Amanda Purcell is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson Common Council may vote on a resolution Tue., April 16, to reject the the recently released preliminary assessment roll and terminate its contract with GAR Associates. The news comes after the firm's revaluation of the city resulted in the doubling or tripling of some real property assessments. Common Council President Thomas DePietro confirmed the resolution calls into question whether GAR Associates of Amherst fulfilled its 2017 contract with the city. “Everything is under a deadline, the more quickly we act, the better,” DePietro said. Formal grievance day is May 28. The resolution points to a number of issues with the way GAR handled the city’s assessments, including its failure to provide data to property owners in support of its valuations. When the data was provided, the resolution asserts, it was done only when the property owner requested it, and with only two days' notice via email. The contract entered into by the city and GAR specified that city taxpayers were entitled to the information. On April 5, a group of Hudson residents submitted a petition, bearing more than 100 signatures, to Mayor Rick Rector and DePietro, calling on the mayor to reject GAR's preliminary assessments, correct individual property descriptions, further research and recalibrate the comparables provided and to adjust valuations so property maintained by the same owner between 2018 and 2019, was not penalized by an assessment increase of more than 20 percent. DePietro denied the resolution now under consideration by the Council is a reaction to that petition, but he said concerns from a group of citizens did lead to the resolution. The Hudson Common Council will meet at 7 p.m., April 16, at the Hudson Library, located at 51 N. Fifth Street. NOTE: DePietro is an active WGXC programmer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.