(June, 2010) Summer means swimming, backyard barbeques, lazy afternoons and the July 4th celebration held at the Carroll Valley Commons. The July 4th picnic will be held on Sunday, July 4th with a rain date of Saturday, July 10th.

As before, the picnic starts at 2:00 pm and closes with a fireworks display at 9:30 pm. The 55th Virginia Company F Civil War reenactors are returning. Some of their activities will be a company and children marching drills, rifle fire competition, baking demonstration, and a surgical demonstration.

Last year they arrested the mayor and placed him on trial. Don’t know what they have in mind this year. The picnic activities also include a Classic Car & Motorcycle Show sponsored by Buchanan Auto Park Inc. and Buchanan Automotive, Fire, EMS and Police displays, a Climbing Wall, Hole-in-One Golf Putting Competition, a Chili Cook-off, Horseshow Tournament, hayrides provided by Bill McLeaf Jr., and children rides.

New this year is the Kids Run. You will be entertained by live band music. During the evening, everyone will be asked to join a patriotic march from the civil war encampment to the main entertainment stage area. There the audience will by entertained by "Mister Eddy" as the kids call him. Eddy Rubin is the Environmental Education Coordinator at Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve who awakens children’s minds to the nature around us. The audience will then witness a 21 gun salute, a flag retreat ceremony performed by the scouts and finally, a spectacular fireworks display on top Ski Liberty Mountain. The event admission, children rides and parking are FREE.

Visitors will find several food vendors on the grounds serving varying types of fare. For a complete schedule or for more information, visit the Carroll Valley website at www.carrollvalley.org . All of this could not be accomplished without the support of our dedicated volunteers, our Borough of Carroll Valley, the Carroll Valley Citizens Association, our local businesses, and our major commercial sponsors: Liberty Mountain Resort & Conference Center, Adams Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Comcast.

If you would like to donate a dollar by buying a chance to win a 40" LCD Television or one of the numerous secondary prizes supplied by local businesses, your help will be appreciated. Winning tickets will be picked at the event. Call Jesters at 642-6611 for tickets.

The Adams County Reassessment project is in its final phase. Tax bills in 2011 will be based on the new assessed values (County, Municipal, and School). 21st Century Appraisals, Inc. was contracted by the Adams County Commissioners to conduct the reassessment. Their tasks involved collecting the data in the field (visiting the properties), developing new Fair Market Values, calculating Clean and Green values, conducting informal reviews of values, and providing certified assessors to assist the county with formal appeals.

As a home owner, what should you do? You may want to go online and review the description of your property on the Reassessment page at www.adamscounty.us using the control number and password from your door questionnaire. If you don’t remember if you saved the door questionnaire then look at your Property Tax form right above the dotted line that reads My Property.

If you are still confused, call 338-1700 with data questions. On July 1st, the "Change of Assessment Notices" will be mailed out. This notice will show the value (as of January 2010) and estimated tax impact after the millage rates are adjusted. Now review your property information and other properties. This can be accomplished online at home for a nominal fee or at the county EMS building at no charge. If you have questions about the notice, tax impact or to schedule an informal review, you should call using the number on the back of the Notice.

The informal review at the EMS building are for the discussion and correction of property information and for you to present pictures or evidence of things that might affect the sale price of the property. Formal appeal forms may be filed within 40 days of July 1st if you wish to present your opinion of value and evidence to the County Board of Appeals. Decisions of the Board of Appeals can be further appealed to the Court of Common Pleas if necessary. According to the schedule, the new values are Certified for tax use on or before November 15, 2010.

And as mentioned earlier, the 2011 tax bills will be based on the new values. All taxing bodies must use reduced millage rates to prevent any tax windfall as a result of the reassessment. If you have questions about the reassessment, you should call 338-1700. An Adams County Reassessment Public meeting is schedule to be held at the Fairfield Area School District (in the Middle/HS auditorium) on Tuesday, June 22nd from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

One more tidbit, how much longer do we have to wait for the traffic light to go away on Route 16. Well, based on a conversation with the PennDot authorities, the bridge project completion date is October 15th. Pictures taken at the Fairfield EMS Open House held on Sunday, May 16th have been posted to www.ronspictures.net . Enough for now. Hope to see you on the 4th. Remember to display your flag on June 14th , America’s Day. It is a time to honor the active duty and retired men and women of the Armed Forces.

If you have any questions or if I can be of any help, please do not hesitate to email me mayor@carrollvalley.org or call me (301) 606-2021.