The Town of Gallatin is seeking Town Residents that are interested in positions on the Planning Board and the Board of Assessment Review.

Please send letter of interest by January 4th to Gallatin Town Clerk- PO Box 67-Ancram, NY 12502 or email [email protected]

Planning Board Description and Duties

The Planning Board’s duties are approval of subdivision of land, site plan review & approval and granting of special permits. Refer to section 6.6, 6.7 & 6.8, of the Gallatin Zoning Law for a more in depth description of these duties & procedures .  Gallatin-Zoning-Law

A prospective member should read the Zoning Law & Subdivision Regulations Gallatin-Land-Subdivision-Regulations  to have an understanding of the laws governing these reviews and approvals. Planning Board meets once a month, on the 4th Monday of the month, 7:00pm at the Town Hall. Meetings typically run 1/2 hour to 2 hours depending on the agenda.                Planning Board members are compensated $40 per meeting. Four hours per year of continuing education are required for Planning Board members.

Board of Assessment Review (BAR) Description and Duties

The real property tax is an ad valorem tax (that is, a tax levied on the basis of value). A distinguishing characteristic of this tax is that it is not merely a mathematical calculation, but is based primarily upon expert opinion and judgment as to the value of property. In the first instance, it is the local assessor who determines the taxable value of real property. Taxpayers who feel their assessments are unequal, excessive or unlawful or that their property is misclassified, have a right to have their assessments reviewed administratively by the Board of Assessment Review, or, if necessary, by the courts. New York statues set forth the procedure to be followed by taxpayers who have a complaint about their real property assessments. The first step in the assessment review procedure is filing a timely written complaint with the board of assessment review. You, as a member of the board of assessment review, have been vested with the duty and responsibility of hearing assessment complaints in the first instance, and exercising your judgment and discretion to render an impartial, objective determination on complaints of assessments brought before you, including a statement of the reasons for the determination.

The BAR meets the forth Tuesday of May for 4 hours and reconvenes approximately 1 week later for 1-2 hours  depending on the number of cases(times to be determined by the BAR) .  There is one training session for all new board members. Compensation is $16.50/hr.