Delaware sole assessor will go to referendum

By TOM KANE

HORTONVILLE, NY — After a public hearing last Wednesday, the Delaware Town Board voted to put the measure of a sole assessor up for referendum in the fall elections.

If the measure passes in the fall, Delaware will join 80 percent of New York towns that have a sole assessor, Supervisor Bill Moran said on August 20.

The only other Sullivan County town that has part-time assessors is the Town of Neversink.

At present, Delaware has three part-time assessors: Frank Fulton, Linda Schwartz and Verl Ringgenberg.

“Times have changed and the town has to change along with the times,” Moran said.

The biggest advantage to having a sole assessor is that the assessor will be on-duty six hours a day, five days a week, he said.

“The way it is now, if a new or would-be resident comes into the office looking for an assessor, one is often not available,” Moran said.

It also means that the town clerk, Tess McBeath, has to take time out from her job and deal with the visitor, he said.

At the public hearing, two of the present assessors, Fulton and Schwartz, supported the measure.

The other assessor, Ringgenberg, objected that the measure would be taking away the right of the people to vote for the assessor.

“They’ll have the right to vote next September either for it or against it,” Moran said.