Barry Flansburg to retire as assessor for 4 towns on Sept. 30

Photo by Tom Rivers: In addition to being a town assessor, Barry Flansburg for many years served as the emcee for the grease pole competition at the Orleans County 4-H Fair. This photo is from July 25, 2018.

BARRE – Barry Flansburg will be retiring on Sept. 30 as assessor for four towns – Barre in Orleans County, and Byron, Oakfield and Elba in Genesee County.

Flansburg, 65, is eligible to begin collecting his state pension. Before starting as assessor 30 years ago for Barre and Oakfield, he worked five years as deputy Orleans County clerk.

He started working as assessor for Byron in 2006 and Elba in 2012. He has maintained annual updates to 7,000 parcels in the four towns.

Flansburg, a Barre resident, said he has enjoyed the career, working with so many residents and property owners in the rural community.

“It is working with people and numbers,” he said. “It’s how you communicate with the public. You need to explain why.”

Flansburg said the assessor position can be a tough job, but he found data helps people feel comfortable about the assessed value for properties.

Flansburg’s impending retirement will leave a void for the towns where he is assessor.

Sean Pogue, the Barre town supervisor, said Barre is looking for Flansburg’s successor. Pogue has reached out to the Orleans County Department of Real Property Tax Services to see if the county would be open to taking on assessing for Barre. The towns of Albion and Gaines contract with the county for the service.