JOHNSTOWN — The village of St. Johnsville recently filed action in state Supreme Court against the town of Ephratah, attempting to get assessments lowered on some of its property lying within the neighboring Fulton County municipality.
The Montgomery County village on July 23 filed a notice of petition in Supreme Court in Johnstown seeking relief on watershed property and transmission lines property in Ephratah.
Attorney Norman Mastromo of Little Falls is representing St. Johnsville.
Court papers signed by St. Johnsville Mayor Charles Straney indicate the village owns 811 acres of watershed property in the town of Ephratah. The village also owns a “certain mileage” of transmission line properties within the boundries of the town.
The village on May 28 began the action seeking judicial intervention by filing two complaints seeking to “correct” its assessments.
Court papers state the village of St. Johnsville believes the current assessment of $527,433 on the transmission lines is “excessive” and wants that assessment lowered to at least $341,632. The village also notes the market value of the property is about $495,000 — a figure still below the town of Ephratah’s current assessment.
Watershed reductions being sought are more modest, the notice indicates, from $435,100 to $412,300.
In the filing, the mayor said St. Johnsville seeks four main forms of relief: corrections of the assessments to fair values, total relief on all the property indicated, “fair and equitable” relief, and cost relief for legal actions taken.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at [email protected]
