10- July 15, 1975
• Mr. Hahn: That' s right. They are just separated by a
railroad track.
Mrs. Lytle: Are you claiming increases on both parcels?
Mr. Hahn: There have been no increases as far as I know.
What I am complaining about is this is wetlands and I
think we are paying too much taxes on it.
Mrs. Lytle: There' s nothing to be heard, is there?
You're not asking for any change.
Mr. Heuser: He' s asking for a 506 reduction on both
parcels.
Mrs. Lytle: In other words, you want it reduced from
what it was in 1962?
Mr. Heuser: In 1962 your property was valued at $700.
Mrs. Lytle: And it hasn't been increased since.
Mr. Hahn: It is now wetlands. I have no use for it.
Prior to the wetlands act as I was about to say, we were
offered $120,000 for this property when we originally
had it on for $150,000. My father refused.
Mrs. Lytle: Are you talking about the smaller piece.
Mr. Heuser: Is it the one on the water?
Mr. Hahn: They are both on the water. More than half
of it is marshland.
Mrs. Lytle: The last increase was in 1964. They have
not increased the taxes since that time.
Mr. Hahn: We are cognizant of that but, as I was saying,
he has had it on the market now since September of this
past year at $135,000 listed price with the brokers and
the brokers can't seem to get any kind of an offer and,
as I said before, I spoke to a broker this past week and
I said what price do you think we could move it at and
he said drop it to $90,000 but I think you would be very
lucky if you got $80,000. This is for the whole parcel,
both parcels I am talking about together. I put it on
as one parcel, not separated, because they need the Main
Road to enter that piece.
Mrs. Lytle: You must have it in two separate deeds.
Mr. Hahn: Yes, it is two separate deeds.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -11- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: Then it will be sold as two separate
parcels.
Mr. Hahn: It would be sold jointly together though.
It naturally is two deeds being as they are separated
by the railroad.
Mrs. Lytle: It' s 23.82 acres. In other words, you
feel it is not worth a little under $2,000 an acre?
Mr. Hahn: What I am getting at here, I have spoken to
the local brokers. None of them seem to be able to
move this parcel. There are parcels around for sale and
I don't know what they want but they don't have the wet-
land situation that this piece has. There is about half
a mile of wetlands.
Mrs. Lytle: How long has it been on the market?
Mr. Hahn: It' s been on the market since last September.
Mrs. Lytle: Have you ever tried to sell a house?
Mr. Hahn: I'm a real estate broker, I've sold many
houses.
Mrs. Lytle: It takes a long time to sell one small house
sometimes.
Mr. Hahn: If it' s at a marketable price it should move
but with a situation like this I have no idea myself and
the local brokers don' t seem to have any idea what a
marketable price is on this and it is wetlands. I feel
with this wetlands act that it has confiscated the property
from you without any compensation.
Mrs. ' Lytle: Mr. Fickeissen, if he wants this declared
wetlands isn't there a regular routine that he goes
through?
Mr. Hahn: I think it is already .wetlands. The local
brokers tell me it is wetlands.
Mr. Fickeissen: I don't know about that. I think it' s
a beautiful piece of property.
Mr. Hahn: I think it' s a beautiful piece myself but I
can't get rid of it.
Mr. DeMaula: May I make a suggestion. If you want it
to be made wetlands you go to the town and ask for a
building permit. When that' s denied, you can come to
the assessors and say, here, this cannot be built on.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -12- July 15, 1975
We have been denied by the Conservation Department and
our environmental ordinances. This land is not worthy
of the price.
Mrs. Lytle: There is a process you can go through to
have it declared wetlands.
Mr. Hahn: You can do that whether you build or not.
We don't intend building on this. My father is trying
to sell this.
Mr. DeMaula: This was a hypothetical case. We have had
this problem quite frequently in the past and this is
the only recourse that we have to tell people even though
the zoning maps designate this as wetlands we cannot
reevaluate it unless it is shown formally that it has
been rejected. Once this is done I am sure there will
be. . . . .
Mr. Hahn: In other words, you are telling me I have to
try to develop this piece of property?
Mr. Heuser: The implication was if you could get a
permit to build on that property and they said no, then
you've got your wetlands classification. You mentioned
that the minimum that you have been offered on that was
$90,000.
Mr. Hahn: I haven't been offered anything.
Mr. Heuser: This suggestion was made to you by some
broker?
Mr. Hahn: No, he said you would be lucky if you got
$80,000. He said try to drop it to $90,000 and it might
move but my estimation is that you would be lucky if you
got $80,000.
Mr. Heuser: It' s assessed at 100% value of $45,600.
That' s 100% value, not tax value. That' s only 50% of
what you are going to get. I was just trying to make
a point that if they assume that you could get $80,000,
you're assessed at 25% of, $45,000 which makes your
assessment quite low compared to what you would realize
on that property.
Mr. Hahn: From the interest I've seen in this, maybe
somebody wouldn't even offer $45.,000. How my father
• feels is that he had a $120,000 offer on this ten years
ago and now since the wetlands bit nobody is interested
at all.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -13- July 15, 1975
Mr. DeMaula: There are many people that have fallen
into that pit. Some friends of mine own property on
the water and were holding out figuring the value was
`
going.-' to go up and the environmental impact study went
through and this land now has lost value, but the only
recourse, we cannot do anything with it until you have
been rejected.
Mr. Hahn: As far as you say applying for a building
permit, we apply for a building permit here and it
could be rejected and then you say that is, rejected,
this is good. If this was going to have a house on it
it would probably be on the highest land. Applying for
a building permit at a certain point on this, I would
say if I applied for a building permit right here, I
know darn well I'd get turned down because that' s a
swamp.
Mr. DeMaula: I suggest you see Mr. Anthony Taormina,
the head of the department, and ask for a survey of your
property by their people. He' s in Stony Brook College,
Department of Environmental Conservation. He will
contact you with somebody who will either give you a
survey of this particular piece of property and give
the conservation department' s stand on it and then you
can take it from there and see us next year.
Mr. Hahn: The government has passed this thing where
they actually stop you from the use of the land but
they don't compensate you for it.
Mrs. Lytle: We have listened to all your arguments.
We are not giving you a decision now. Mr. DeMaula has
given you some advice to get further information, but
you will be formally notified of our decision. We sit
later on.
#4. Annette and Laurence Geoghegan, Shipyard Lane, East
Marion, New York. Property on Private Road on the east
side of Shipyard Lane.
N - Joseph Cherepowicz
S - Long Island .0yster Farms
E - Joseph Cherepowicz
W. - Robert Clarke
• Land - $2,200
Land and Buildings - $6,500
• Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfull to the
best of your ability?"
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -14- July 15, 1975
* Mr. and Mrs. Geoghegan: I do.
Mrs. Geoghegan: I also wish to state in the vicinity
' of the homes on the private road which we reside at not
one has been increased in assessed valuation. Also, all
of Shipyard Lane which has about twenty houses I don't
think one has been increased in assessed valuation.
Mrs. Lytle: Would you care to give us the names of one
or two of your neighbors and we will pull the cards.
Mrs. Geoghegan: One is Gregory, one is John Bohlke, one
is Reeves.
Mr. Geoghegan: Ours is still under construction.
Mrs. Geoghegan: As far as I know, in the neighborhood
there' s not one of them paying ` over $500 and we are
paying over $800 now and with the two assessments this
year we will be up to $1,000. We don't even have a
child going to school. I want to show you the flooding
conditions. We couldn't get in and we had to pull out
the front of our car which cost us $150. It is a dirt
road, we get no services from the town, there is no
lighting, no water, there ' s no nothing. We can't even
get in and out of the roads to our own property and they
are charging us $1,000. This is ridiculous. How would
you like to go in and out of that road? Would you like
to travel it and pay the taxes we are paying and have no
children?
Mrs. Lytle: Comparing it to one of your neighbors, you
have a little more land.
Mrs. .Geoghegan: Let' s deduct the $1,100 for the land
and you still get an assessed valuation of $5400 which
is more than anybody.
Mr. Geoghegan: You say we have more land?
Mrs. Lytle: Your piece of land is larger than one of
the neighbors you are comparing to so therefore that
would make a difference.
Mr. Geoghegan: What one are you comparing it to?
Mr. DeMaula: Any one of them, sir.
Mr. Geoghegan: Wait a minute. There ' s an error there
somewhere. We have them in separate and distinct lots.
Our house is built on one lot.
Mrs. Lytle: How many tax bills do you have?
$
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -15- July 15, 1975
Mr. Geoghegan: One.
Mr. DeMaula: Itis listed here as 240 feet long by
120 feet wide.
Mr. Geoghegan: That• is in error.
Mrs. Geoghegan: We are getting a new survey on it and
we are getting that changed.
Mr. Geoghegan: Our lawyer at that time was from Green-
port, Mr. McMann, and he kind of screwed things up,
excuse me.
Mrs. Lytle: The thing is if you get a new survey, you
bring your survey. . . . . . . .
Mrs. Geoghegan: But still if you deduct that one lot
which is taxed at $1,100 from $6,500 which we are paying
$5,400 for the house, garage and the one lot and that
$5,400 is more than anybody else in the area.
Mr. DeMaula: Are you contesting the land only or the
land and buildings?
w
Mr. Geoghegan: The whole thing.
Mr. Heuser: Would you mind asking Mr. Fox about the
partial valuation of the property.
Mrs. Lytle: The building is not finished, I would
assume.
Mrs. Geoghegan: We have no certificate of occupancy.
You can't live in it and we are going to be paying
$1,000 on it. That' s terrific.
Mr. Fox: No, it isn't completed as indicated by those
rates and it is a partial assessment. If it was com-
pleted the rates would be much higher.
Mr. Geoghegan: Well, I 'll tell you if you people can't
see to reduce it and equalize it with our neighbors I'm
going to see Mr. Terry and I am going to get a permit to
demolish that and then you'll have an empty lot there.
That' s the way I feel about that. My wife and I built
that house with materials donated by the New York City
Fire Department. There is a piece of every building that
was in the World' s Fair in that building and as I built
it I will tear it down.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -16- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: I have a piece of news for you. We have
a cottage that has World' s Fair wood in it. It' s not
the material or where it came from, .it' s the quality
of the building.
Mr. Geoghegan: I must have gold bricks compared to Mr.
Bohlke. He has two houses and he rents one of them out
and part of his own house. Yet he pays less taxes than
I do.
Mrs. Geoghegan: He' s in the summer rental business and
we pay more. Mr. Bohlke rents that back building now
and gets tenants all summer long. That is a completely
furnished building. We had no idea the road was going
to be in that condition. We thought it was going to be
cindered or tarred. That' s what we thought when we
bought the property.
Mrs. Lytle: May I ask who owns the road?
Mrs. Geoghegan: Mr. Cherepowich.
Mrs. Lytle: Let the buyer beware.
Mrs. Geoghegan: That' s for sure but the town doesn't
have to stick us too. I think we have a justifiable
complaint.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. Fox, do you have any comment to make
to us now?
Mr. Fox: Other than to confirm that it is partial. It
is over 1300 square feet. They have quite alot of square
footage. They have quite a large gable there. They
have quite a bit of attic room. There is much more
attic space which can be developed into living space.
Mrs. Geoghegan: But we don't use it. It hasn't been
finished. It' s not useable now. Why not tax us when
we use it?
Mr. Geoghegan: There will be an empty lot there next
year.
Mr. Heuser: Madame Chairlady, I would like to ask you
again to ask Mr. Fox to explain this valuation of
property and space there as to used or not used. The
parties contend that the upper section is not used.
Mrs. Lytle: I am under the impression that about a year
or so ago you decided or decided as part of assessing,
that when a building was in process of being constructed
after a certain period of time it was put on the* tax
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -17- July 15, 1975
rolls and taxed accordingly. Before you used to let it
run for a long period of time.
Mr.Fox: This building permit was originally issued in
1967, that' s eight years ago, and we were going there
regularly ever since. If they go over ten years we figure
that' s it, they don't intend to do any more, at least,
they hadn't so we cross off the partial and catch them
in a review because going every year for more than ten
years is sort of pointless. As far as referring to this
high gable you will all agree it takes more lumber,
material and labor to build that than a low roof type.
Mr. Geoghegan: The reason that took ten years to build
I had to go back to work out of retirement to pay the
taxes. My pension amounts to $4,000 a year as a retired
fireman.
Mrs. Geoghegan: (referring to Mr. Fox) We invite him
into the house anytime he wants to come around and notifies
us before time so we can be there to accept him and we
would be glad to show him the house that nobody can live
in.
Mrs. Lytle: I believe your husband said something
about tearing it down. Instead of tearing it down, would
you consider selling it?
Mr. Geoghegan: No.
Mrs. Geoghegan: We put our blood and our sweat in it.
Mrs. Lytle: What I mean is rather than destroying it.
Mr. Heuser: You wouldn't take $30,000?
Mr. Geoghegan: I wouldn't take $100,000. I would tear
it down.
Mrs. Geoghegan: And we would leave this place feeling
as though we weren't treated justly as an American. Why
should we be forced to sell a home. . . . . . . .
Mrs. Lytle: We're not saying you're forced to. I am
just asking the question.
Mr. Heuser: It' s a normal question that we ask.
Mrs. Lytle: If you were to sell it what you would
consider.
Mr. Geoghegan: I have no idea of the value of it or
anything else.
ti
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -18- July 15, 1975
Mr. DeMaula: Is your house insured, sir?
Mr. Geoghegan: No, no mortgage, no insurance. At the
time the building cost me around eight or nine thousand
dollars.
Mr. Heuser: In the assessors' viewpoint, what are the
improvements that justify that increase?
Mr. Geoghegan: There has been nothing done there. I
can assure you of that.
Mr. Fox: In a partial there is a great latitude of
opinion and what we do is try to keep a partial on the
low side. But then as time goes on and they are making
use of the building in its partial condition we bring
it up a little bit more to its true partial value.
Mrs. Lytle: Any other questions, gentlemen? You figure
eight or nine thousand dollars is just material?
Mr. Geoghegan: The essentials that are there.
Mrs. Lytle: Not labor, just material.
Mr. Geoghegan: That' s right. Most of it was donated
through the fire department when they demolished the
Fair.
Mr. DeMaula: Are you a veteran?
Mr. Geoghegan: No.
Mr. DeMaula: There is no heat in the house?
Mr. Geoghegan: Yes, gas baseboard. I was a plumber.
Mr. DeMaula: It shows an extension on your house.
Where is that shown?
Mr. Geoghegan: That' s right off the back.
Mrs. Geoghegan: That house is about the same size as
ours, with an extension.
Mr. DeMaula: What' s the name of these people?
Mrs. Geoghegan: Gregory.
Mr. DeMaula: Are they located in the same area?
Mrs. Geoghegan: Right down the street from us.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -19- July 15, 1975
Mr. Geoghegan: They have an attic they use for.
sleeping quarters.
(The Board held a discussion with Mr. Fox regarding
how square footage is arrived at for a one-story house
and a story and a half house. )
Mr. Heuser: The complaint seems to be complainant' s
footage is not nearly equal to the other gentleman.
Mr. DeMaula: What I am trying to get at is what is
the total square footage of this house and what is the
total square footage of this house? He was charged a
higher rate per square footage on the one and a half
than you were. You were 2.75 and he was $3.
Mr. Fox: He was charged this high rate because of the
extremely high gable and the additional value. You
don't add eggs and apples and get results. You have to
learn that this is 630 square feet 1-&a half story and
it is done on rate recognizing the fact that it is one
and a half stories. This is 384 square feet and
definitely one story. The reason I bring this out.
This man has a little bit more square feet of living
space and he has a half a story more. We compensate
for that in the rate.
Mr. DeMaula: By charging a quarter more for the one
and a half story. Now, what is the total square footage
in that man' s house?
Mr. Fox: If you want to be exact and go to square
footage it would be what is also in the half story but
we don't know what' s there so we compensate by the rate.
Mr. DeMaula: So he has 1,014 square feet and they
have. . . . . .
Mr. Fox: But, he' s got more than that because of the
extra half a story there.
Mrs. Lytle: Any questions, gentlemen?
Mr. Geoghegan: I don't know what I can add, only I'm
interested in knowing why I am the only one assessed
in that area. If his house is still in the process of
being completed, he' s getting a partial, why wasn't he
assessed? I've done no work on mine in three years and
he is working on his every day.
Mr. Heuser: How about"this extension? When was that
put on?
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -20- July 15, 1975
Mr. Geoghegan: At the time the foundation was put down,
about eight years ago. The foundation was dug by Mr.
Latham. I brought the man in and put a foundation under
the entire thing. The last part here was a fireplace.
Mr. Heuser: There was also this entire room. When was
it completed?
Mr. G@oghegan: It' s not completed.
Mr. Heuser: When was it added?
Mr. Geoghegan: About six or eight years ago .
Mrs. Lytle: Do you spend any time here during the summer?
Mrs. Geoghegan: We do.
Mr. Heuser: This is added on and this is one of the
reasons the partial rate was increased is my thinking.
Mr. Geoghegan: No, that was all done at the same time.
Mr. DeMaula: They built the square part of the house
first and then they added on the rest.
Mr. Geoghegan: It doesn' t show in the picture because
it' s the angle your men took that at.
Mrs . Lytle: We will meet at a later date and make our
decision and you will be notified. We make no decisions
today.
#11. Rose Sahm, 14 Radnor Road, Great Neck, New York.
Property located on Hill Road, Southold.
N - Hill Road
S - Jockey Creek
E - Schwarz
W - Cassar
Land - $2,800
Land and Buildings $9,900
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mrs. Lytle: This property is in your wife' s name?
Mr. Salim: Yes.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -21- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: You did not get an increase?
Mr. Sahm: No, I did not, to the best of my knowledge.
Mrs. Lytle: You would like to verbally discuss it.
You're not giving any reason.
Mr. Sahm: We might. I'll tell you why I said verbally.
I didn't know just how to fill this out. I just want
to make it clear to the board that I didn' t want to get
in a neighbor to neighbor, things like that. I live
with some wonderful people and though I feel that ours
is out of line, nevertheless, our purpose was not in
any way to hurt others. Our house was built in, I think
completed late 1968. It was close to the end of the
year as I remember. It was built by Mr. Ahlers and the
price that he gave us at the time was $24,989.29. There
were changes. For example, we were convinced by Long
Island Lighting that was one of the great ways to heat a
home. That required some insulation,on the basement walls
we used some styrofoam. We had actually neglected to
think about storm windows. That is a requirement of Long
Island Lighting because they can't give you a firm cost.
We should have had them anyway but we didn't plan on it.
Then there was a question that we had neglected to put
in a walk from around by the driveway to the side of the
house. That was an oversight. In our kitchen and dining
area we decided to have this carpet and that was an extra.
We had the ordinary appliances that one does have in a
house but we thought we should have a washer and dryer.
We have our porches recessed in more or less. We decided
that they do crack completely or possibly crack, to put
in flagstone so that actually when we got all through we
paid Mr. Ahlers somewhere around $28,700. That included
the landscaping and that included a driveway and a few
extra trees outside of those around the perimeter of the
house. The house has never been altered since that time.
There has been no construction whatsoever. At the present
time the home itself is assessed for $7,100. I do not
dispute values of land, I think they are very fair to all
parties concerned. What amazed me a little bit and, again,
I'm not mentioning names, but the same Mr. Ahlers built
three houses in that area all quite close to me. The
estimate on this particular house submitted to the Building
Department was $30,000. That house today is assessed for
$6,000. That house was built in early 169.
Mrs. Lytle : We have to know the name so we can pull the
card. What goes on here is confidential.
Mr. Heuser: No comparisons can be made unless we know
what we are looking at.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -22- July 15, 1975
' Mr. Sahm: Mr. Sacco. The builder put in an estimate
of thirty. It is assessed today for $6,000.
` Mrs. Lytle: Just the house.
Mr. DeMaula: Yes, just the house. He is not disputing
the land at all.
Mr. Sahm: I think they did a perfect job on the land.
That house is assessed for $6,000. We have another home
that was built in 1969 by the same builder, Hon. L. Barron
Hill. Now, in 1969 there was another home built by the
same builder. The builder' s estimate for that house
given to the Building Department was $52,000. That house
is assessed for $9,800. These are all by the same builder
with the same standards and whatnot. In 1973, this is
true it is four years later there' s a home built right
next to ours, Cassar, that would be west of us. The
builder' s estimate on that house was $47, 500 which is
what was submitted to the Building Department and I
submit you have that on the card. That house today is
assessed for $6,900, $200 less than mine. I repeat,' -my
purpose is not to raise anyone else' s assessment but Mrs.
Sahm and I both believe we should pay our fair share of
taxes.
Mrs. Lytle: Have you had any extensions added to your
house?
Mr. Sahm: Nothing. I offered to the Board of Assessors
that they could see my house at any time. I have no
alterations.
Mrs. Lytle: That says extensions in two places there.
Would you explain to us what you mean by extensions?
Mr. Fickeissen: That means nothing. This is an extension
on this card here. This area is nine by fourteen. This
is six by fourteen in this area here which is house.
This is open or it was open. We have not looked at this
house since 1970 and Mr. Sacco has improved it since that
time with no building permit. He did work we did not
know about. He' s closed in this but we did not know
about it.
Mrs. Lytle: What Mr. Fickeissen has just said has
nothing to do with our tax decisions. That has to do
with the assessors keeping up with assessing. They
will most likely catch up with the gentleman the next
year.
Mr. Sahm: I was down here in June at twenty minutes to
twelve. I can'tgive you the exact day. I e t to have
lunch. I returned a little bit after one anc� �1r.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -23- July 15, 1975
• Fickeissen and other members of this board who say
they were not down there to look came in Mr. Cassar' s
driveway, looked at his extension and stood and
surveyed the houses in June of 1975 and I waved to them.
Mr. Fickeissen: We were down to look at Mr. Cassar' s
extension. We did not have Mr. Sacco' s card with us.
Mr. Sahm: But you were down there?
Mr. Fickeissen: Yes.
Mrs. Lytle: If you were at Mr. Cassar' s as you said,
you had Mr. Cassar' s records with you. You did not
have Sacco' s records.
Mr. Fickeissen: I would like to set one thing straight.
Mr. Sacco is no more a friend of mine than these people
are. I never met Mr. Sacco until we were down doing the
house north or west of him this year. I never met the
man before.
Mrs. Lytle: The point of issue is that although you
were there, you were there with records on a particular
• house so that would be all that you would be aware of
at the moment.
Mr. Fickeissen: We were doing building permits.-
Mrs.
ermits.Mrs. Lytle: But now you are aware of Mr. Sacco and that
will be eventually taken care of.
Mr. Sahm: This hurts me. I was here last Friday. I
had started May 15th to inquire about my assessment. I
thought it was high. I came here as late as July 7th and
at that time the Board of Assessors had not determined
whether or not my home was going to be reduced or remain
the same.
Mrs. Lytle: You were here July 7th and they had not
determined it?
Mr. Sahm: July 7th Mrs. Sahm and I at 10:45 on a Monday
morning. . . . .
Mrs. Lytle: Are you talking about this year?
Mr. Sahm: Yes, this year, July 7th we were here. Now
• we were here on Friday which was July 14th (sic) , last
Friday. Mrs. Sahm stayed here all week. Friday morning
July 14th I stopped down here to the Board of Assessors
at 9:30. At that time I was advised the Board of
Assessors were still reviewing it or had not come to a
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -24- July 15, 1975
conclusion, but we will call you by four o'clock. I
said rather than call me I will stop down. I stopped
down here at between 3 and 3:45 and at that time I was
advised that the board felt that the assessment was in
order or that they weren't going to reduce it. I cannot
tell you the exact language but the last that I knew up
to that point. I was aware. . . . .
Mrs. Lytle: May I ask you again? This was on July 14th?
Mr. Sahm: The last time was July 14th at 3:45, I would
say.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. Fickeissen, may I ask you a question?
The gentleman said that he discussed this matter with the
assessors as to whether there would be a change on July
14th.
Mr. Fickeissen: We hadn't acted on it.
Mrs. Lytle: May I ask why?
Mr. Fickeissen: Because we hadn't gotten to it. Our
work is piled way up.
Mrs. Lytle: Correct me if I am wrong but after July lst
you cannot make any changes.
Mr. Fickeissen: We can make changes if we wish. We
have work piled up from June yet.
Mrs. Lytle: I understand legally having gone up for all
these instructions that the assessors do not make any
change after July lst.
Mr. Fickeissen: That' s true but we can recommend to you
to make a change and I would think that you most likely
would make a change.
Mrs. Lytle: But there was no object in- anybody coming
back to you after July lst. They come to this Board and
we tell them.
Mr. Fickeissen: There would be a line back to the
schoolhouse if alot of people hadn't been in here to see
the assessors.
Mrs. Lytle: He would have only been able to recommend.
t He would not have been able to make a change.
Mr. Sahm: . I was only told that information when I
mentioned it on Friday afternoon. I said I read in the
Traveler that the assessment roll was given to the Town
777777
Y,
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -25- July 15, 1975
• Clerk on June 23rd plus there was an article saying that
the Board of Assessors could not change this once they
had given it to the Town Clerk. Remember this, I made two
trips on this. I left my work. I didn't go to work on
July 7th, I stayed here. I left home on July 10th so I
would be here Friday. There was no need for me to be here.
There was nothing they could do. May I make this clear.
I am still not out to hurt anyone. Would you object if I
told this gentleman, you made me almost bring this out.
I don't want to hurt anybody.
Mr. DeMaula: Is Mr. Pierce close to you? Is his house
similar to you?
Mr. Sahm: I don't know this area really.
Mr. DeMaula: By the picture and the diagram of the house
it looks extremely similar.
Mr. Sahm: It does.
Mrs. Lytle: Any questions, gentlemen? Have you any-
thing further? (answer negative) We will meet at a
further date and we will make our decision. No decisions
are made today. We will give it careful consideration.
##15. Kyrillos Charalambides, Mattituck
i
SW corner of Lot ##79B, Captain Kidd Estates
Land - $600
Land and Buildings - $5, 300
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mr. Charalambides: Yes. There was an opening from
outside and we closed in the house. We extended the
bathroom so we could put in a tub because before it was
just a shower.
Mrs. Lytle: If you were to sell the house tomorrow
what would you want for it?
Mr. Charalambides: I wouldn't sell the house. I bought
my cemetery here. I want to stay here how long I have to
live.
r _
�.�a. -"v _ _ e•il®e.m.w.�..E.�"�c.+""....�r�c`c:a.-ta.ssuwe,.,._..s.. Y, '� ds�s�"y m 41.,...®.imr'sm,.m. - __- i..tm.4_ 4. "__
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -26- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: You have no idea what you would want for
the house at all?
Mr. Charalambides: I had a heart attack and I came out
here and I don't want to go any place. What they would
offer me, I don't know. I will stay there. There was
no insulation in the house and they told me to put in
insulation.
Mrs. Lytle: Is the house insured?
Mr. Charalambides: $30,000.
Mrs. Lytle: Your house is insured for $30,000, the
whole thing?
Mr. Charalambides: The whole thing.
Mr. DeMaula: About ten percent they figure for contents
so that would make it $27,000 the insurance company agrees
your house is worth.
Mrs. Lytle: And four times the assessed value would be
about $21,200. Is there any house near you that would be
comparable to yours?
Mr. Charalambides: Mr. James Mouris is next door to me.
You.-have Mr. Abatelli.
Mr. DeMaula: These houses are about the same size as
yours, sir, so you would feel that they would be of
comparable value with yours? We'll check the comparison
with the assessors' cards and see if theirs is in line
with yours.
Mrs. Lytle: Have you made any improvements or changes
in the house recently.
Mr. Charalambides: The only thing I put on was aluminum
siding.
Mrs. Lytle: We thank you for coming in. We have the
other house and will give it very careful consideration
and we will notify you by mail. We cannot make decisions
today,. Thank you for coming.
#16. Tom Levin, Mattituck
Lot #2, Captain Kidd Estates
Land - $3,200
Land and Buildings - $6,300
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -27- July 15, 1975
• Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mr. Levin: I do so affirm.
Mrs. Lytle: The first thing I notice here is you say
note loss of 100 feet of beach since last assessment.
To the best of my knowledge, the loss of land under
water like that does not change your assessment. I
have personal experience. My husband and I have about
an acre and a half of land under the water, but you
still have waterfront property.
Mr. Levin: The devaluation of property for any reason
is reflected in assessing, not specifically for loss or
not loss, for any reason, and that is my reason for
devaluation.
Mrs. Lytle: I notice on your form that you recently had
the property appraised, 1974, by the North Fork Bank
-
and Trust Company for $25,000.
Mr. Levin: That is what I was told.
Mrs. Lytle: And your assessment now is $6,300?
Mr. Levin: That is correct.
Mr. DeMaula: Is Carlton on one side of you and Decker
on the other?
Mr. Levin: That is correct. It does not have water and
if you do have to get up in the middle of the night. . . .
Mrs. Lytle: I think this can be described as a one-story
bunkhouse.
Mr. Levin: It is a flagstone floor in one small area of
the kitchen. It is exactly twelve feet by four feet.
Everything else is plywood floors. It is subfloors,
there is no actual flooring.
Mrs. Lytle: Does anyone else have any questions?
Mr. Brown: No, because we have the comparisons.
Mr. Levin: I have no kitchen, no kitchen appliances.
It is sitting up on two-by-fours, as you can see.
Mr. Heuser: The assessments were all made on a .Comparable
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -28- July 15, 1975
basis at the same time which is very fair in that area.
Mrs. Lytle: This was changed because of a pool.
V
Mr. Levin: I did a comparison of three properties with
no intent to be prejudiced to anyone and I arrived at
my particular conclusion which is that the Carlton
property is worth about sixty, the Becker property is
someplace between 50 and 55 and my is worth presumably
about 40. If we arrive at them being assessed at about
15% and me at 25%. I think you can check my property.
There is no interior wall. It' s a 3/8 inch plywood skin
on stilts which are not 18 inch on center but 24 to 48
inch. It' s a slab roof. It was built to be a shack so
I wouldn't have to pay alot of taxes because I can't
afford to pay taxes.
Mrs. Lytle: Did men actually come from the North Fork
Bank and look the house over and cite that amount?
Mr. Levin: I have no idea. I would be swearing to
something I don't know. They said they looked at but
how they looked at it, I don't know.
Mrs. Lytle: They looked at the outside. Did they go
inside?
Mr. Levin: They never asked me for the key. I think
the board generally should consider that the pieces of
land, every one, we are the recipients of a natural
disaster of which there is some negligence on the part
of the County. I have no longer a beach. We used to
have a beach there and there is no beach.
Mrs. Lytle: Since there are no further questions, we
will notify you at a later date of our decision and
thank you for coming.
#17. Edward J. McGurn, 451 Grove Drive, Southold.
Lots 6 - 8 incl. Reydon Shores Section H
Land $500
Land and Buildings $3,600 partial
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mrs. McGurn: Yes.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -29- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: What are the comparable houses?
Mrs. McGurn: My neighbors house, number 5. s_..
6
Mr. Heuser: The increase that you are questioning is
on the home?
Mrs. McGurn: I have had three increases, I think, in
the last four or five years, the total was $800.
Mrs. Lytle: Haven't you been gradually been adding on
to the house.
Mrs. McGurn: We just had a dormer and an extension put
on. We ripped down one extension and replaced it with
a larger one. We had the basement moved over to the other
side, changed the basement entrance, and put the dormer
on. As far as the square footage upstairs where the
dormer was put on, it was useable footage except you hit
your head so we had the dormer put on. We use it for
sleeping. It is basically a one-bedroom summer home
only. We shingled outside because the rain was coming
in.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you have the building insured?
Mrs. McGurn: Yes, my husband thought $18,000 for
replacement value. Is that Mr. Harman' s? The size of
their property is three times larger almost. Mr.
Harman' s house across the street is for sale. It is
assessed at $2600 and he wants between 40 and 45 and
he said he would take 40 or 42. I'm basing it all on
that really. They have almost 9/10 of an acre. That
36 was listed as a partial that I don't understand. I
know that we haven't done much to the inside but we
may never do it. We may keep the rafters there for years
and years. I don't understand why it is listed as a
partial. My husband insulated between the rafters.
Mrs. Lytle: You are still working on the house, it is
not actually complete?
Mrs. McGurn: I will get a C of 0 as soon as the
electrical is complete. They tell me I have to have
that inspected but he said summer residence only. We
can leave it just the way it is. We do not have to
complete it.
Mr. -DeMaula: That' s why it' s a partial assessment.
Mrs. McGurn: Yes, but what I don't understand is I had
a partial all the way along and the bulk of the work and
all the construction and everything was complete, by then.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -30- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: Have they been around to check up on it?
You were assessed in 1962 and then it was 1972, ten
years.
Mrs. McGurn: I think it was overvalued even in 1972,
it was overassessed. all the way along the line. Maybe
somebody else didn't complain. There wasn't a thing I
could see that was done to improve it. It was a mess.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you have a two-car garage?
f
Mrs.- McGurn: We have a one-car garage. My husband
closed in an office. Would you pull one more card for
me? I would like very much for you to pull Mr. Byrnes'
card. He lives around the corner from me. There has
been no updating on his picture. One of the names on the
sheet is Mr. Sanders who has $100 more than me, complete
not partial and he is waterfront right on the Bay.
Mr. Heuser: What kind of heat do you have?
Mrs. McGurn: A small space heater. It' s really for a
day like today. It is no way or' form heat. We never
come out in the winter. We're lucky to get Thanksgiving.
We couldn't even rent it at this stage.
io Mrs. Lytle: What do you think you could sell it for?
Mrs. McGurn: $18,000 or $19,000 because we paid
$13,000 for it. We put in about $4,000 to have the
dormer. My husband did some of the work himself.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you want to compare that later with
these? We will sit at a later date to make our
decision and we will notify you in writing. Thank you
for coming in.
J
#18. Dorothy K. Verderese, Cutchogue, New York
Property located on the Main Road, Cutchogue
N - Horton
E - Grathwohl
W - Slater, Verderese and McAfee
S - Main Road
Land - $2,600
Land and Buildings - $9,800
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -31- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Verderese: I do.
Mrs. Lytle: The total reduced, you have $5. a front
foot. My thought is we will have to get a legal opinion
on this.
Mrs. Verderese: I don't think mine is worth more a front
foot than anyone else' s. A long time ago in conversation
and it' s been on our minds a ear or so and then Mr. Fox
told me recently that we pay 45 more per front foot
because my husband has his office there.
Mrs. Lytle: Are you aware of what every other physician
pays? Have you compared?
Mrs. Verderese: No, I haven't checked.
Mr. Heuser: We know of other doctors on the Main Road.
It is very easy to check.
Mrs. Verderese: In a residential area.
Mrs. Lytle: Yes.
Mrs. Verderese: I don't think that' s the point.
Mrs. Lytle: The point is what the law says. I won't
commit myself. I have an opinion. I think it' s a legal
question. There' s nothing on the card to show the $5
added.
Mr. DeMdula: I am picking up the property to the east.
It is the same depth.
Mrs. Verderese: It' s Richard Grathwohl.
Mrs. Lytle asked Mr. Fickeissen to read Mrs. Verderese' s
statement on the form for the reason why she is asking
for a reduction.
Mr. Fickeissen: That' s because there' s an office. We
assess halfway between residential and business property.
It' s a combination. If they are living in the house.
Mrs. Verderese: I don' t think it makes the land more
valuable because of an office there.
Mr. Fickeissen: It is business property. In other
words for living there we are giving you a reduced rate
for the residential part of it.
Mrs. Verderese: But it' s not zoned business, it is
residential.
.n .i -
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -32- July 15, 1975
Mr. Fickeissen: That' s Verderese on the Main Street
in Cutchogue?
Mrs. Verderese: Yes.
Mrs. Lytle: No matter how it' s zoned I would think it
would be like your federal tax bit.
Mr. Fickeissen: Whether it is zoned or not, it is
nonconforming.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. Fox, please give us your opinion.
Mr. Fox: It is her belief. She is entitled to a belief
and an opinion. The tax assessors' office does recognize
and I have looked up quite a few of them since Mrs.
Verderese was here the fact that this business in the same
building which is allowed under the zoning laws to dentists
and physicians does enhance the value of the property.
Mrs. Verderese: I disagree with that.
Mr. Fox: You are entitled to your belief.
Mrs. Lytle: When we have our meeting for our decision we
can look at it.
Mr. Fox: We recognize the difficulty of zoning. We
recognize it is a combination. This is what we mark down
in our books. If the property happens to be in a zoning
that is zoned for business that is another thing. We
don't put them up what the business zoning is. We still
recognize the combination. Under appraisal procedures
and assessing procedures, we assess the property to its
best possible value.
Mrs. Lytle: But the point is you would be permitted to
so they are really getting a break.
Mr. Fox: Yes.
Mrs. Verderese: ' I think they made the zoning laws for
the convenience of the community. If we were ever to
sell our property we wouldn't get any more for it. Nine
chances out of ten we probably wouldn't sell it to a
doctor. Where would we get the doctor?
Mrs. Lytle: That we can't get involved with but your
y property is set up with an office and all that, that' s
why nine chances out of ten a doctor sells to a doctor.
That has nothing to do with what you might do in the
future. It is what is today and that is what it is
based on.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -33- July 15, 1975
Mr. Heuser: We will also weigh a few other doctors and
get a legal opinion on it.
Mrs. Verderese: Since it is residential property and
the permission was given, you would have to go back to
who wrote the zoning laws and if they thought this
property should be taxed higher.
Mrs. Lytle: We have zoning laws and we also have tax
laws. We will give it consideration and we will notify
you by mail.
Mr. Heuser: We meet next week and sit -here a day or
two reviewing every one of these cases. We spend alot
of time on it.
Mrs. Verderese: I still think if these other dentists
and doctors are charged the $5, it should be removed, if
it' s not right to charge them.
Mr. DeMaula: If they are not being charged, either they
will be or yours will be stopped.
Mrs. Verderese: But we are charged more for the size
of the house.
#19. Peter and Andria Pappas, Mattituck
Lot #99, Captain Kidd Estates
Land - $700
Land and Buildings - $6,200
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you, Andria Pappas, solemnly swear that the informa-
tion you give herein will be given accurately and truth-
.`-fully to the best of your ability?"
Mrs. Pappas: I do.
Mrs. Lytle: The property is insured for $30,000? You
paid $33,000 for it when?
Mrs. Pappas. Yes. In 1970. It was brand new when we
t bought it. You figure you don't insure the lot.
Mrs. Lytle: What do you base it on? Do you have any
particular reason why?
Mrs. Pappas: It is a brand new house, about four or
five years old. I didn't do any additions whatsoever on
the house. I just put a patio which I find out. I'm
-- --; - -
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -34- July 15, 1975
also billed for the patio. It' s an open patio, I just
put stones down. ;
Mrs. Lytle: That makes the house more valuable. Without
it you wouldn't pay as much for it if you were to buy it.
Mrs. Pappas: I built it myself. Instead of cement I
like stones. While all of a sudden do I get such a big
increase. I did not do any additions or anything. My
neighbor did the same thing and he didn't get anything
but a few hundred dollars.
Mrs. Lytle: How is her house?
Mrs. Pappas: About the same as mine and some people that
I know didn't get such a big increase.
Mrs. Lytle: Is there another house that you would want
to compare the taxes to in the area.
Mrs. Pappas: Next door to me, yes. It is lot #100. I
fix my yard, I put grass, I put flowers. The name is
spelled Markides, Achilles.
Mrs. Pappas: The way I figure everybody gets an increase,
fine, I am not against it, but a fair increase for every-
body. If my house was an old house and you would reassess
it I wouldn't complain but it is not an old house. I was
assessed before on that house and I did not add anything.
Mr. Heuser: You were increased in 1971.
Mrs. Pappas: Right.
Mr. Heuser: When did you move in?
Mrs. Pappas: In August of 1970.
Mrs. Lytle: Did you do anything to the house?
Mrs. Pappas: Nothing, I didn't do anything. That' s why
I don't understand.
Mr. Heuser: I see, you bought it in August of 1970 but
it was completed earlier in 1970.
Mrs. Pappas: I think there must be a mistake or some-
thing. I see people who got $200 increases and the same
it goes up for everybody. $1500 is alot of increase.
I am across the street from Mr. Zaenker.
Mr. DeMaula: You have no question on the tax assessment
on the land?
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -35- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Pappas: No.
Mrs. Lytle: You have a bath and a half. The other
family only has one bathroom.
Mrs. Pappas: I don't have a kitchen in the basement.
I don't have a stove, I have no cabinets. I have my
washing machine, yes, and a thing for the water but I
don't have a kitchen. I did not hide anything since the
house was built.
Mr. Kelsey: Do you have a finished basement there?
Mrs. Pappas: It was like that when I bought the house.
Mr. Kelsey: Do you have a kitchen down there?
Mrs. Pappas: No, I don't have a kitchen down there.
Mr. DeMaula: She says she just has a washing machine
down there.
Mrs. Pappas: _ That' s it, it' s my laundry.
Mr. DeMaula: A laundry doesn't constitute a kitchen.
Mrs. Pappas: It is inconvenient for me to come out from
my kitchen.
Mr. Kelsey: We only go by the square footage and the
rate times it and the land value.
Mrs. Pappas: You saw this house when you assessed me
last time and I did not do anything to it.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. Kelsey, you do not discuss it with the
taxpayer, you discuss it with us and we discuss it with
the taxpayer, that' s the law. We want to know what that
kitchen facilities means.
Mr. Kelsey: If we are wrong we will go back there again.
It would have no bearing on the assessed valuation.
Mrs. Lytle: It would not increase the valuation?
Mr. Kelsey: No.
+ Mr. Heuser: Suppose it was a finished family room.
Mr. Kelsey: We would mark that down.
Mr. Heuser: I could put a $6,000 finished family room in
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -36- July 15, 1975
my house and you wouldn't raise my assessed valuation?
Mr. Kelsey: We go by square footage. We aren't con-
cerned with the inside of the house, we're not allowed
to go in unless we're invited.
Mrs. Lytle: We wondered how you would know.
Mr. Kelsey: We probably peeked in the window.
Mrs. Lytle: We wonder how you found something that the
lady says is not here.
Mr. . Kelsey: That was put on before I was an assessor.
Mrs. Lytle: There is a one-car garage under in the back.
Would you know anything about that particular rate, that
high a rate.
Mr. Kelsey: The $3 rate means that it has a cellar and
has heat but it doesn't have a fireplace.
Mr. DeMaula: The $4.50 rate because it has half a story
over this one that is completely single story.
Mr. Kelsey: If it had a full cellar, fire place and heat,
it would be basically $3.50.
Mr. DeMaula: The additional cost in the rate per square
footage is because it is actually considered a story and
a half.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you consider that a story and a half?
Mrs. Pappas: How could it be, it is a basement. I don't
understand it either.
Mr. Heuser: I think we are coming back to what I was
asking him about the recreation room.
Mr. DeMaula: When you come in your front door in your
house, do you go up a set of stairs to your living room
and your kitchen?
Mrs. Pappas: Four steps but then I have to go down to go
to the basement.
Mr. DeMaula: When you come in your front door, you go
four steps up and down from the front door to your base-
ment.
Mrs. Pappas: Yes.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -37- July 15, 1975
' Mr. DeMaula: It' s a high ranch.
a
Mrs. Pappas: Right.
Mr. Brown: But it' s finished off?
Mrs. Pappas: No, what do you call finished off? There
is sheetrock.;'
Mr. DeMaula: Is it partitioned?
Mrs. Pappas: No, it is one large room.
Mr. DeMaula: The only partition is to the garage?
Mrs. Pappas: Right. There is a partitioned garage.
Mr. DeMaula: This is one solid room with nothing?
Mrs. Pappas: This is one big room with�'nothing, just
sheetrock.
Mr. Brown: Is there anything on the floor.
Mrs. Pappas: There is tile on the floor but it was like
that when I bought the house. I didn't add a thing to
it, just the patio outside and I didn't know I was going
to be billed for the patio, 25¢ a square foot for a patio?
If I knew it I wouldn't have made it so big. I don't like
cement and I put stone. I did that myself. I don't think
youipay any more for cement.
Mr. DeMaula: This is basically a raised ranch and this
is basically just a ranch. This whole area is just com-
pletely unfinished with sheetrock and the on the floor
and this is the way you purchased the house?
Mrs. Pappas: The same way. I did not add a thing to it.
I don't have the money. The kids play in it. I put a
ping pong table for the kids to play with. I came to Mr.
Fox the other day and told him it wasn't fair for such a
big increase.
Mr. DeMaula: It is a completely unfinished room parti-
tioned off from the garage.
s
Mrs.Pappas: It was there and it is what they are going
to see again because I did not do anything. I put car-
peting upstairs, fine. I put furniture upstairs. I
have beds and all that but I did not do anything to the
walls or anything. The floors were there, everything was
there when they assessed it.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -38- July 15, 1975
t Mr. DeMaula: The other gentleman says it doesn't matter
if there is a finished cellar there or not.
` Mr. Fickeissen: This price is based on it having a
finished cellar.
Mrs. Pappas: I don't have a kitchen or stove. He said
even if I had it it wouldn't make any difference.
Mr. Fickeissen: We can take another look at it.
Mrs. Lytle: I think we will let it go now and we will
take it up later. We meet later at a later date, we
meet on all these cases and make our decision and we
will notify you by mail and we will check through on
this. It will be a week and a half, at least, before you
will hear from us. We will send you a letter of the
decision.
#20. George and Barbara Lomaga, 71 Miriam Road, Mattituck
Property located at Mattituck
Lot #78, Captain Kidd Estates
Land - $1100
Land and Buildings- $2500
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you, George Lomaga, solemly swear that the information
you give herein will be given accurately and truthfully
to the best of your ability?"
Mr. Lomaga: I do.
Mrs. Lytle: (Mr. Lomaga presented a long list to compare
with his property) We are not going to pull and compare
with everyone. I would ask you to pick out three as the
most important ones and we will pull them.
Mrs. Lytle: If you have two . separate bills, you have to
have two forms.
Mr. Lomaga: I put them both on the bottom.
+ Mr. DeMaula: Are.::you -contesting both?
Mr. Lomaga: I am contesting both but I am primarily
interested on the one that is the garage lot. That' s the
one I'm mainly interested about.
Mr. Brown: If you are going to contest both, you will
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -39- July 15, 1975
have to make up two separate forms.
Mr. Lomaga: The problem is today is all over with. What
do I do in that case?
Mrs. Lytle: You can go outside and I will give you a
form. Cross out one of these.
Mr. Lomaga: I' d rather do it right now. The one I want
is 78 on Summit Drive. It' s primarily my garage in that
area.
Mrs. Lytle: Does this purchase price include both.
Mr. Lomaga: It is the total purchase price. I don't
have a separate purchase price on both lots. When we
bought the parcel it was just sold to me.
Mr. Heuser: Are they adjacent?
Mr. Lomaga: Yes. It' s a corner lot.
Mrs. Lytle: If you have two separate bills, we would
have to act separately on the amount of the bills because
you don't show what you want it reduced ,to separately.
Mr. Lomaga: I want both of them. The garage has stayed
essentially the same because you were around when I
bought the house and reevaluated• .it and it hasn't changed
and that' s why I was concerned about. I was reevaluated
in 1970 or 71.
Mr. Heuser: I know his property and know how it is
situated. The only way is put the two bills together.
That' s the only way you can handle it.
Mr. Lomaga: That' s what I did on my form is put them
both together.
Mr. Heuser: He gets two tax bills for some unknown
reason. I would handle it as one unit.
Mrs. Lytle: O.K. , we'll handle it as one, we just
decided. We'll make a special note on it. This is just
land with a garage on it.
Mr. Lomaga: We bought the house in 1970 and it was
re-evalued in 1970. Mr. Garelle was there and it went
up $600. The house didn't but the garage did. The
house hadn't been re-evaluated. That' s what I am con-
cerned about. My house went up and my garage went up.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -40- July 15, 1975
Mr. Heuser: The land went up $500, and the other lot
went up $200.
Mr. Lomaga: The land value. Fine, but why did my
garage go up is my concern again.
Mr. Heuser: Your garage only went up $100. The $500
is on the land which had not been reappraised since 1960,
so the garage itself only went up $100.
Mr. Lomaga: How come I have a total of going up $2100
somewhere and my garage went up more than my house.
Mr. Heuser: Your house went up $1500, $200 on land and
$1300 on buildings. That' s the first appraisal since
1961. Your garage went up $500 on land which is the
first increase since 1961 and the garage went up '$100
in three years.
Mr. Lomaga: How come I have a total of $2100 and it only
comes up now to $1900. Somewhere along the line I don't
agree with you. My garage just went up in 1970 when you
came by and I didn't do any changes.
Mr. Heuser: Your garage went up $600 in 1970.
Mr. Lomaga: Right, and now it goes up again.
Mrs. Lytle: This card of Arthur Zaenker. This is only
land. Does he have a piece of land with a house 6n it?
Mr. Lomaga: Mine has been higher since everyone else
since Mr. Hock, who owned the house previous to me, his
has been higher than anyone else in the neighborhood.
I buy the house and you come back and appraise the house
and the garage goes up again. That I can understand. I
am not complaining. Then you come and reappraise again
and I don't get appraised in proportion to everybody else
in the neighborhood but I get appraised more than anybody
else. That' s what I can't understand.
Mr. Heuser: You're in John Hock' s house? The one with
the swimming pool?
Mr. Lomaga: Yes, sir. I have been there since 1970.
'- My point is that I just felt that I was higher than any-
one else in the neighborhood. I realize in thirteen years
that things should go up in assessment but my question was
that I have been higher and I was reassessed in 1970 and
I go proportional to everyone else higher. That was just
my feelings. I haven't made any improvements, any addi-
tions. It still remains the same.
M-...
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -41- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: Your property was insured for $42,000?
Mr. Lomaga: That was 'an approximation, yes. That' s
the entire garage, everything.
Mrs. Lytle: Your total assessment would be $10,400.
Have you any idea what you would charge for this?
Mr. Lomaga: I would probably want more than I purchased
it for. I would probably ask somewhere around $50,000.
At least higher than that I know I would ask.
Ms Lytle: The point is I don't think the assessors are
even appraising it as high as you are.
Mr. Lomaga: I just checked everyone else out and I
didn't like what I saw, that' s all.
Mrs. Lytle: We will give it serious thought and pull
some more of the cards. We sit next week. I will send
you a letter.
#21. Julian P. Zurawski, 1995 Naugles Drive, Mattituck.
Property located at Mattituck
N - Harry Bach
S - Arthur Frank
E Mattituck Inlet
W - Naugles Drive
Land - $1,300
Land and Buildings - $5,500
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mrs. Lytle: Do you mean you want $550 taken off it.
You want it reduced to $550?
Mr. Zurawski: That' s right.
Mr. DeMaula: Who is to the north of you?
Mr. Zurawski: Inlet Trio. They have people living in
there. It' s 1 and 1/5 of an acre. They have on it four
bungalows and four all year round homes. The people are
living in there.
Mrs. Lytle: Give us, two names you really want to compare
with. They must be homes.
j.
Grievance Day
: Town of Southold -42- July 15, 1975
Mr. Zurawski: Inlet Trio, Bach, Robinson.
Mr. DeMaula: I would like to know the property to the
north of you because it is exactly the same.
Mr. Zurawski: It is the Harry Bach Estate. It is a
half acre like me. He' s got the same thing like me.
Another man' s name would be, that' s a porporation,
Inlet Trio.
Mrs. Lytle: Is that a home?
Mr. Zurawski: Yes, it is a home and four bungalows.
Mr. Heuser: It' s a bungalow colony, not a home.
On there are three or four bungalows and it' s all included
on that one piece of property and it wouldn' t be fair to
compare it to your one piece of property because it has
five buildings.
Mr. Zurawski: Yes and they have one and a fifth acre.
On this Inlet Trio there is a profit on that, right? I
have to compare those people that they have four bunga-
lows and all year round homes. Their taxes are $1,115.26.
My taxes are $730.25. They are paying $385.01 more taxes.
1 Mrs. Lytle: Do you have the property insured? You don't
say so on the form.
Mr. Zurawski: Yes, it is insured by a broker. He takes
care of that.
Mrs. Lytle: How much is it insured for?
Mr. Zurawski: I don't know. I pay the bill and that' s
all. I just trust the people.
Mr. Brown: Harry Bach, is that his house?
Mr. Zurawski: Yes, he had this addition put in lately,
a few years ago. He' s got a garage in front of that
house. I have an extra building. I built that building
for my son and he died and it is just standing there with
junk in it. That' s all that' s in there. It' s a small
thing there.
Mr. Brown: Is it finished off? Does it have a kitchen
or anything in it?
Mr. Zurawski: I finished almost everything but it is
still not finished. He died and we just loaded it with
furniture and it' s left like that. I am not using it.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -43- July 15, 1975
Mr. Heuser: The tax people must count it as a building.
Mr. Zurawski: I am paying on the land $100 more than
Bach. We have the same 50 - 50 and I am paying $100
more on land.
Mr. DeMaula: They both have 55 feet on the water.
The map shows 55 feet a piece.
Mr. Zurawski: The surveyor says I only have 50 feet.
Mr. DeMaula: The map shows 55 feet and 50 foot on the
road frontage.
Mr. Zurawski: The frontage on the road is easy to do
but in the back its on a slant.
Mrs. Lytle: The land is not involved. The house is
in question more, I would think.
Mr. Zurawski: I am still paying on the land more.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you want to leave us your list?
Mr. Zurawski: Here' s one more person, Robinson. She' s
got six and a fifth of an acre, right? She' s got a big
beautiful home there. My home would look like a shack.
She is paying $902.83. In other words, for that beauti-
ful place she is paying $172.58 more. It' s another half
an acre she owns. I don't know if it' s that other half
acre. She' s got 50 foot on the water. She told me her-
self that she' s got 50 foot there. She' s got a boat and
everything there.
Mr. DeMaula: She' s got an easement and a right of way
to it.
Mr. Zurawski: And she ' s only paying $13.28 taxes there
on that.
Mrs. Lytle: We'll pull the card later. We have this
other one. We'll check it all out and look at the map
and we'll decide and then write you. Give us your list. ,
#22. Thomas Jurzenia, P. 0. Box 285, Greenport.
Property located in west Greenport.
N - Long Island Railroad
S - Peconic Bay
E - A.M. Nelson
W - Silvermere Road
Land - $6,300
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -44- July 15, 1975
• Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information You give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mr. Jurzenia: I do. I should have been here five years
. ago but I didn't have the time and this happens to be a
real slack period and I was able to come up.
Mr. Heuser: They reduced your taxes in 1971 because of
a wetland decision.
Mr. Jurzenia: If they reduced the taxes on this land,
there has never been a reduction.
Mr. Heuser: We have the wrong one.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. DeMaula, what is the name of the man in
Stony Brook and also the Town Board.
Mr. DeMaula: Anthony Taormina.
Mr. Jurzenia: I've been through the hassle with all of
those guys. I am here, I could have been here sooner.
I didn't even realize I had to file a form on this. Here ' s
my argument on this thing. I am $130,000 in debt on a
piece of property I can't put a shovel to. The beach has
eroded down to nothing. I had $1100 in taxes last year.
You have farmland that' s productive. You have high ground
that' s productive. I talked to Perry Duryea, the State is
making a survey. I talked to Taormina, the State is
making a survey. I talked to another guy. and another guy
is making a survey. In the meantime, I'm either going
to have this investment that I've got because I can't
continue to pay that kind of taxes on a piece of property
that I can'.t develop. I will cite an incident to you.
Mr. Fickeissen built our motel next to it and we had a
twenty foot strip in back of the property. I'm talking
about 157 and 158. We had dumped some fill long prior
to the wetlands. Early last summer Skrezec was building
a cesspool and he dumped some fill exactly on top of the
157 fill. Two days later I've got an environmental cop_.
from Orient down there and he says who owns the property.
I said I do. He says we've got a complaint that youire
filling the wetlands. I said how can we be filling the
wetlands? It' s above the road level and it' s been there
since 1957. Two weeks later I'm being hassled by two
guys from Stony Brook on who' s filling the wetlands. No-
body is filling the wetlands. If you want to take a
boring you can see what' s been laying here and you're
welcome to do it. The stupid cops issued a citation, the
fellows in Stony Brook had enough sense to just heave it
�_r
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -45- July 15, 1975
alone. We're responsible business people. We've been
in the business for over thirty years. If you want to
give me names and addresses, just forget about it. I've
been through the whole schmear. At the last hearing with
Perry Duryea I asked him and Mr. Rich said something
about a scenic easement. A scenic easement is alright
for somebody that stole the property from his grandfather
or was donated the property by his grandfather but when
you are paying $4,000 a year in interest on a $80,000
mortgage, that' s another story. This is my case.
Either the town should buy it or the county should buy
it or it should be put in some kind of public property
because nobody is going to buy it from me with this
restriction on it. I can't do a damn thing on it. In
fact, I'm not even supposed to trespass on my own property,
because I'm walking over some types of grass. I spoke to
Albert Martocchia and Mrs. Toner who holds the mortgage
on the property and told her very frankly, this morning,
if we can' t resolve this thing one way or the other, for
the past ten years you can go back and check the tax
records, we paid the taxes. She was willing to take
back a second mortgage on the interest. In the 50' s we
could have developed that into a big marina. That was
before the environment and so on. I'm not against it.
I presented this to the people of Nature Conservancy and
they said they'd take but they have no money. In the
meantime if I was getting my own investment out of it I
wouldn't care. I'm sitting on something that' s an unusual
case. With the penalty I paid $1100 in taxes this year.
I would like you to give it consideration. Plus all the
time I'm a policeman keeping the kids off the beach and
I don't have to tell you what the beach situation is now.
Somebody has to force .the issue on the wetlands in this
community. This is my argument. They've been taking
aerial surveys, geographical surveys, etc. and everybody
you approach they say they haven't completed it yet. In
the meantime I don' t have another ten years to go on it.
I'm 61 years of age. If I want to deed this over to my
children or something like I don't want to leave them
with a responsibility they won't be able to overcome.
Mrs. Lytle: Make a copy of the tape in your words. I
would like to see a copy of the tape made, sent to
different organizations and copies to the various news-
papers and from that point on we may get some organization
to take it up. I don't know what suggestion the assessors
may have when we talk to them but, as far as any power to
to anything about the tax itself, we have no power.
Mr. Jurzenia: I don't know about power but there should
be some consideration.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -46- July 15, 1975
• Mrs. Lytle: I think it would be within our authority
to let people, somebody, know what has come to us that
we are unable to do anything about but somebody has to
some day do something about it.
Mr. Jurzenia: I was talking about ecology long before
it became a popular word. That' s why I came out here.
In the meantime, we have to give Mrs. Toner some sort
of an answer on this thing.
Mrs. Lytle: When you speak to Mrs. Toner you can tell
her what we said as a board and that' s all you know.
Mr. Jurzenia: That' s all I know but I'd like to have
some serious consideration on the reduction of our taxes.
Mr. DeMaula: Let' s get the assessor for the area. I
want to know if this is the procedure on all wetlands.
Mr. Fickeissen: This property is unique. It separates
the beach from the bay.
Mr. Jurzenia: We pay taxes on the shorefront and there
is no possibility of developing it. We have the motel
` right next to it. We are reaching a point -in competition
where we would like to put- up a few tennis courts. We
don't have the area. We would like to put in a swimming
pool. Everytime you make a move, you have to go through
40 or 50 different committees.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. Fox, we would like to ask you for a
very quick answer. What' s the general procedure on these
situations, wetlands?
Mr. Fox: Well, where he now is limited, then we have
reviews but he has never approached us.
Mrs. Lytle: What would you do?
Mr. Fox: I would reduce it but I think when he bought it,
he could do anything he wanted with it.
Mrs. Lytle: How much would you reduce it to?
Mr. Fox: Depending on the assessment that' s on it.
Mrs. Lytle: A percentage.
Mr. Fox: I'd be willing to take him down to one quarter
of what that is, in other words, seventy-five percent.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -47- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle : What you will have to do now, complainant
believes the assessment should be reduced to, that
figure you must fill in because we can't go below that
figure.
Mr. Jurzenia: As I presented this form, this has no
value, it has no resale value whatever. If I say it
should be reduced to a certain point, then I am com-
mitting myself to what I think it' s worth.
Mr. DeMaula: Mr. Fox seems to be somewhat receptive to
some type of tax relief on this. Why don't you and he
discuss this and resubmit this form to us at the end of
the day with these numbers filled in.
Mrs. Lytle: Mr. DeMaula, I think you are out of order
because the assessors have no authority to speak to the
taxpayer about it at all. I have discussed it with Mr.
Fox and we have all heard it. I asked him a question
and now it' s up to us to make our decision.
Mr. Jurzenia: I'm not hear to create an argument or
disturbance. I've been penalized for it long enough.
What I'm trying to do is get some equity. Legally we
• could prove everything. Morally what do we do?
Mrs. Lytle: We will meet at another date and make our
decision and you will be notified by mail.
#12. James E. Callahan, 91 Central Drive, Mattituck
Property located at Mattituck
Lot #91, Captain Kidd Estates
Land - $800
Land and Buildings - $6,000
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mr. Callahan: I do.
Mr. Callahan: D',would like to know how the Board of
Assessors arrived at this increase. I haven't made any
improvements on the structure of this building.
r
Mrs. Lytle asked Mr. Fox to explain the card.
Mr. Fox: This building permit was issued in 1970. The
rest was law. We couldn't raise him without doing the
whole area. Now the area has been reviewed.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -48- July 15, 1975
Mr. Heuser: And they brought you back to what you were
before.
Mrs. Lytle: You practically heard the answer.
Mr. Callahan: I feel it' s more of a friendly discussion
anyway. I feel there is a possibility of error here.
The thing that I don't understand is I paid for the
improvement on the property in 1971 and I felt at the time
that I was paying the maximum on it even though they
assessed me far more than what I paid. It' s not a thousand,
it' s $1600. You're not counting the $400 that I'm already
paying.
Mr. Heuser: In 171 they have assessed you for $5,800 and
then they cancelled that to equalize.
Mr. Callahan: No, they didn't cancel the whole thing.
They raised it $400. Now, they are coming back and hitting
me with $1,000 which is more again. This is what I am
saying. If as you say or he said that he assessed me at
that figure in '71, now he is coming back and hitting me
again. I think it' s in error, I don't think its deliberate.
I think it' s an honest mistake just the same as it was last
time.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you have anything to compare it to?
V
Mr. Callahan: As far as Captain Kidd Estates is concerned,
I think it' s the only house on the block that is like that
and to compare that. . . . . .
Mrs. Lytle: There' s nothing that is halfway comparable?
Mr. Callahan: Not exactly like that.
Mr. Heuser: The other houses don' t come up as nice as
yours.
Mr. Callahan: I'm not denying this, but. . . . . . .
Mr. Heuser: I know your house. It is alot better. The
other houses are those experimental. . . .
Mr. Callahan: I built it myself, but the thing is you
r hit me for $1,000 last time. O.K. , I questioned it and
it was reduced $600. Now, you are coming back and adding
$1200 more on and that' s the reason why in my petition I
say it is $600 out of the way. I'm not questioning the
whole thing. I understand that taxes must be raised but
I say it is raised too high. I'm not trying to nitpick or
anything like that.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -49- July 15, 1975
Mr. Heuser: There are no houses around there on that
block. It is a nice outstanding house.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you have the house insured?
Mr. Callahan: Yes, I do.
Mrs. Lytle: May I have the approximate figure?
Mr. Callahan: I believe it' s $40,000, but that' s
replaceable value. I couldn't build it for $40,000.
Mrs. Lytle: Do you have a mortgage on it?
Mr. Callahan: I never had a mortgage on it. I built the
whole thing myself.
Mrs. Lytle: I just wanted something to go by to figure
what the value of the house is.
Mrs. Lytle: Any questions, gentlemen:
Mr. Heuser: One of the reasons they raised the assessment
in 1971 is because you had done some remodeling work of
` $4,000 in 1970.
Mr. Callahan: Yes, I put a two-car garage on. At that
time they had reassessed the whole house for the extra
$1,000. In other words, they were bringing me up to I
believe you would say the 1965 standing and then when I
complained about it, they reduced and took $600 off. Now,
they are coming back and adding that money. This is what
I am saying.
Mr. Heuser: We are talking two different things. On July
20 of 19711)they increased the assessed valuation of your
property $500.
Mr. Callahan: I believe it' s $400 but you have the records,
you can tell me. O.K. , then I went up $500.
Mr. Heuser: But they did that because between 19611)and
1971, you put the garage in there for $4,000 and that was
the reason they brought you up on July 20th of 1971.
Mr. Callahan: Correct, for that $500.
Mr. Heuser: Outside of that increase for the garage, there,
was no increase on your property since 1961.
Mr. Callahan: This is correct. But the thing is now you
are coming back and I was assessed as if nothing happened
in 1971. This is my argument. In other words, 'in 1971
when this alteration was completed I was assessed more
and I came here and discussed it and it was reduced.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -50- July 15, 1975
However, that adjustment is at the 1965 rate. Now, you
are coming back and reassessing me for the entire thing
all over again. Now when you are reassessing me you are
` not taking into .account that I've already taken care of
my reassessment. I paid that. Now I 'm paying double.
I'm getting hit twice on a 1971 thing. In other words, the
addition I put in 1970, I got hit in 1971 and now I am get-
ting hit on top of it again.
Mr. Heuser: For a new reassessment value.
Mr. Callahan: Again I'm getting hit at a rate that I 've
already been paying.
Mr. Heuser: In other words, excluding the garage there
hasn't been any raise in your assessed valuation since
1962.
Mr. Callahan: In 161 the property was raised. Now we
are raising the property again and you are reassessing
the entire building again. This is my point.
Mr. Heuser: I see your point, but I also want to
emphasize the fact and this is not a decision just a
• discussion, from 1961 to 1974 you and I and alot up in
that area were able to take advantage of a nice reduced
assessment and when they reassessed the property, I would
say that 70% of the people in that area complained because
they were reassessed. For eighteen years, they hadn't
been.
Mr. Callahan: I understand this. This is perfectly
alright. I know I should be reassessed. This is part of
the entire reorganization of the Town. I agree with this
but what I do say is that you are making a mistake of
$600. That' s all I am complaining. I'm not trying to get
around something. It is point blank. It' s right there.
They made a mistake of $600, that' s all. I'm not saying
you're wrong.
Mrs. Lytle: Thank you very much, Mr. Callahan. We will
look it all over and in a week or a week and a half' s time
you will be notified by us.
x#23. Silvestro Morin, 285 Hobart Road, Southold, New York
Property located at Southold
N - Village Inn
E - Mullen
S - Price
W - Hobart Road
Land - $900
Land and Buildings - $7,700 �;
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -51- July 15, 1975
• Mrs. Lytle administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mr. Morin: I do. I can't speak English too good.
Mr. Heuser: We'll go slowly.
Mrs. Lytle: What did you do to the house.
Mr. Morin: The upstairs. I built the house last year.
Mr. DeMaula: Is it single story? Did you live in the
cellar?
Mr. Morin: No, I lived upstairs. I make a small kitchen,
that' s all.
Mr. Heuser: When was the house finished?
Mr. Morin: Last year.
Mr. Heuser: What month?
Mr. Morin: Finished last year in July. I come over here
in July.
Mr. Heuser: This looks like it was a partial appraisal.
Ed, have you got a minute? (addressed to Mr. Fickeissen)
Mrs. Lytle: Isn' t that two appraisals, one for the first
part and the other when he put the second part on?
Mr. Fickeissen: No, last year it was a shell and partial
assessment and we went back this year and finished it.
Mrs. Lytle: It says here completed in 1974.
Mr. Fickeissen: Yes, probably in the. winter.
Mr. Heuser: $40,000, is that what the house cost you?
This is what they assessed him for in 1974 when it was
being built and this is what they assessed him for in
175 when it was finished.
Mrs. Lytle: In the beginning you had part of a house,
it wasn't finished so the tax wasn't so high. You finished
the house, the tax went up and that' s it.
Mr. Morin: I figure it go too much up. I am retired, my
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -52- July 15, 1975
I've got a $600 paycheck. I am sick, too.
Mrs. Lytle: You say the house cost $40,000?
Mr. Morin: Yes.
Mrs. Lytle: On the basis of what they have assessed you,
they've only valued it at about $35,000. They haven't
taxed you as high as you think it' s worth. To get almost
the correct value of the house, we take-four and we multiply
and we take the tax figure that they give you of $7,700 and
multiply that by four and that would give you what they
think is the approximate worth of the house. You figure
your house is worth more. Do you understand?
Mr. Heuser at this point found that Mr. Morin knew some
German and attempted to explain to him using some German
words intermittently.
Mrs. Lytle: You build a big house, you get big tax. You
build a small house, small tax.
Mr. Morin: Everybody before say small tax in Southold.
Mr. Heuser: When I built my house ten years ago I paid
$420 taxes on it. Today, I am paying over $800. You
can't do a thing about it. (He reiterated his previous
explanation with intermittent German. )
Mrs. Lytle: We will write you.
#24. Corbett and Yvonne Jones, 57 Sound Road, Greenport, New York
Property located at Greenport
N - Fucillo
S - Ahassy
E - Sound Avenue
W - Sunset Lane
Land - $1,700
Land and Buildings - $8,200
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mrs. Jones: I do.
Mrs. Lytle: This is the house next door. You didn't get
an increase?
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -53- July 15, 1975
• Mrs. Jones: No, I didn't get an increase.
y
Mr. Heuser: You didn't get a raise in assessment.
Mrs. Lytle: No, it is 1970 on both of them.
Mr. Heuser: What kind of heat have you got in your home?
Mrs. Jones: Hot water.
Mr. Heuser: It would look as if you had closed in a
breezeway or something. What .do you have between your
garage and your patio.
Mrs. Jones: That' s next door. We don't have a patio.
Between the garage and the patio, we don't have anything.
I have my kitchen.
Mr. DeMaula: I see. They made the garage separate and
the kitchen is all by itself.
Mrs. Jones: We didn't make any improvements since we have
been there so this is why I can't understand why we were
assessed twice since the time we moved there, an increase
' of $1400 in assessment.
Mr. Heuser: Your neighbor was assessed in ration to you at
the same time.
Mrs. Jones: My neighbor had improvements. He built a patio.
Was he assessed twice?
Mr. Heuser: In 1962 and 1970.
Mrs. Jones: Was he assessed as much as I was?
Mr. DeMaula: The land started out the same. Then there was
a $100 discrepancy.
Mr. Heuser: The Joneses have more property than the other
people. It' s almost a quarter of an acre more than
Fucillo. You have 3/4 of an acre and that' s going to
constitute a--difference in the land.
Mrs. Jones: How about the house?
i
Mr. DeMaula: The rate of assessment is the same. They are
both being charged $3.50 a square foot. We are speaking
about the patio. You are both being charged 15¢ a square
foot on the patio.:. We are talking about the square footage
of the house.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -54- July 15, 1975
Mr. Heuser: The difference is you have more square feet
in your home than your neighbor.
Mrs. Jones: We do?
Mr. DeMaula: Yes, 310 square feet more. This is by the
assessors' records.
Mrs. Jones: How many total square feet do you have on
there?
Mr. Heuser: On yours?- .' .1448 square feet on your neighbors.
Mr. DeMaula: And 1759 on yours.
Mrs. Jones: That includes the patio and everything?
Mr. DeMaula: No, the inside of your house less your garage
and less the patio. The rate of charge per square foot is
exactly the same, $3.50 per square foot. They are charging
the exact same on the square footage for each of the houses.
It' s just that your house happens to have 300 more square
feet than the other.
Mrs. Jones: It' s actually the way the house is built
because they have more room in their house than we have.
Mrs. Lytle: It may seem that way. Sometimes it' s the way
you place furniture.
Mr. DeMaula explained the cards to Mrs. Jones and how the
square footage is arrived at.
Mrs. Jones: It' s probably the way it' s laid out because
they have as much room as I have in their house.
Mr. DeMaula: If there is a discrepancy, we definitely want
to pick it up.
Mrs. Jones: I'm wondering about the square feet here. I'm
going to have my husband check that.. They could have made
a mistake inmeasuring the square feet.
Mr. DeMaula: Generally, what they do is they take a tape
_ measure and go around the outside of the house.
Mrs. Jones: Is the rate the same in all locations?
Mr. DeMaula: Depending on the type houses.
Mr. Heuser: On the construction of the house, that' s what
affects it.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -55- July 15, 1975
Mr. DeMaula: Some people pay $5. per square foot and some
people are paying $2.75 per square foot.
Mrs. Jones: We don't get that breakdown on our tax reports.
Mr. Heuser: You get an average rate.
Mr, DeMaula: It depends on what' s in it, too, if it has
a fireplace, a full basement. This determines the rate for
the square footage of the house.
Mrs. Jones: Did the rate go up on my property since the
beginning?
Mrs. Lytle: We will meet later on and make our decision
and you will be notified by mail.
#27. Carol R. Smith, Noxon Road, Poughkeepsee, New York
Property located at Greenport
N - North Fork Bank & Trust Co.
S - Front Street
E - North Fork Bank & Trust Co.
W - Kalbacker
Land $8,400
Land and Buildings - $20,600
Mr. Brown administered the oath as follows:
"Do you solemnly swear that the information you give
herein will be given accurately and truthfully to the
best of your ability?"
Mrs. Reiter (mother of Mrs. Smith) : I do.
Mrs. Lytle: Am I correct, is this where the old post office
was?
Mrs. Reiter: It doesn't include the post office.
Mrs. Lytle: The reason I had the cards pulled was for
comparison. Sturm' s is an empty lot.
Mrs. Reiter: No, Sturm' s are those brick buildings.
Mr. Brown: Right across from the post office on the same
side.
Mrs. Reiter: Yes.
Mr. Brown: The printing place is in there now.
Mrs. Reiter: All these stores go from Front--.Street into
Adams Street and have access to the parking spaces and
e
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -56- July 15, 1975
" and these two little ones are on the mall and the only
access is from one door. We don't even have a space for
delivery or garbage disposal. Most of these properties
that. are listed are comparable mainly in location. Some
are old buildings but with much bigger properties. These
two wings are really about the highest assessed of all
buildings including Claudio' s Restaurant which has the
harbor and a big parking space, a big piece of property.
Mills Store has two acres of land on Main Street, on Front
Street. In the back by Greenport Harbor they are assessed
less. I was told because of the mall it was assessed higher.
You can see it is no advantage. You can see the proof in
the pudding that nobody is renting the stores there. They
don't want to be in there. If they were on Front Street or
Main Street there wouldn't be any problem.
Mrs. Lytle: How many stores do you actually own at the
moment?
Mrs. Reiter: There are eight little stores.
Mrs. Lytle: There are eight stores that you actually own.
I thought some of them had been sold.
Mrs. Reiter: We haven' t sold any.
Mr. Fox: May I clarify this? These two wings that she
refers to were split off of the post office and the little
mall between is also hers. None of these stores have been
sold. The split off from the post office made you think
it but none have been sold. They own the two wings.
Mr. DeMaula: fs this the same property as last year?
Mrs. Lytle: We couldn't act because she didn't have the
title.
Mrs. Reiter: Actually, we did have the title but you
didn't get the papers.
. Mrs. Lytle: I don't think there is anything more until
we sit and decide unless there is a question you want to
ask Mr. Fox now.
Mrs. Reiter: I just feel this is so over assessed
according to all the stores and businesses in Greenport.
Even the Lipman Block has four stores and eight apartments
w and about three times the size of the property and they
pay a tax of about $1700 compared to about $4,000 that we
pay. Financially, it is a hardship.
Mrs. Lytle: Have you any questions, gentlemen?
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -57- July 15, 1975
M Mr. Heuser: How many units are in your project.
Mrs. Reiter: Each wing is about 40 feet shorter than
y the Hudson and Sturm buildings and there are four stores
in each wing.
Mr. Fox: I would like to make a suggestion in reference
to her remarks of the vacant rentable properties that she
owns. I think her proper approach would be on capitalization
basis. I would recommend that. There are three ways of
determining assessment. One is by building values, one
is by market value and in businesses by capitalization.
It is earnings as compared to investment and this is what,
as the Board knows, the ,moving picture theatre up there
do. They don't bother fighting the case based on the other
two. They just put in on capitalization especially when
you have three or -four empty rentable portions. It is
not income producing and I think this is her proper approach.
That' s just a suggestion.
Mrs. Reiter: But aside from the empty stores, compared to
the other properties and the value of them and the size of
them, all business properties and access to all of them,
ou have to compare that, too. I realize if I take in
1,000 and somebody smaller could take in $100,000. Is
that what you are saying, it would be based on that?
Mr. Fox: What I am saying is based on your own property.
What your investment is, capitalization, there is a routine
form that they follow and it is based on the investment you
have in, your current expenses, your expected income,
what your potential income is and what your actual income
is. Out of all these figures they will come out with what
your reasonable taxation should be. If it is below what
you are paying, the court automatically grants it.
Mrs. Lytle: But you have to go to your lawyer and have
that handled.
Mrs. Reiter: Then based on capitalization, you have to
base all the other stores on capitalization and it would
work out the same.
Mrs. Lytle: Not necessarily so if they are doing good
business.
Mr. Heuser: I think you missed the point that Mr. Fox
made. We will put it in writing when we give you the
*� report.
Mrs. Reiter: Then you don't base it on the compared value
of other properties?
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -58- July 15, 1975
Mrs. Lytle: Yes, to a point we do.
Mr. Heuser: There is more than one factor you must keep
in mind. The one is based on assessed valuation but when
you come to the point as Mr. Fox has said where your
realization on your investment is so low because of idle
property, they may not reduce the assessed value but they
give you relief on income.
Mr. Fox: She mentioned that she had three or four vacant
rentals and based on that, this has to be approached through
the capitalization method.
Mrs. Reiter: My main complaint is that all the other
in comparison and this is my main complaint.
Mrs. Lytle: We will go over it on that basis and notify
you by mail of our decision.
##1. Mattituck Associates, c/o Cronin and Medalie, Esqs. ,
1539 Franklin Avenue, Mineola, New York 11501
Property located on Main Road, Mattituck
Item ##511121
N - Long Island Railroad
E - District 9
S - Main Road
W - Hobson, Wyche
Land - $13,700
Land and Buildings - $42,000
This is a legal case received in the mail.
Item ##368801
N - Long Island Railroad
E - Louise Wilson
S - Main Road
W - District Line
Land - $27,300
Lind and Buildings - $142,600
This is a legal case received in the mail.
##5. Westbury Equipment Co. , Inc. , 615 Old Country Road,
Westbury, New York 11590
Property located in Greenport
' N - Long Island Railroad
E - Pipes Neck Road
S - Creek
W - Gutter
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -59- July 15, 1975
Land - $3,900
Item #8122 received in the mail (marshland)
#6. Westbury Equipment Co. , Inc. , 605 Old Country Road,
Westbury, New York 11590
Property located at Greenport
N - Long Island Railroad
E - Sill
S - Creek
W - Reiter - Homan, Jr.
Land - $6,200
Item #8126 received in the mail (marshland)
#25.235 Mill Street, Inc. , c/o Koepple Sommer Lesnick &
Martone, P.C. , 220 Old Country Road, Mineola, New York 11501
Property located in Greenport Village
N - South Street
E - First Street
S - Adams Street
W - Seligson
Land - $18,900
Land and Buildings - $52,000
Item #596201 received in the mail - legal case
#26. William Luhrs, 88-05 63rd Avenue, Rego Park, New York
Property located in Mattituck
N - Weber
S - Park District
E - Map of Riley - Creek
W - Bay Avenue
Land - $12600
Land and Buildings - $6,100
Received in the mail.
#9. John F. and Genevieve Stiles, 79 Summit Drive, Mattituck
Property located in Mattituck
Lot #79, Captain Kidd Estates
Land - $800
Land and Buildings - $4,500
The Stiles complained to the assessors that the heating
system wasn't as shown on the card and asked for an
inspection in order to have the assessment reduced. Mr.
Fox and Mr. Kelsey went out the morning of July 15, 1975
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -60- July 15, 1975
and looked at the interior of the home and agreed that
it should be reduced by $300. The Board will make the
final decision when they handle the cases.
#10. James J. and Despina Sideris, Box 530, Mattituck, New York
Property located at Mattituck.
Lot #5 - Map of Lida Bartley #770
Land - $500
Land and Buildings - $3,200
Received in the mail.
#7. Arthur H. Zaenker, Box 1083, Mattituck
Property located at Mattituck
Lots #74, #75 and #76, Captain Kidd Estates
Land $1,200
Land and Buildings - $4,300
Received in the mail.
#2. United Artist Eastern Theatres, Inc. , c/o Koepple Sommer
Lesnick & Martone, P.C. , 220 Old Country Road, Mineola,
New York 11501
Property located in the Village of Greenport
N - Front Street
E - Mascony Transport & Ferry Service, Inc.
S - American Legion
W - Mascony Transport & Ferry Service, Inc.
Land $5,400
Land and Buildings - $29,600
This is a legal matter received in the mail.
#8. Mildred Bitses, Main Road, Southold
Property located in Southold
Lots #8 and #9, Northwood Estates
Land - $1,200 each
Received in the mail. It is not on the proper form and
does not show what she wishes it reduced to.
#28. Edward A. Reynolds, P. 0. Box 1074, Mattituck
Property located at Mattituck
Salt Lake Village
Received in the mail.
Grievance Day
Town of Southold -61- July 15, 1975
#29. Terry S. Triades, 2505 Soundview Avenue, Mattituck
Property located at Mattituck.
Received in the mail. No amount stated for desired
reduction.
The Chairlady declared the day closed at 9:00 p.m. as there
were no more people desiring to be heard. The Board will
meet on July 21, 1975 at 9:00 p.m. to make their decisions.
Respectfully submitted,
Muriel Brush, Secretary
ar