Town of Crawford
County of Orange
State of New York
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town of Crawford Town Board will hold a public hearing for the purpose of discussing the Town of Crawford Consolidation Plan on Thursday, August 15, 2024, 7:00pm at the Crawford Town Hall, 121 State Route 302, Pine Bush, New York. A copy of the Consolidation Plan may be examined on the Town of Crawford website and at the following locations: Town Clerk Bulletin Board in Town Hall, Pine Bush Post Office Bulletin Board, Thompson Ridge Post Office, and Bullville Post Office Bulletin Board.
The Town of Crawford will make every effort to assure that the hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities. Anyone requiring special assistance and/or reasonable accommodations should contact the Town Clerk.
Date: June 20, 2024
BY ORDER OF THE TOWN BOARD
TOWN OF CRAWFORD
Jessica M. Kempter, Town Clerk
CONSOLIDATION PLAN
The stated goals of the Petition for a Consolidated Town of Crawford is to establish a village with the same boundaries as the Town of Crawford in order to give the Town government greater authority, flexibility and efficiency to provide services to its residents without increasing costs by authorizing the Town government to exercise the powers of a village while continuing to operate a single government as a town. The electorate voted to establish a new village having boundaries coterminous with the Town’s boundaries and to consolidate the new village and the Town of Crawford.
The State Comptroller’s office (OSC) subsequently informed the Town’s attorney that such consolidation would create a single government and would not accomplish the goals of the petition and that incorporation of the village with coterminous boundaries alone accomplishes the goals of the petition. Therefore, having established the new village having coterminous boundaries with the Town, the goals of the petition are accomplished, and proceeding with consolidation of governments would not achieve the goals of the petition.
Since the voters approved a consolidation, the state General Municipal Law §760 requires the Town Board to prepare a consolidation plan. In order to accomplish the goals of the petition and the voters, the plan is to maintain the status quo of a village having coterminous boundaries with the Town of Crawford.
The plan, in response to each of the items set forth in General Municipal Law §760(2), is as follows:
(a) Governments. The two government entities are the Town of Crawford and Village of Crawford, which, in order to achieve the goals of the petition, shall not be consolidated.
(b) Name of Governments. Town of Crawford and Village of Crawford, to be known as the “Town of Crawford”.
(c) Rights, Duties and Obligations. The Town/Village of Crawford will be principally operated as a town. The Town of Crawford shall possess all the rights, powers, duties and obligations of a town, together with the rights and powers of a village. In the case of conflict between the rights and powers of a town and a village, the Town Board may determine which shall be applicable. If additional rights, powers or privileges are granted in the future by New York State to towns and/or villages, the Town shall have such rights and powers.
(d) Territorial Boundaries. The territorial boundaries of the entities each shall be the boundaries of the Town of Crawford.
(e) Type and/or Class. The type of the local government entities shall be a town and a village.
(f) Organization and Officials. The Town of Crawford and Village of Crawford shall remain organized as a town and shall have the same positions for officials and employees, both elected and appointed, as the Town of Crawford. The role of each elected official shall not change. Officials shall possess any additional powers of corresponding village officials, with the exception that the Town Supervisor will not possess the chief executive powers of a village mayor. If there is a conflict between the powers of a town official and corresponding village official, the Town Board shall determine which powers are applicable.
To the extent that Town officials are required to also act as Village officials, the Town Supervisor shall act as a village mayor (except the Town Supervisor shall not have the chief executive powers of a village mayor), Town Board members shall act as Village trustees, and the Town Clerk shall act as a Village clerk. There shall be no separate elections for village officials, except to the extent required, in which case the same person shall seek election for the town office and corresponding village office. There is no need for a transitional plan and the schedule for elections and appointments of officials will be retained.
(g) Costs and Savings. There will be minimal transition costs. The intention is for the government to operate more efficiently and with increased powers.
(h) Assets. The Town’s assets are set forth in its annual report, incorporated herein by reference and publicly available in the Town Clerk’s office. This plan will not affect Town or Village assets.
(i) Liabilities and Indebtedness. The Town’s liabilities and indebtedness are set forth in its annual report, incorporated herein by reference and publicly available in the Town Clerk’s office. This plan will not affect Town or Village liabilities and indebtedness.
(j) Terms of Disposition. The Town will retain its assets, liabilities and indebtedness. The Village will not have independent assets, liabilities or indebtedness.
(k) Laws, Rules and Regulations. The Town’s laws, rules, regulations, orders and the like, as may be amended from time to time, shall remain in full force and effect in the Town and Village, and shall be administered and enforced accordingly.
(l) Effective Date of Consolidation. In order to achieve the purposes and goals of the petition, there shall be no effective date of consolidation.
(m) Descriptive Summary of Plan. This Plan shall also constitute a descriptive summary of the Plan.
(n) Notice of Hearing on Plan. A public hearing on the Plan shall be held on August 15, 2024, at 7:00 PM at the Town Hall, Route 302, Pine Bush, New York 12566.
Town of Crawford County of Orange State of New York
Notice of Filing Completed Assessment Roll
Notice is hereby given that the assessment roll for the Town of Crawford, County of Orange, State of New York for the year 2024 has been completed by the undersigned Assessor and a certified copy thereof will be filed in the office of the Town Clerk, located at 121 State Route. 302, Pine Bush, New York, on the 1st day of July, 2024, where it will remain open for public inspection.
Dated July 1, 2024
Winnie Gros Assessor
The Assessor is a local government official who is obligated by New York state law to maintain assessment at a uniform percentage of the market value each year. In order to maintain a uniform roll, each year your assessor will need to analyze all of the properties in the municipality; which may include ongoing physical inspections and also taking exterior pictures of parcels. The assessor also reviews every transfer of real property for accuracy.
The assessor also performs many other administrative functions, such as approving and maintaining property tax exemptions. Among the most common are the Senior Citizen STAR, Veteran, Agricultural, Non-Profit and Business exemptions. All exemptions are due in our office by March 1st. You may call our office directly for information and requirements. All subdivisions and lot-line changes are completed by the assessor.
The assessor is continually communicating with the public, answering questions and dealing with concerns raised by taxpayers.
Did you recently purchase a home? Is it your primary residence? Is your adjusted gross income less than $500,000? If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may be eligible for a Basic STAR credit. If you will be 65 years old by December 31, 2024, and your 2022 adjusted gross income is less than $93,200, you may be eligible for the Enhanced STAR credit.
Call: (518) 457-2036 or Visit: https://www.tax.ny.gov/star/
Be Aware of Property Tax Appeal Company’s which are doing mass mailings trying to get homeowners to sign up to review your property assessment. These companies will charge a fee if you receive any reduction. In the fine print there is also a $75 fee for an appraisal and a $30 court filing fee. Sometimes a penalty fee is also added if you decide to withdraw your case. Please contact the Assessor’s Office before you sign anything. Another unnecessary expense are companies offering to get you a copy of your deed. Again, contact the Assessor’s office and we will advise you how to do that. 845-744-3721.
March 1st- Taxable Status Date – Deadline to Apply for ALL Exemptions May 1st- Tentative Roll is Filed July 1st- Final Roll is Filed 4th Tuesday in May- Grievance Day
2024 Final Assessment Roll: Download Link
RP305 - Agricultural Exemption RP305r - Agricultural Exemption Renewal RP425e - Enhanced STAR application -1st time (applies to School Tax Only) RP458 A - Alternative Veterans Exemption RP467 - Senior Citizen application – 1st time (applies to County/Town//School) RP467 rnw - Senior Citizen Renewal application (applies to County/Town//School) RP485B - Commercial/Business/Industrial partial Tax Exemption RP524 - Complaint on Real Property Assessment (Grievance Application)