Justice prevails for TI Park cottage owners

Good news in The Watertown Times on March 21: "Three taxing jurisdictions must refund nearly $250,000 in property taxes to the owners of about 60 parcels at Thousand Island Park as part of a settlement agreement over disputed assessments."

If you look at the geographical location of the town of Orleans, 99 percent of this town is landlocked, except for a siphon-like finger that reaches across the mighty St. Lawrence River and touches Thousand Island Park, Wellesley Island. Thousand Island Park (TIP) has long been the cash cow for the town of Orleans, LaFargeville and Jefferson County.

When TI Park's assessment went up from $17 million to $90 million in 2006 and individual cottage assessment went up as much as 400 percent, that was the last straw for a number of the cottage dwellers. This reassessment was a prime example of taxation without representation since virtually all of the cottage owners are not full-time residents of any of the three entities that were taxing us.

Sixty of the 320 cottage owners developed some backbone and felt this was a travesty in justice. We retained counsel and decided to challenge these unfair assessments. We understood what we were up against and it wasn't going to be easy. Our focal point was that taxation by these three jurisdictions was not fair or equitable. We proceeded in testing the scales of justice. We all were aware of the saying that death and taxes were inevitable. We found it was hard to believe that in LaFargeville, Jefferson County and the town of Orleans some of the residents' taxes went down. That information steeled our resolve. We had become a bigger cash cow now more than ever.

Many of TI Park's old cottages have suffered badly from neglect and the decay of age. A number of cottages were handed down from generation to generation, other owners bought them for a pittance 15 to 40 years ago. The present owners are hardworking middle-class families who have poured love and money into restoring their cottages. The Park is on the National Register of Historic Places.

A large number of owners rent out their cottages to pay for the expensive upkeep and taxes. We take pride in being curators of these high-maintenance Victorian ladies. The huge hike in our assessments has put many elderly owners over the edge. Sadly, many generational and longtime owners have had to sell. It may be too late for some but justice has prevailed for those left standing, the TI Parkers who love an old cottage. We got our answer.

Anne McDonald

Thousand Island Park