Foil: Your right to Know.
“After decades as a statewide leader in tax assessment, Scott Shedler announced Friday he is retiring from the town-appointed position.
Shedler has worked for Ramapo for more than two decades ‒ interrupted by a year’s stint from June 2016 to September 2017 as Clarkstown’s assessor.
During his career, Shedler set benchmarks with policies and programs serving taxpayers and trying to help them understand the complicated process of valuing properties and obtaining tax exemptions. He received state recognition for a program that helped residents check and challenge their assessments. He also oversaw STAR recipients to verify their eligibility for the state tax exemption.
Shedler received praise and scorn at times for investigating requests for nonprofit status exemptions from houses of worship and other groups. He has denied exemptions to properties found in violation of zoning and safety codes — often leading to court fights.
“I was given a great opportunity to share my knowledge and expertise with people,” Shedler said Friday. “While I will no longer be working as a full-time employee for the Town of Ramapo, I look forward to continuing my work as a consultant, being on call to help whenever the situation calls for my specific skillset.”
Career highlight: Helping taxpayers challenge their assessments
Shedler said a career highlight came when the International Association of Assessing Officers recognized him for the public information project that he spearheaded. The tool kit — available on the Ramapo town website — educated the public on how to review assessments.
“We wanted to educate the public so that property owners could have their assessments reviewed by our office first without incurring the cost of hiring a tax representative,” he said.
Shedler’s name known statewide
“Scott’s contributions to the New York State Assessors Association have been invaluable, and his dedication has made a lasting impact,” association President Maggie A. Alix said.
Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht praised Shedler’s fairness and dedication to the taxpayers.
“We are grateful for the professional, dedicated, and valuable services Scott performed as assessor for many years,” Specht said. “Scott is an outstanding expert and leader in his field and is widely considered to be the best assessor in New York State.
Specht said Shedler provided residents with the “information and tools they needed to understand their assessment, and always took the time to meet with residents to explain the process and answer questions. He strived to treat everyone equally and fairly within the law and enhanced his office’s use of technology to do so.”
Shedler said he considers himself an educator on assessments.
He has worked as an instructor for the Board of Realtors, the New York State Association of Towns, and the Rockland County Bar Association. He’s written many articles and coordinated a monthly online seminar program on property tax and valuation issues for the nearly 1,000 NYSAA members.
Shedler served as a president of the New York State Assessors Association. He’s worked with the New York State Assembly and Senate on legislation and initiatives on assessment issues for more than a decade.”
Read the complete Journal News story here.
