The Richmond Village Board met as scheduled on November 17, 2004. All trustees were present except Bruce Hunter.

Richmond Village President Kevin Brusek is concerned about loss of revenue to the village due to assessments that were not completed in time by assessor Karl Metz. At a recent township meeting Supervisor of Assessments Donna Mayberry reported that a major problem existed relating to property tax assessments. Mayberry said that she has received the reports late for the last four years.

Brusek said that ideally one quarter of the township should be reassessed each year. “This has not happened,” said Brusek. “We issue about 200 building permits each year. We have people not being taxed at all since they moved into their houses. They could get a substantial tax bill which could put them out of a home and that is wrong.” The permits include decks, garages, and other additions. Roofing that is replaced is not considered for taxing purposes. Brusek said the schools could lose over one million dollars and that he might arrange a meeting with the schools to talk about possible litigation. Metz answers to Richmond Township and not the village regarding assessments. “Karl Metz is also the village treasurer,” said Brusek. “All of his work for the village is done accurately. We have had no problems with Karl.” Brusek also said the assessment job might be too much for one person to handle.

The Nippersink Library would like to obtain a portion of the impact fees for new housing as provided by law. The library applied to both Richmond and Spring Grove for this purpose. Richmond President Kevin Brusek said that he would like to see the impact fees from the entire library district used rather than just those from the Richmond and Spring Grove towns. “I would like to see this effective for the entire geographic area,” said Brusek. Trustee Dave Kilpienski said, “I’m not real excited about the idea.” Brusek asked Village Attorney Lisa Waggoner to look into the issue.

The village would like to annex the cemetery on Broadway St. Waggoner determined that this could not be done automatically by law since the cemetery is not surrounded by the village. She said the area must be “wholly bounded” to create a forced annexation. A letter of invitation for annexation will be sent to the Richmond Township the governing body for the cemetery.

The Bypass Advisory Group will meet on November 30, 2004. at 7:00 pm at Memorial Hall. The public is invited.