Rochester's assessment blues

The Rochester town board's April 9 meeting opened with several candidate interviews for board-appointed positions. Josh Royko interviewed for the zoning board of appeals. He described himself as an Army veteran who works for the General Services Administration and does real estate investment/development ”on the side" and cited his experience with working out complex policies. “I come with no agenda," he said.

Town Supervisor Erin Enouen asked how he would apply “the balancing test,” when, in an area variance, “you are weighing the benefit to the applicant against the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood… are you comfortable making a decision that might be unpopular with a roomful of neighbors?” 

“Yes,” he answered unhesitatingly. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re comfortable or not, you have to apply the law… no one likes to see things go in a direction they might not like, but the law is the law.”

Bea Haugen-Depuy, a former member of both the town board and the ZBA, was applying to be on the Board of Assessment Review (BAR). She noted that both the ZBA and the BAR are “quasi-judicial” bodies who render binding decisions on people’s property. “I’ve lived here 75 years. I know the lay of the land in most of the town. I know where the clay pits are, I know where the sinkholes are, rock ledges … some of that comes into play on the BAR."

Enouen asked her, “As you know, the BAR is separate from the assessor’s office and from the town board… How will you separate your personal opinions about town policy, and the reval [reassessment] itself, from the requirement to determine a property’s fair market value based strictly on the evidence presented?”

“The same way I did for 25 years on the zoning board,” replied Haugen-Depuy. “The law is the law is the law… you might not like me when I’m done. It matters not to me… you just have to respect the board.”

“Would you be comfortable keeping your opinions to yourself while acting on the BAR?,” asked board member Michael Coleman. “If you’re asking me if I will get up at a meeting like this and speak,” answered Haugen-Depuy, “that’s my right… but in my role on the board… I am held to a different standard.”

There was another candidate interviewed for BAR, William "Cliff" Mallory. “I was on the zoning board, I served with Bea," he said. "I served as chairman after she left." Asked why he wanted the position, he said, "I know it’s difficult to find people to serve.” Enouen asked him if he thought he could be impartial as a BAR member. “My feeling is that as long as the same standards are applied across the board, that’s really all I want ... the taxes are shared by all the homeowners in the town. So the only question is, How does my particular piece of property fit in with the overall scheme?" He added, “Whatever homeowners’ issues are, [we should] make sure they’re heard.”

After the interviews a public hearing was opened for Local Law E of 2026, a proposal for a moratorium on battery storage facilities in Rochester. (Several neighboring municipalities have enacted similar legislation.) The draft law reads, in part, "the town board finds it imperative that the town undertake a thorough examination of these systems to identify any possible threats to public health, safety and welfare as well as evaluate the potential for environmental degradation and other potentially significant planning concerns." No one offered to comment.

A second public hearing was for LL D of 2026, repealing and replacing traffic law. The main purpose, Enouen explained later, was to "put comprehensive provisions into the law to cover municipal parking lots: banning certain vehicles, restricting parking hours and allowing for permitted parking passes." One woman wondered about the legality and the feasibility of possibly using surveillance cameras as a means of ticketing people for parking overnight illegally in municipal lots. There were no other comments and the hearing was closed.

Town Clerk and Town Historian Kate Gundberg announced that she is collecting a database of all the farms in the town of Rochester, from earliest town records to the present. "Anyone who is interested in being a part of this or learning more, please reach out to me," she said. "I think it’ll be a pretty cool database.” There was immediate interest: board member Zali Win said he knew the location of "one of the first African-American farms in the state,” and during public comment Becky Collins-Brooks volunteered, “We have a list in our house of every single dairy farm that submitted milk over the course of a week from 1952."

Board member Charlotte Smiseth announced that she'd like to host a grant workshop for individuals this summer, “for home improvement or fixing a car or an art project things like that, they can come in and get a consult with myself and other volunteer grantwriters. There’s a lot of money right now through RUPCO and Ulster County specifically for affordable rental upgrades, senior home improvements, lead testing, mobile home upgrades, weatherization grants … I’d like to volunteer my services.”

“That’s a great idea,” enthused Enouen.

Board member Alexis Albaugh reported that Rooted in Rochester, a committee that's been soliciting ideas for community projects, is going to ask residents for their opinion on the results. “There’ll be a town-wide mailer, so you’ll get a chance to vote on the projects they want to support.”

During public comment, Clayton Haugen accused the board of being biased towards Cliff and advocated for Bea Haugen-Depuy, who is his mother. “It’s looking like strings are being pulled from above, you’re not able to make your own decisions.” 

Barbara Fornal said to the board, “Thank you for sponsoring Earth Day." She talked about the view of the Earth from the Artemis spacecraft. “It can give you chills, and hope, and make you realize that we are all Earthlings and we’d better learn to protect it."

Gerry Fornino pressed the board to find a way to extend the benefit of tax reduction to non-property-owning firemen. "When they respond to a fire they are using their own vehicles,“ he commented. Was there a way they could get the firemen some fuel paid for by the town?

Clayton Haugen remembered that “there was a time when the state of NY allowed first responders to use their gas pumps. I would advise the board to look into that...it may still be in place.” Smiseth promised to research the subject.

Fornino (the town's emergency manager) also wanted to sound a note of caution. "A bear just took my beloved 12-year-old rooster. If you’d asked me 12 years ago, I would have wished a bear would eat him, but he’s become quite a buddy. The bears are out, they are hungry, and people with small animals, small children, should be aware…just keep an eye out.” 

For public comment on Rochester's property reassessment see separate article.

During later board discussion time, Enouen said she planned to lend her secretary, who's also working for the planning board, to the assessor's office to help out for a few weeks, rather than spend money for an extra hire. Smiseth said she was concerned that Enouen’s office is being stretched too thin. “You’re already managing three bridge projects – you’re not the highway department,” she commented.

The board also discussed code enforcement officers wearing a body camera when they’re out in the field, “so they’ll have a record… also, you never know what can happen,” said Enouen. Albaugh’s concern: “Some young woman could just be having a bad day and someone’ll make an entire YouTube channel out of that. I don’t want to be a part of that.” Body camera footage “is a temporary record – it’s not permanent,” Enouen assured Albaugh.