NORTH EAST — Town Assessor Katherine Johnson had no easy task before her on Thursday, Sept. 8, while making a presentation at the North East Town Board meeting on the recent townwide reassessment. A number of taxpayers have expressed anger since the reval as their property values have risen sharply, which has been compounded by the fact that distribution of school taxes from the North East (Webutuck) Central School District has changed following the reassessment.But Johnson was there to explain the facts behind the controversial subject matter. First, she told both the Town Board and the public, the reassessment is completed, and the state approved the town at 100 percent full market value.“All properties are fairly and equitably assessed,” she said, before adding that school taxes went out the week before. She stressed her job does not include setting school taxes.The school taxes on 782 parcels increased above and beyond the overall 2 percent school tax levy increase, Johnson said. Meanwhile, the school taxes on 823 parcels either decreased, stayed the same or increased less than the overall school tax increase. According to the assessor, because the reassessment increased the size of the tax roll relative to other towns, North East became responsible for a larger portion of the overall tax levy.Dairy farmer and Webutuck Board of Education member John Perotti said the reval was done incorrectly and its results are in error. He said the final property values as well as the resulting school taxes are out of whack.“In a down market it does not make sense,” he said, adding he saw a 66 percent increase in his taxes. “It’s going to break us. For real farmers who make their living from the land, it may break their backs. We are in such a bad economy and everybody is struggling to stay alive, now adding another $5,000 to $6,000 to their tax burden is just a killer.”Johnson gave a breakdown of why North East’s reassessment increased its equalized taxable roll by $35 million.• New construction and unknown improvements ($6 million)• New York state reduced the value of ag exemptions ($3 million)• Un-renewed exemptions ($1 million)• State increases in utility assessments ($1 million)• Existing property was under-assessed“Change,” Johnson said, “by itself, is neither fair nor unfair. To determine fairness, the cause of the shift must be ascertained and its effects analyzed.”She went on to say that in 2010 the town’s taxpayers paid $4.5 million in school taxes. In 2011, they will pay $4.8 million in school taxes, roughly $300,000 more and about 39.5 percent of the levy. These types of shifts in the levy are natural, Johnson said. In 2007 the neighboring town of Amenia had a reassessment that caused a $94 million increase in its equalized taxable assessed value. The result was a $600,000 shift in the town’s school tax levy.The issue, Perotti said, is that when values rise, school aid drops.“The next big bomb to hit will be the negative impact on school state aid, especially when things are so bad in Albany,” he said. “If this district has a huge increase in wealth, they’ll say let’s take away $300,000 to $400,000 from them then see what happens. Then next year what will we do? Cut the budget so drastically we have to cut teachers, or increase taxes, just to maintain what we have? The Town Board refused to believe this could happen, but they were wrong.”Johnson said, however, that the shift in taxes is not paid by everyone in town, but rather by those whose properties were not on the tax roll or those who were under-assessed. In North East’s case that equates to the 90 increased parcels on its tax roll.Johnson then went through a number of examples of properties that were under-assessed, including a 6,500-square-foot mansion that was assessed for $3.3 million previously. It was given a new assessment of $5.7 million, with a tax increase of $26,000 for the town. There were a number of such examples. She also had examples of properties that were over-assessed, like a 106-acre parcel that ultimately decreased in value from $1.6 million to $1.3 million, resulting in a $4,800 tax decrease. Again, there were other such examples.Included in Johnson’s presentation was a section entitled “False Information about the Reassessment.” It included the following fallacies, according to the assessor:• Seniors and farmers, as a class, were harmed by the reassessment• The reassessment will cause many court challenges and these cases will result in large refunds, to be paid by the school district• The reassessment, by itself, will cause a large drop in state school aid.Johnson discounted each claim one by one. She said specifically that all farms are now assessed equitably, using the same methodology. She also said that farmland was not assessed at highest and best use, which is for residential development, with values ranging from $18,000 to $28,000 an acre. Agricultural land is now assessed between $4,000 and $12,750 an acre, depending on its characteristics.She also discounted claims of multiple court challenges. For one, she said, the deadline to file such challenges has now passed. She told the board that in total there have only been four tax certiorari cases and three small claims actions filed.“The combined tax dollar amount in controversy for the Webutuck School District is only $5,000,” she added.Lastly, Johnson addressed the reassessment’s impact on state school aid. The school aid formula is extremely complex, she said. “Land wealth, as determined by New York state and not local assessors, is only one factor among many other considerations,” Johnson said, before adding one other vital piece of information. “Assessors are forbidden from considering their reassessment’s effect upon school aid when performing their duties.”Perotti, meanwhile, said there are few remedies to the situation.“Really, [the town is] in a very bad position,” he said. “The only thing they can do is have another reval, or go through every parcel and value them at today’s market, not the market of three years ago. It’s crazy, but it’s just a bad deal.”
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Textile designer Justine Valla sits in her father’s chair, which she painted, alongside her husband, illustrator and muralist Victor Valla, in their Atelier Valla studio.
“I was always drawing as a child,” Justine recalled. Victor dreamed of illustrating magazine covers like those of the “Saturday Evening Post.”
Victor studied design and illustration at Rochester Institute of Technology, then received a fellowship to study painting and printmaking at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne. He graduated in 1967. The following year, he received a grant from the Tiffany Foundation to study printmaking in Paris at Atelier 17, an experimental graphic arts workshop founded in 1927.
“What a great experience that was!” he recalled.
Returning home after the Paris uprisings of 1968, he discovered that the magazine covers he’d hoped to paint had largely given way to photography. His agent suggested trying record covers, which he pursued along with illustration and graphic design.
He also began teaching at Kean University in New Jersey.
“Kean had a wonderful graphic design and illustration department. I loved teaching Graphic Design, even though I never thought I would.”
He later taught at Syracuse University and Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
In the late 1980s, he decided to stop teaching and concentrate on his own art. He moved to Falls Village, to a house on the corner of Minor and Prospect Streets.
“I used to call the studio ‘Minor Prospects Atelier,’” he said.
He continued working in illustration and graphic design, creating book covers for stories by H.P. Lovecraft and other authors, along with magazine covers, logos, advertising and murals.
Justine and Victor Valla in their studio with a painting of Victor’s,”Jonah and the Whale.” Robin Roraback
His local commissions include the green and gold Noble Horizons signage and wall murals for the Stockbridge Inn, the Spa at Norwich Inn, Orchards Hotel in Williamstown and the David M. Hunt Library’s children’s section.
Justine grew up in the Bronx and studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating, she took on whatever work she could find, including designing toys and novelty items for Russ Berrie. But her true calling was textile design.
She moved to Los Angeles to pursue that calling, where she learned silkscreen printing from 1960s design icon Corita Kent.
“I was in her program at Immaculate Heart College. All fabric design at that time was silk screen. My first job in textile design was in L.A., creating wallpaper for Bob Mitchell Design.”
Justine returned to New York City, where the advent of computers required her to learn new design techniques. She enrolled at Parsons School of Design, studying Photoshop, Illustrator, Lectra U4ia and Kaledo.
Around this time, she met Victor online and moved to Falls Village.
A recruiter found her a job in Arkansas at Dillard’s, a department store chain operating in 30 states and known for its exclusive designer collections.
“They had the best equipment I’d ever seen,” she said.
She became a senior computer-aided design designer there, designing fabric and preparing purchased designs for production.
The Vallas left Falls Village for Little Rock.
“It was a big move,” she said. “It was a different culture, but Little Rock was very progressive.”
The originally planned to stay in Arkansas for five years but ended up remaining for nearly 10.
Then Justine was hit by a car. She suffered injuries to her leg and head and required four years of rehabilitation.
“I lost the ability to paint after the accident. I struggled to paint again.”
The Vallas returned to Connecticut, this time settling in Salisbury, where they’ve lived since 2013.
After leaving Dillard’s, Justine had planned to sell her work through Printsource in New York City, an international showcase for surface and textile design. But after the accident, she no longer had the mobility or energy to travel back and forth to the city.
Instead, she began selling her work locally at craft shows, including clothing, hand-printed tea towels and floorcloths.
She is currently working on selling her collection of textile designs.
In December, Justine will have a show of her tea-themed watercolors at the NorthEast-Millerton Library.
Victor recently exhibited “The American West: A Pictural History” at the NorthEast-Millerton Library. The series, created in the early 1990s, was part of a commission from the Postal Commemorative Society for which he completed 100 paintings in two years.
He hopes to place the series in a museum and has created books from its images, complete with text. Over the years, he has designed many other books that are ready for publication, including “Looking In, Looking Out,” a cosmic view of the universe.
Reflecting on his career, Victor said, “It’s about doing what you love”.
Justine agreed.
To see, purchase or commission work, contact Justine at justinevalla@gmail.com or Victor at victorvalla@comcast.net, or call 860-596-4282.
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Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.
Cornwall ceramicist Jane Herold explained that there’s quite a lot of enthusiasm for Clay Way among the region’s ceramic artists.
“We all need work space, which is hard to find or afford in urban areas. The wood-fire crowd needs lots of wood and outdoor space. This area is great because it’s rural enough for us, but has a wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive population of pottery [patrons].”
While many of the artists are returning from previous years, the loose collection of unofficial organizers likes to keep the event manageable for the public, limiting the number of artists and studios each year. A direct drive from the southernmost point at Ann Heywood’s studio in Wingdale to Herold’s big barn in Cornwall is under 40 minutes. But if you want to catch it all, plan for a full day’s worth of art exploration along some of the most beautiful roads in New England.
Starting at its northernmost point, Herold’s studio will host Matin Malikzada of Afghanistan, whose polished, modern interpretations of traditional forms are instantly recognizable. They’ll be joined by wood-fired ceramicists Steve Johnson, with his raw, organic forms, and Harry Levenstein, whose works relate closely to Johnson’s while making even more direct references to nature.
Herold herself creates work that is both beautiful and utilitarian. Her prolific output of objects is intended to be used by everyday people as part of their daily lives.
Moving south is Todd Piker of Cornwall Bridge Pottery. Piker has been making pots in his giant wood-fired kiln since 1971. The kiln looks more like an ancient blast furnace than something designed to transform clay into ceramics, but over the years, he’s mastered its intricacies and produces an impressive amount of fine work.
A ceramic vase by Kathleen Heidemann.Provided
Piker will host Sanah Peterson, who works at Cornwall Bridge Pottery and draws inspiration from both her time with Piker and her time traveling the globe as a child. They’ll be joined by Stephanie Haines, whose vibrant, eye-catching work features underglaze illustrations of birds, fruit and the bounty of nature.
Further along in Warren, Jessica Dubin’s pieces will be on display at the studio of Christine Owen. Both artists seem to appreciate the chaos and unpredictable nature of clay but find ways to refine it all using their own unique methods.
Heading east to Washington, Conn., Will Talbot’s creates intricate work while allowing for the unpredictable nature of clay to play a role. His studio will house Tom Knox and his wide variety of textures and forms, as well as New York City-based Alex Lebedev, who lets music and the nature of improvisation guide his work.
There will be two studios participating in South Kent. Alison Palmner, whose page on the Clay Way website states she “strives to achieve a lighthearted meld of human forms, animals and the vessel.” Her studio will host Ben Eberle, who trained under the guidance of legendary potter Toshiko Takaezu; James Guggina, whose intricate work can appear both deliberate and whimsical; and Paula Shalan, who blends rough, unrefined surfaces with polished precision in individual pieces.
Joy Brown’s delightful ceramic sculptures.Provided
Nearby is Joy Brown, whose work have become a staple of the area, with her figurative sculptures dotting the Northwest Corner. Brown’s studio will also feature Bonnie Levine, who taps into the beauty of chaos and destruction in her work, and Brendan Moore, whose more utilitarian forms are perfect for everyday use.
Finally, the tour crosses the border into Wingdale, New York, where the studios of Drew Montgomery, Ann Heywood and Amy Brenner will host Jackie Sedlock, Lynn Behrendt,and Kathleen Heidemann.
Brenner creates some of the most colorful and vibrant pieces on the tour, while Behrendt’s work is among the most studied and precise. Heywood creates carefully considered, intuitive forms, while Heidemann moves from simple minimalism to intricate textures. Montgomery and Sedlock both find new ways of playing with traditional forms, producing delightfully distinctive pieces.
To learn more about the artists and download a map of participating studios, visit clayway.net
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