President's Page

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Note: On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, Jeneen Hill was installed as NYSAA’s president for 2021/2022. She is pictured with her husband, Tyler (left), and her father, NYSAA Past President Sam Lomando Jr. Below is her acceptance speech:

It is with great honor and appreciation that I stand before you as the 77th president of the New York State Assessors Association. I appreciate the respect and confidence shown to me as together we lead this association into the future. I thank you, the membership, for your continued commitment to this association. I would like to thank my dad, mom, and my kids (Samantha, Jenelle, and Parker) for their support through the years. I would also like to thank my husband Tyler, the official bodyguard of the NYSAA for always being there for me.

I would like to thank the Erie County Assessor’s Association for their support, along with the Niagara County Assessors’ Association and the conference committee, for their efforts towards the conference. 

Being the president of NYSAA has great meaning to me. I grew up hearing about NYSAA on a regular basis. Every September, my mom and I would start to prep for “the conference,” which meant clothes shopping for dresses for mom and gathering ribbons and pins (there was no such thing as Amazon then) to assemble name tags after dinner with dad for “the conference.” I had no clue what “the conference” was, I just knew my dad was in classes all day while my mother shopped and my brother and I got to sleepover and get spoiled by our grandparents. 

Little did I know I would be standing here tonight. If you would have told the teenaged me that I would be attending the same conference and be installed as the president, I would not have believed you. Heck, I didn’t really know what my dad did, let alone follow in his footsteps. Among many of the things my father taught me was professionalism and how to serve property owners with patience and integrity. One of the best decisions I made was going to work for my father as a part-time clerk and pursuing my state certification as an assessor. I truly enjoy going to work most days.

It is with great pleasure I present my father Sam Lomando Jr., with a New York State Assessors Association 2021 longevity award for 45 years of membership.

To quote my father’s speech from 1994: Integrity, responsibility, and reliability are what assessors are made of. And we STILL ARE. We are on the front lines…dealing with taxpayers, advocating for our seniors while dealing with legislative changes. 

Therefore, with integrity I accept the responsibility bestowed upon me to lead this association into the future. You can rely on this board to persevere. We have seen many challenges and legislative changes this past year, and we stepped up and let our voice be heard in Albany. We won’t stop until we succeed.

This association has taken the lead to provide the highest level of education to our members while adapting to an online platform as well as in-person learning. I believe strongly in providing education for all members as we adapt our training and meeting model to meet the needs of those we serve. 

We will continue to conduct our business professionally and efficiently while continuing to serve our communities safely. We came together and will continue to come together because the one thing that hasn’t changed is US. As assessors we continue to take pride in serving our taxpayers with the same dedication we always have, despite these challenging times. 

I ask you tonight to actively participate in the continued efforts of the NYSAA, become involved, whether your passion is legislation, valuation, education, or exemption; there is a place for you. 

I would like to end tonight by thanking someone who was instrumental in me pursuing to be a part of the NYSAA Executive Board, and bring the conference to the western region. Unfortunately she passed away before she could witness this day… so please raise your glasses…. this one’s for you Kandy Sue Wittmeyer!