Golf pro finds a home Council approves sale of formerly foreclosed property By Lauren Stanforth
The city's new golf professional is poised to purchase a house the city took through foreclosure last year.
City Council has approved Matt Daley's purchase of 1154 Ardsley Road for the home's list price of $88,000.
Daley said he looked at 15 houses in his search for a property, and chose the Ardsley Road three-bedroom home because it was so much less expensive than others and that his mother already lives on the street.
"It needs a little updating, but we said this fits into our price range. We'll bid on what they're asking for so we don't have to do a song-and-dance," Daley said about the house he and his wife found. "It wasn't like the city was going to hook us up, not at all." Daley is moving from a rental property in Ballston Lake, as Mayor Gary McCarthy has made it a priority to have all new city employees live in Schenectady.
Daley is taking over Schenectady Municipal Golf Course after the dramatic exit two months ago of its last professional, Brian Damon. Damon sent a caustic letter to City Council upon his exit in which he claimed city administrators had been harassing him. He had previously been a contracted employee who was allowed to keep profits from lessons, carts and the pro shop before council members took that away in 2011 in exchange for a base salary of $85,000. McCarthy has since reduced the golf pro's salary to $65,000, saying it's what other municipal courses pay. Daley, a 1991 graduate of Linton High School, was previously the assistant golf professional at Mohawk Golf Club.
The Ardsley Road home Daley is purchasing was one of about 150 properties the city took through foreclosure last fall because of unpaid taxes or delinquent sewer and water bills. About half those properties are vacant lots. City Attorney John Polster said the city had received an offer of $75,000 on the Ardsley Road house, but the prospective buyer wanted the property's assessment lowered as part of the deal — which is illegal, Polster said.
I'm available at the former $325,000 salary. Assessments should be automatically lowered especially after resale at a much lower price. The last line of the story says it all. Every property in the City is OVER ASSESSED. Instead of wasting time with this nonsense the City should lower assessments Citywide 20%. The DEM morons led by Limo McCheese refuse to do so. Because they can't cut anything. Because they have no plan other than drain every dollar off fleeing taxpayers and businesses.
Alright, the reduction of assessment should not necessarily be "part of the deal" of a purchase on a tax foreclosed house necessarily, however, the purchaser should have the right to submit a grievance, like any other purchaser and submit comparables, etc.
However, note that the initial news story is three months old. The "listing" was removed April 12.
How long can it take for the city to transfer the deed to the purchaser?
That Matt Daley STILL does NOT own the house????
Interesting, huh?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
The city could've had the assessor reassure the original prospective buyer that they would fairly adjust his taxes to reflect his purchase price and the value of other similar properties, if he went through the grievance process. There would've been nothing at all illegal about that. But no, thy discouraged the guy. IMO they held it back. How did that guy with the bike store get his assessment reduced on the spot? We seem to be making up the law as we go along. Way to discourage new families from settling here, if they don't "know somebody" they won't get special treatment, or even get the service they are entitled to.
How did that guy with the bike store get his assessment reduced on the spot?
Can't remember that one, where/who? I've love to look up and see how much, etc.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
From 8/1/2011 Gazette I found this to be absolutely appalling:
The effort to value the booming bicycle shop on State Street backfired badly for owner Les Plaine.
Plaine & Son hired workers to measure the property, study its characteristics and set a price, which is needed to get a bank loan or put a property up for sale. Plaine won't say what he was considering doing -- but in any case, he dropped his plans when he got their report.
His land is virtually worthless. There were century-old fuel tanks buried underground. And they had been leaking petroleum for years.
His property had just been valued by the city at $750,000, and Plaine says he hadn't planned to dispute that. Now it's worth so little that the city is reducing his assessment to $150,000 -- a greater reduction than the city has given to any other business except for a deal struck with General Electric.
Even so, the savings in taxes won't equal the hundreds of thousands of dollars in environmental cleanup costs, Plaine said. He expects the work won't be done for years.
As he paid workers to dig seven new monitoring wells to check on the cleanup efforts, he said philosophically, "It's only money. There's a lot worse things that can happen to you."
But most of the other calamities that could happen are covered by insurance. Not this.
"It is what it is," he said. "And it does have the benefit of improving the environment."
He's focusing on that silver lining. At age 56, his new goal is to finish the cleanup before he dies.
Some residents questioned why the City Council voted to reduce Plaine's assessment so significantly, but Corp. Counsel L. John Van Norden said Plaine had a strong argument for reducing it to zero.
"There's at least one appraisal out there -- two, actually -- that the property is worth nothing," Van Norden said. "The property is contaminated."
Plaine agreed to waive any refunds for taxes already paid.
In his determination to look on the bright side, he noted that at least the pollution was found at a good time.
"The bicycle business is very good. With people aware of fitness and the expense of gas, it's been very, very good," he said, adding with a laugh, "Tell people to buy a bicycle here, help the poor guy out."
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.
Gee, Brucker had a 2 bedroom, one bathroom house. This one is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. Bigger, yet not acceptable?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Logged
I'm available at the former $325,000 salary. Assessments should be automatically lowered especially after resale at a much lower price. The last line of the story says it all. Every property in the City is OVER ASSESSED. Instead of wasting time with this 
