Welcome to the Town of Taghkanic
in New York's Upper Hudson Valley

PUBLIC MEETINGS

All meetings of the Taghkanic town boards and committees are open to the public. Meetings are held in person at the town hall, unless labeled "Zoom-Only". The town makes every effort to post meeting times and locations in advance, along with the meeting agenda and any additional relevant documents.

Attend In-Person or on Zoom

All meetings are available on ZOOM and can be accessed by clicking on the camera icon on the Upcoming Meetings calendar on this page.

View / Download Zoom Recordings

Zoom recordings of town meetings can now be downloaded for viewing. To locate a recording, click here Zoom Recs .

MEETINGS CALENDAR
Meetings scheduled for this week & next week
Date Time Meeting Agenda Docs Zoom
Apr 28 7:00pm Zoning Board of Appeals
May 6 7:00pm Planning Board
May 7 1:00pm Taghkanic Senior Network
May 7 7:30pm Taghkanic Fire Commissioners (Firehouse)
May 8 1:30pm Financial Advisory Committee

PUBLIC NOTICES

Walk With Ease!

The Columbia County Office for the Aging and Department of Health are launching a new FREE evidence-based program called Walk With Ease!

The Arthritis Foundation’s Walk With Ease Program is a community-based physical activity and self-management education program that is proven to help people with arthritis or other related conditions reduce pain, increase balance, strength, walking pace, and improve overall health! If you can be on your feet for ten minutes without increased pain, you can have success with this program.

Register to come walk with us at the Copake Senior Center starting May 6th through June 20th! Registration is required and limited to 15 participants so be sure to call early to reserve your spot! If the program is full, we can add you to a wait list for future programs.

For more information or to register, please call the Columbia County Department of Health at (518) 828-3358 extension 1337 or 1326.

*Please note that this program will be held outdoors and is weather dependent.

Download flyer here: FLYER

Thank you!
All the best,
Nina Benvenuto


TOWN OF TAGHKANIC
NOTICE OF RECEIPT
OF TAX ROLL AND WARRANT

TAKE NOTICE that I, Cheryl E. Rogers, the undersign Collector of Taxes of the Town of Taghkanic, County of Columbia and State of New York, have duly received the tax roll and warrant for the collection of taxes within the Town of Taghkanic for the Year 2025, and that I will receive said taxes at 483 County Route 15, (Taghkanic) during regular business hours Monday thru Friday 9am to 4pm, and for the month of January only, Saturday 9am to 11am.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that taxes may be paid on or before February 1, 2025 without charges or interest. On all taxes received after such date, there shall be added interest of 1% per month until such taxes are paid or until returned of unpaid taxes to the County Treasurer pursuant to law.

  • 1% if paid before February 28
  • 2% if paid before March 31
  • 3% + $2.00 if paid before April 30
  • 4% + $2.00 if paid before May 31

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that pursuant to the provisions of law the tax roll of the Town of Taghkanic will be returned to the County Treasurer of the County Columbia on the 1st day of June 2025.

HOMEOWNERS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: The HOPP program is designed to ensure that no family in NY ever loses their home because they do not have access to a lawyer or qualified housing counselor. To be connected with a legal services or housing-counseling organization near you, call 1-855-466-3456 or visit homeownerhelpny.com. A statewide listing by county is also available at the website of the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Cheryl E. Rogers
Town Clerk/Collector
Town of Taghkanic


Town of Taghkanic Planning Board Public Hearing Notice

Please Take Notice: accordance with the Town of Taghkanic Zoning Law you are herein advised that 3 Public Hearings will be held May 6, 2025 in the Taghkanic Town Hall, New York State Route 82, (at the corner of Route 82 and County Route 10) Taghkanic, New York.

  1. 7:00 pm For the Application of: Peter and Margaret Schmid Property Address: 102 Bloody Hill Road (Taghkanic) NY Purpose of the Application: Minor Subdivision
  2. 7:15 pm For the Application of: David and Maria Stevens Property Address: 348 Taghkanic/Churchtown Road (Taghkanic) NY Purpose of the Application: Minor Subdivision
  3. 7:30 pm For the Application of: In Flight – Moskovitz/Jin
    Property Address: 1440/1450 County Route 27 (Taghkanic) NY
    Purpose of the Application: Lot Line Adjustment

The purpose of the hearing is to answer all questions and concerns of the Public. If you cannot be present but wish to express an opinion you may do so by certified letter, return receipt, to the Town Clerk Cheryl Rogers, 483 County Route 15, Elizaville, New York 12523 to the Attention of the Planning Board. Be aware that this will be your only opportunity to be heard before your property is influenced by the decision which must be made on this application.


Columbia County Office of Emergency Management MEDIA RELEASE

DATE: March 12, 2025
CONTACT: David Harrison Jr / Henry Swartz cceoc@columbiacountyny.com.

Columbia County Multi-Jurisdiction Mitigation Plan Update - Public Review & Comment

The Columbia County Office of Emergency Management (CCOEM), Public Works, Planning and other county departments and jurisdictions within Columbia County are working with Tighe & Bond Engineering to update the County Multi-Jurisdiction Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) and is seeking public comment.

The Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Migration Plan is a FEMA prescribed effort which enables the County to obtain Federal Grants for planning and mitigation projects. The purpose of the Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan is to identify and profile the County’s risk and vulnerability to potential natural hazards, including all jurisdictions within the County. Specifically, this plan assesses the potential impacts of hurricanes, winter storms, extreme precipitation and flooding, earthquakes, drought/wildfire, and dam/culvert failure and identifies properties, resources, and critical facilities which may be impacted by these hazard events. The plan identifies mitigation strategies and actions aimed at reducing the loss of or damage to life, property, infrastructure, and natural, cultural, and economic resources. A corresponding implementation plan was prepared to address the prioritization and administration of the identified strategies and actions.

Public Comment Period - The public comment period is from March 15, 2025 to April 15, 2025. Public Comments may be submitted by email with the subject line: "2024 CCHMP Public Comments" to both: Dep Director Henry Swartz - cceoc@columbiacountyny.com & Haley Rivers - hrivers@tighebond.com.

View The Plan DRAFT - To view the plan DRAFT and learn more please go to the Columbia County web page: https://www.columbiacountyny.com.

Public Presentation - An update plan DRAFT public information presentation will be given by Tighe & Bond on March 25, 2025 at 6:30pm. The presentation may be accessed by web link or by phone, for the web link and phone number please go to the Columbia County web page: https://www.columbiacountyny.com.

For more information please contact, CCOEM Director David Harrison Jr or Dep Dir Henry Swartz at cceoc@columbiacountyny.com.


IMPORTANT NOTICE
Town of Taghkanic
2025 NEW FULL VALUE ASSESSMENT

(Please note deadlines in RED below)

Dear Property Owner:
As part of the Reassessment Update Project, the town’s assessment department has reviewed and analyzed all property assessments.

Why are you receiving this Notice?

According to NYS Real Property Tax Law, all property assessments must be valued at the same uniform percentage. To maintain this legal requirement, assessment updates must be performed periodically. By implementing this program, assessments remain fair and equitable.

What you need to know.

An assessment update does not generate more tax revenue for a municipality; it simply redistributes the tax burden fairly. NYS Real Property Tax Law §305 states that all properties must be assessed uniformly. Assessing properties at 100% full market value is the best way to ensure property assessment equity and reflects the current value of your property.

Keep in mind, the assessor does not determine taxes; this is the responsibility of each taxing jurisdiction. Assessments are merely the vehicle to determine the share of the property taxes owed.

What you need to do if you disagree with your new Full Value Assessment:

Go to: https://townoftaghkanic.prosgar.com to research sale and assessment data. Follow the instructions posted on the prosgar website to submit an informal review.

***Commercial Properties: Please include rent roll, operating expenses and/or recent appraisal, if applicable, with your informal review submission.

For questions or more information please call: 1-866-910-1776 NO LATER THAN March 19, 2025.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL Informal Review submissions MUST be received by March 31, 2025, for consideration.

When will the new assessments take effect?

The new full value assessments will be final July 1, 2025, and will be applied to the School tax bills September 2025 and the Town/County bills January 2026. Parcels with recently completed/active building permits may receive a second notice after May 1, 2025.

For further information about equalization rates, check out this Guide for property owners.

Sincerely,
Brittany Santarelli, Assessor
Posted March 10, 2025


Reservoir Road Closed Due to Safety Concerns

Taghkanic Highway Superintendent, Eric Gaylord, is closing the crossing of a culvert on Reservoir Rd effective immediately.

A recent inspection of the culvert under Reservoir Road that directs water from the reservoir spillway downstream revealed structural problems. Town Engineer Patrick Prendergast, brought in for consultation, indicated "The headwalls are in poor condition. The east wall is severely undermined from erosion. One of the down-stream wing walls has fallen in the stream." He concluded, "The culvert should be repaired or replaced but should not be lift in service as is."

As a result, Reservoir Road has been closed to through traffic. The town board will discuss plans to address this situation at the monthly board meeting, Monday, March 10 at 7:00pm at the Taghkanic Town Hall. Interested parties may attend in person or via Zoom (see link above in Meetings Calendar).


NOTICE CONCERNING THE EXAMINATION OF ASSESSMENT INVENTORY AND VALUATION DATA

(Pursuant to Real Property Tax Law section 501)

Notice is hereby given that assessment inventory and valuation data is available for examination and review. This data is the information that will be used to establish the assessment of each parcel, which will appear on the Tentative Assessment Roll for the Town of Taghkanic, which will be filed on or before May 1, 2025.

The information may be reviewed by appointment in the Assessor’s office at the Taghkanic Town Hall located at 909 State Route 82, on Thursday’s, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. An appointment may be made to review the assessment information by telephoning the Assessor’s office at (518)851-7501.

For information regarding the Town's 2025 Reassessment Project, please click HERE.

Dated 1st day of March 2025
Brittany Santarelli
Assessor
Town of Taghkanic


Property Tax Exemption for Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Personnel

As a reminder, property owners who have been enrolled members of an incorporated volunteer fire company, fire department or incorporated voluntary ambulance service, or such enrolled member and spouse residing in the Town of Taghkanic who provides such volunteer services to a neighboring city, village, town, county, or school district for a minimum of two years, can apply for exemption RP-466-a-vol. Forms and certificate issued by the authority must be mailed to the Assessor’s office by 3/1/2025. Please mail documents to Town of Taghkanic Assessor’s Office, 909 Route 82 Ancram, NY 12502.

Dated February 18, 2025
Brittany Santarelli
Town Assessor


PUBLIC NOTICE
TOWN OF TAGHKANIC

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Taghkanic will be accepting letters of interest to fill the following open positions:

Clerk Secretary for the following two boards:

  • Planning Board
  • Zoning Board of Appeals

Open seats for the following Boards:

  • Planning Board Alternate
  • ZBA Alternate

All letters of interest for the above positions should be sent to Cheryl Rogers, Town Clerk, 483 County Route 15, Elizaville, New York 12523 or emailed to crogers42857@gmail.com.

Cheryl Rogers
Town Clerk


DID YOU KNOW? The Highway Dept can accept metal for recycling throughout the year. Please e-mail Highway Superintendent Eric Gaylord at taghkanichighwayone@yahoo.com to arrange a time to drop off your recyclable metal waste at the town garage. Items for metal recycling must be at lease 75% metal.

TAGHKANIC TALKS

2025 - The Year of the Forest


Taghkanic Talks is a program developed by the Taghkanic Climate Smart and Conservation Advisory Committees to host public presentations on a variety of topics of interest to the Taghkanic community. Past presentations have spotlighted community solar programs, heat-pump technology, and programs to assist with home weatherization. Another series focused on pollinators and native plant species, highlighting small but meaningful actions individuals can take to restore and preserve the ecology of our beautiful county.

In the upcoming months Taghkanic Talks will host a series of presentations we're calling The Forest in Your Backyard. Taghkanic and Columbia County reside within a vast stretch of contiguous forest stretching from Dutchess County to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. This forest provides essential habitat for a wide variety of plant, bird, insect, amphibian, aquatic, and mammalian species - and plays a critical role in providing clean drinking water for all of us.

If you own property in Taghkanic, chances are you own a portion of that forest. We hope you will join us for these presentations - and conversations - about what we can do to preserve and restore our forest resources.

Energy Tracking - Town Hall

Poster highlighting the heating and cooling capacity of heat pumps In June 2022, four Mitsubishi air-source heat pumps were installed at Town Hall to replace the existing oil-based heating and window air conditioning units. In the summer of 2023, the lighting system at Town Hall was converted from a combination of incandescent & fluorescent fixtures to all LED fixtures. A recent analysis by the Climate Smart Committee shows how these changes affected energy use and energy costs at Town Hall. The results indicate an annual cost saving of around $1076 and an annual reduction in energy use equivalent to 5.8 metric tons of CO2. This corresponds to the CO2 emitted by 1.3 average gasoline powered cars over a 1-year period.

But how much CO2 is that? It's not easy to visualize, right? Well, imagine a block of Dry Ice measuring one meter high X one meter deep X 3.72 meters wide, weighing over 12,000 pounds - that would be 5.8 metric tons of CO2 in its solid form. See full article.

TAGHKANIC SENIOR NETWORK

Taghkanic Senior Network announcement

If you are interested in helping Taghkanic's seniors and caregivers, please contact TSN co-chairs Celine Kagan and Susan Silverman at taghkanic60plus@gmail.com.

2024 Zoning Amendments

STRs & ADUs in Taghkanic

In 2024 the Town Board passed two local laws updating the town oning Code. Local Law #3 2024 permits and sets forth the regulations for Short Term Rentals in Taghkanic. Local Law #2 2024 defines and allows for Accessory Dwelling Units. The permitting of ADUs was enacted so that Taghkanic residents would be eligible for NY State grant funding to help residents with the costs of building or restoring these structures. The county has applied for the grant and will be notified of the outcome in 2025.

Taghkanic Community Fridge

Free-fridge guidelinesThe community fridge is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can't miss it - the cheery yellow building sits alongside the back door of Town Hall. The fridge and pantry are stocked with all manner of foods, including meals prepared by Columbia County Recovery Kitchen.

We welcome food donations - click on image to download full-size PDF of Guidelines. If you'd like to join our brigade of fridge volunteers and help manage, clean and stock the fridge, please contact Betsy (betsyalbertfortaghkanic@gmail.com).

Here are three ways to donate directly to the Fridge: Venmo (@taghkanicfridge); PayPal (@TaghkanicFridge); or drop a donation in the box at Town Hall. Donations are NOT tax deductible. However, if you'd like your donation to be tax deductible, OR if you have a matching donation program through your employer and would like to double your impact, you can make a donation to the Purpose Cooperative. The Purpose Cooperative is a 501c3 through which we receive our Shared Plate stipend. You can send a check to Purpose Cooperative, 95 Main Street #546, Philmont, NY 12565 and ask that it be earmarked for the Taghkanic Fridge.

Official Town Newsletter