John Macejka Jr. worked his first day as the town’s assessor on Monday, Sept. 22, and said the transition was a smooth one.
The Guilderland Town Board approved his appointment at its Tuesday, Sept. 16, meeting.
He will finish the last five years of retiring assessor Carol Wysomski’s six-year term with an annual salary of $53,500. Wysomski was the town’s assessor for 16 years before retiring.
The practices that are in place from the former assessor seem to be in working order, Macejka said. `So far everyone has been friendly.`
He said he wants to learn as much about the town and its procedures as possible and as assessor, he is going to put the residents of the town first.
`An assessor’s job is to be fair and equitable,` he said.
Prior to his appointment, he worked in the Rotterdam assessor’s office and participated in the first ever reassessment in the town’s history, which took place from May 2005 to May 2007.
`John is state-certified. He has 12 years of experience. He was with the Rotterdam assessor’s office. He’s familiar with the RPS software that we use,` Councilwomen Patricia Slavick said.
She pointed out that Macejka is a good fit because Rotterdam is similar to Guilderland in the number of individual parcels they have.
Councilman Warren Redlich said he was impressed with Macejka’s resume, as well as his responses to difficult questions he was asked during the interview process.
`I think I asked you some hardball questions in the interview, and I think you hit them out of the park,` Redlich said.
Redlich also urged Macejka to see if any properties were not looked at during the last revaluation.
`Do what you think is best,` he said.
Town Supervisor Ken Runion said the board looked at a number of resumes and interviewed three candidates for the position, and Macejka stood out.
He noted that the town assessor’s job is a difficult one and often takes a lot of criticism.
`Whether assessments go up, or whether the assessments go down, the assessors office takes the brunt of the criticism.`
Runion also told the board and Macejka that all properties were assessed during the town’s last revaluation, and none were missed.
Macejka said he is not concerned with the politics of Guilderland, and plans only on being fair.
`I really don’t get involved in that,` he said.“
