Susan Israel, former real property appraiser in the Assessor’s Office, is the City of Lockport’s new assessor. Israel’s promotion / appointment took effect on May 28, Grievance Day, when former assessor Tracy Farrell stepped into her new role as Niagara County’s director of real property tax services.
Israel is a 15-year employee of the City of Lockport. She started out as a deputy city clerk, and when her post was eliminated five years later, she transferred to the assessor’s office, working the “second desk” for five years and then the “front desk” as real property appraiser for five years.
As the assessor, Israel said, she’ll continue the work done by Farrell, namely yearly assessment of all property in the city, unless the Common Council decides to abandon the annual valuation program.
At the outset, Israel said, she has been occupied with finalizing the tax rolls by the July 1 deadline. Soon, she intends to streamline the filing system, she said, because some duplications have been found.
Revaluation of property has gotten easier since the city first embarked on annual updating, Israel said. In the first year, she and Farrell had to take photos of every property, including vacant lots, and while she provided a business card identifying herself to property owners, many of them still called the mayor’s office to ask whether she was allowed to take photos.
“It was daunting, but it’s easier now,” Israel said. “We’re on a three- to four-year cycle now to get updated photos, but initially many of the photos on file were 20 years old.”
Israel is a graduate of Niagara University, where she received a degree in commerce (business) with concentrations in human resources and marketing. She said she’s happy her original appointment, in the city clerk’s office, led her to specialized work.
“There are lot of jobs in city hall, but not every one leads to a career,” she said.