How does a New York town transition from three elected assessors to a single elected assessor after voters approve the change?

Plain-English summary

The Town of Amenia had elected three assessors. The town board enacted a local law (subject to permissive referendum) authorizing the change to a single elected assessor. The voters approved the local law at the November 1997 referendum. The Town Attorney asked how to operate the transition mechanically.

The AG pointed to Real Property Tax Law § 329, which spells out the procedure.

Section 329 provides that, after the local law is adopted and the permissive referendum (if requested) is favorable, the next biennial or general election at which one or more current assessors would be elected becomes the transition election. At that election, the voters elect one assessor for a six-year term. On December 31 of the year that single assessor is elected, the terms of all assessors then in office terminate.

The mechanics: an assessor whose term was due to expire that year would have been on the ballot anyway. Instead of running for one of three positions, the voters elect a single assessor. The other two sitting assessors (whose terms had not yet expired) remain in office through the end of December that year, then their terms terminate by operation of the statute. From January 1 of the following year, the town has only the one assessor elected at the prior election.

The opinion is short because the statute is clear. The Town Attorney did not need an interpretation of the law; he needed to be pointed to the operative section.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1998. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

What triggers the transition election?

The local law authorizing the change to a sole elected assessor, adopted by the town board and (if a petition is filed) approved at a permissive referendum. Once that's in place, the timing is automatic under § 329.

What if no assessor was scheduled for election in the next year?

§ 329 says "the next biennial or general election at which the electors would vote for an assessor." If no assessor was scheduled to be elected in the next biennial election, the transition presumably waits for the next election when an assessor seat would be up. The statute uses the term-expiration cycle as the timing anchor.

What about the assessors whose terms are not yet expiring?

Their terms terminate on December 31 of the transition election year. They serve out the calendar year and then their offices are vacant by operation of § 329. They do not get to finish their otherwise-remaining time.

Why a six-year term for the new sole assessor?

That is the statutory term length for the sole elected assessor under § 329. The longer term reflects the more substantial scope of responsibility (the single assessor handling what was previously divided among three).

Did the town need to wait for the local law's effective date?

The opinion doesn't separately address the effective date question. Standard practice is that local laws adopted by referendum become effective on whatever date the law itself specifies, with the statutory transition procedure of § 329 then governing the mechanics. A town in this situation would normally have the local law take effect immediately upon certification of the favorable referendum and then schedule the transition election as the next applicable biennial.

Background and statutory framework

Real Property Tax Law § 329 is the transition statute for elected assessor changes. The provision dates to the era when New York towns were transitioning from three-assessor boards (a tradition that predated professionalized assessment) to single-assessor structures (preferred by State assessment standardization initiatives in the 1970s-1990s). The statute provides a clean transition timeline that avoids overlap.

The 1998 opinion is essentially a citation to the statute. It is one of many opinions in which the AG points a local attorney to the applicable provision rather than constructing a novel legal analysis. The brevity reflects the clarity of the statute.

Citations

• Real Property Tax Law § 329 (procedure for transition from three elected assessors to one).

Source

• Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
• Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/I_98-20_pw.pdf

Original opinion text

REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW § 329.
The procedure for making the transition from three to one
elected assessors is set forth in section 329 of the Real
Property Tax Law.
May 19, 1998
John B. Garrity, Jr., Esq.
Town Attorney
Town of Amenia
248 Church Street
Poughkeepsie, New York 12601

Informal Opinion
No. 98-20

Dear Mr. Garrity:
You have inquired as to the procedure for making a
transition from three elected assessors to a sole elected
assessor. We presume that the town exercised the option to
retain elected assessors, as provided by State law.
You informed us that the town board enacted a local law,
subject to permissive referendum, authorizing the change from
three elected assessors to one elected assessor. At a referendum
in November of 1997, the voters approved the local law. Your
question is how the transition from three elected assessors to
one elected assessor is effectuated.
Section 329 of the Real Property Tax Law establishes the
procedure for the transition from three elected assessors to one.
Under this provision, the change is authorized by local law
subject to permissive referendum. The town may adopt a local law
providing that:
[F]rom and after the first day of January
first following the next biennial or general
election at which the electors would vote for
an assessor, there shall be but one assessor,
to be elected at that election. . . . On
December thirty-first of the year in which
the assessor is elected to serve a six-year
term, the term or terms of office of all
assessors then in office shall terminate.
Real Property Tax Law § 329.
Under the above quoted language, at the next biennial
election when one or more of the current assessors would be
elected for a full term, the voters would elect one assessor for

2
a six-year term. The terms of office of the other assessors in
office at the time of that election would terminate on
December 31 following the election. Thus, the transition would
be made to a single elected assessor.
The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to
officers and departments of State government. This perforce is
an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this
office.
Very truly yours,

JAMES D. COLE
Assistant Attorney General
In Charge of Opinions