Owasco Supervisor Merrill Badman felt “blessed relief” after the town board unanimously agreed to settle the assessment debate that has been a dark cloud in the town for two years.

On Tuesday afternoon, Badman and his councilors voted in favor of establishing an advisory committee to work with the assessor, board of assessment review and citizens who have questions or concerns about their assessments.

Badman believes that the new committee, which will consist of town board-appointed representatives from the lakeshore, agricultural and residential districts, will help Owasco move forward with other issues that need to be addressed.

“If it works, it's a non-pressure-laden method of getting satisfaction all the way around,” said Badman, who noted that the advisory committee is likely the first group of its kind in the state.

Badman conceded that he can't take credit for the idea. That distinction belongs to the OwascoNews group, an organization of more than 50 Owasco property owners that had filed a lawsuit against the town after reviewing the 2004 assessments.

The assessments, the first done in 15 years, increased many property values by a large percentage and caused outrage among those who questioned the procedures used.

“The biggest frustrations we have had was that we had no idea how the assessor came up with her methodologies,” said Nancy Taylor, chairwoman of OwascoNews.

The group formulated an idea for a watchdog advisory group of sorts that will listen to individual grievances and monitor the town board, assessor and board of assessment review.

Though the previous administration had been reluctant to deal with the issue, said Badman, a Republican who defeated Democrat John Klink in November, those currently on the board wanted to see it resolved.

Tuesday afternoon's vote to create the new committee effectively ended the county's legal problems regarding assessments, and Taylor's group has agreed to drop the lawsuit.

The new committee, which Badman believes will have six members, will go through training to ensure members are familiar with the assessment process.

It will serve a purely advisory role, having no power to change any assessments, but Badman thinks that the assessors and board of assessment review will listen closely.

“I think they will be hard-pressed not to sit and listen to that advisory group and say, ‘You know, you could be right,'” Badman said, adding that the committee will be beneficial because no one person is all-knowing.

In the future, he'd like to see a regular assessment done every three to five years. Though Badman didn't totally agree with 2004's assessments - there were, he said, some inequities - he didn't totally disagree either.

“By and large, other than a relatively short area along Rockefeller Road, (the assessor's) figures are not so far out of whack,” he added.

Taylor also looks forward to a renewed dialogue between Owasco residents and town officials. She is encouraged by the progress she and the members of the group have made and is optimistic that things will change for the better.

“We just said what is being done here is wrong, and we tried to fix it,” Taylor continued, noting that individuals will now have a body to which they can express their concerns. “With luck, the grievance system in Owasco will work again.”

Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net