11/02/2020 Assessment Community Weekly

Certainly no reminder is required this year, but we’ll do it anyway: don’t forget to vote (if you haven’t done so already)!

Batch-letter issue in RPSV4 Build 2020

Some of you are already using Build 2020, and the overall feedback has been positive. However, it’s come to our attention that there is an issue with batch letters.

We are fixing the issue and will provide an update as soon as possible. (We look forward to the days of ACES when fixes will happen centrally for all users.)
 
In the meantime, if you’re using Build 2020, and you have an immediate need to generate batch letters, please let your ORPTS customer service team know.

Reminder: November 4 deadline for conference reimbursement

If you attended the New York State Assessors Association Conference on October 5 and 6, you can receive tuition reimbursement for up to 12 credits (4 sessions).
 
To request reimbursement, within 30 days (November 4) of the first date of the conference, make sure to provide your completion certificate and reimbursement vouchers to ORPTS through one of the following methods:

• Email: orpts.edservices@tax.ny.gov
• Fax: 518-435-8628
• Mail:
  
  
  NYS DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE
  OFFICE OF REAL PROPERTY TAX SERVICES (ORPTS)
  EDUCATIONAL SERVICES—BUILDING 8A
  WA HARRIMAN STATE CAMPUS
  ALBANY NY 12227-0801

Bad smelling banks vs. lovely: the answers to last week’s quiz

While we don’t ask you to send your answers (or guesses, as the case may be), we did receive several emails last week. They were all wrong.  
 
We asked: Many of our counties have names derived from Native American languages. In fact, the name of one county means lovely in a Native American language, while another means bad smelling banks. Which counties are they? (Hint: They share a border.)
 
The answers: Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties.
 
We’re told that the origin of the name Allegany comes from the Allegewi tribe, who lived along Allegheny River's banks. It is based on an old Native American word meaning lovely or beautiful.

Sorry Cattaraugus County! Your county was named after a Seneca word meaning bad smelling banks, referring to the odor of natural gas that leaked from local rock formations.
 
Stay tuned for a new quiz next week!

Judicial cases

New Judicial cases:

• Matter of Abner Doubleday, LLC v Assessor of the Town of Oneonta
• Cayuga Indian Nation of New York v. Seneca County