From the Town of Saratoga's monthly meeting:
Courtesy Town of Saratoga
The Town of Saratoga is looking to appoint a new tax collector. The person appointed would have to be elected in the fall, and then would only replace the end of the previous collector’s term. Marge Kirkpatrick, the previous collector, had died on Dec. 31. She was 73. Along with being the tax collector over the past five years, her obituary says, she served the Quaker Springs Fire Department for 30 years and was the first woman to hold the positions of Lieutenant, Department Secretary, Fire Police Captain and Fire Commissioner. She was awarded the New York State Senate Women of Distinction Award for her service to the station, the town website says.
A couple business items from the Town of Queensbury's meeting:
From the Town clerk of Queensbury: Our online payment service provider is migrating to a different platform. The migration is scheduled for this weekend, between January 15th 8:00 p.m. EST to Monday, January 18th 12:00 a.m. EST. During this time, it will cause an outage and no one will be able to make online payments. Unfortunately, we were given no option as to when this would take place.
Regarding the 2021 Town & County Property Tax Collection, please be aware that since the deadline of Jan. 31 falls on a Sunday, we will be collecting taxes without penalty on Monday Feb. 1, 2021. This is the last day of the penalty free period.
Due to the increase in COVID cases, we are asking our taxpayers to utilize the following options:
Checks mailed and postmarkd by the U.S. Postal Service.
Checks or money orders placed in the Town’s Depository Box located on the outside of the Queensbury Town Office Building. This is available, 24/7.
The depository payments are being processed throughout each business day and all receipts mailed to the taxpayer in a timely manner.
Online payments can be made at www.queensbury.net via eChecks for $1.75, VISA debit cards for $3.95 or credit cards with a charge of 2.45% on the base tax amount. The fees charged for these online transactions are by a third party that the Town contracts with and are not collected by the Town of Queensbury.
Cash payments can be made at the office by appointment only with 24 hour notice. Appointments are filling quickly so if you are planning on making a cash payment at the office, kindly make the appointment sooner than later.
If you have any questions or need assistance, do not hesitate to call Caroline at 518-761-8234 or email her at carolineb@queensbury.net. Thank you for your understanding and support through these unprecedented times.
A statement on the "shenanigans" in Washington:
Board member Harrirson Freer at the Queensbury Town Board meeting on Monday this week took his free time to address the “shenanigans in Wahsington,” that occurred on Jan. 6 last week when a mob of pro-Trump ralliers broke into the Capitol building.
Noting that he was reading from Behan Communication’s 100th “Facing Out” blog post, he said, that a couple paragraphs “sums up well what a lot of us are feeling,” and then he read:
“We generally follow the sound advice of our readers to avoid politics, but the events of this week cannot be ignored. Silence is assent.
“Even in this most disturbing hour, however, there is reason for hope and pride. The Republic was rocked to its core. And yet the Republic still stands.
Protection of voting rights and fair elections is indispensable to democracy. Violence is its undoing. This week the President of the United States incited a violent assault on the Capitol that resulted in injury, death and destruction of public property. He consigned himself to a place in American history of permanent ignominy. Capitol security forces were inexplicably unprepared for events that had been widely publicized. The Vice President, members of Congress, their staffs, members of the public and news media and law enforcement officers were placed in mortal danger. An investigation into the failure to prepare is essential.”