By HERB FOSTER
This is the last week Amy Dickan will get thousands of checks made out to her.
Dickan, Bedford’s receiver of taxes for 20 years, is retiring as of Monday, and many people now realize that the town is losing more than just a hard-working employee but a friend.
Dickan does not fit the steroetypical tax collector image. Instead, she has instead brought a warm, personal touch to the role. She greets people arriving at the town offices with a welcoming manner and willingly shares her time. She goes out of her way to help, ensuring people pay their taxes correctly, and has spent hours assisting people facing tougher issues, such as foreclosure.
Many might not realize the town receiver position is an important job. The total sum of the revenue that Dickan receives, and must account for? A mere $154 million.
“Holding the position of tax receiver for over 20 years, Amy knows just about everyone who walks through the door, their stories, and their parents and grandparents if they grew up here, as she did,” Town Supervisor Ellen Calves told The Recorder.
“Amy has not only performed her job with precision and integrity, but she is also a great listener and very compassionate,” Calves said. “She has advocated for policies that provide relief, extra time, or payment plans for people going through difficult times, and loves chatting with our oldest residents, who she refers to as ‘my seniors.’”
Dickan started in September 1999 in the Bedford finance department, then became tax receiver in January 2004. When started, the tax records were kept in ledgers.
Dickan started automating on her first day. Adding payment by credit card was her first achievement and since then has added many technical advancements. She has made it so people can pay their taxes online, and even offers installment payment plans for liens.
“We have many snowbirds and people working out of town — people who strongly need other options for making their payments,” she said.
Dickan handles a large volume of calls every day, from simple information requests to more complicated questions, such as real estate brokers asking for a projection on taxes for a potential purchase (which involves multiple calculations as the town has multiple tax and water districts). The most difficult part of the job is handling foreclosures. If taxes are not paid by July 1 the following year, it becomes a lien, filed with Westchester County. This starts the formal foreclosure process, then the tax receiver works with town attorneys throughout the lengthy legal proceedings.
Dickan maintains a list of seniors that she calls to remind them when taxes are due. It’s a personal touch, something she has been doing for years. It started when she realized some older folks were getting forgetful and didn’t use computers, so there was no other way to contact them.
“It is something I decided to do on my own,” she said. “It is doing the right thing for people that do not have another option.”
Outside of her work with the town, she is very active in the community, something inspired by her father, Bernie Roberts, who started the Katonah Bedford Hills Ambulance Corps and was a life member of the Katonah Fire Department. Dickan is involved with the Lake Marie programs for seniors and with Blue Mountain’s affordable housing for 18 years.
“I picked things I was connected to,” she said of community involvement. “I figured out a way to have a life and a career, plus have these passion projects which fill my world.”
She welcomes students with autism from a Fox Lane program to help in the office.
“They bring me smiles every day they come in,” she said.
Dickan and her husband Jeff, a retired Bedford Police lieutenant (32-plus years) will be moving to Florida. She is looking forward to visiting family and friends, and spending time fishing.
The new receiver of taxes is Melanie Krebs, a Katonah resident who comes to the town from UBS Inc.
Dickan and her husband are sad about leaving town.
“I didn’t realize how many personal relationships I had until this last month,” she said. “Hundreds of people are stopping by to say thank you. Many people have said how sad they are that we are leaving.”