Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 5, dated Oct. 12, 2018.

What changed is that as time goes on and we look at how other expenses are playing out, we're trying to puzzle it in. It's a puzzle piece, and we don't want to overcommit the city. So, as we get clearer on other expenditures, we can [figure] out where we can slot a capital expense of that magnitude in there.



We're looking at the South Troy pool first because it's a more affordable option. The Lansingburgh pool looks, by all accounts, to be completely shot. I don't think, based on what I've seen and the people I've talked to at this point, that that's a repairable facility. So that's a much bigger investment, to install a brand-new pool. And so that's gonna take a little more time in terms of chasing down grant funding and trying to put together financing for that.





Just because something's in the capital plan, of course, doesn't mean it will come to fruition. Bonds have to be issued, grants secured, etc. Body-worn cameras are another estimated expense for 2019—as they were for 2018. A long-awaited policy was



Anyway, I'd imagine many residents will be heartened to hear of the pools' pending/potential revival.

I then asked if the movement of the pool stuff from 2022 to 2019-20 reflected a more positive financial outlook for the city. "I don't know that it goes to the overall outlook," the mayor said. "It goes to where it fits in, where we can afford to fit it in, and I'm sure we were more conservative last year, as we were still trying to piece our way through the long-term debt, the BANs [bond anticipation notes]." He added: "We're just getting a better focus, I guess you could say—a better focus on where our obligations are."Just because something's in the capital plan, of course, doesn't mean it will come to fruition. Bonds have to be issued, grants secured, etc. Body-worn cameras are another estimated expense for 2019—as they were for 2018. A long-awaited policy was supposedly going to be released this summer . I'd expect to see the police chief asked about that when he appears at the public safety committee's budget-focused meeting next month.Anyway, I'd imagine many residents will be heartened to hear of the pools' pending/potential revival.

The Budget, From Afar



There's been a slight increase in the total value of taxable properties. A number of parcels across the city have increased their assessments or been added to the tax rolls, Piotrowski said. There's also been a marked decrease in tax certioraris (14 in 2014, 11 in 2015, 35 in 2016, 25 in 2017, and this year so far, only 2).



Maybe the biggest change in the budget this year is the creation of a dedicated garbage fund, separate from the general fund, that accounts for all revenue and expenses related to solid waste management. That's where, for instance, the garbage fee, which is increasing from $160 to $164 per unit, will live. The creation of this special fund, for one, makes it easier for the comptroller's office to track operational revenue and expenditures.



Lastly, for now, here are some projected revenues that are increasing in the proposed budget:

I'll have more granular coverage on the proposed budget as we wend our way through the city council's standing committee meetings with the departments they oversee.

Andy Piotrowski, the city's deputy comptroller, last night provided the city council finance committee a look at the mayor's proposed 2019 budget from what he said was "a 10,000-foot level." I thought I'd share with you at least a few pages from his pretty useful handout, starting with this guide to how the property tax rate was calculated.There's been a slight increase in the total value of taxable properties. A number of parcels across the city have increased their assessments or been added to the tax rolls, Piotrowski said. There's also been a marked decrease in tax certioraris (14 in 2014, 11 in 2015, 35 in 2016, 25 in 2017, and this year so far, only 2).Maybe the biggest change in the budget this year is the creation of a dedicated garbage fund, separate from the general fund, that accounts for all revenue and expenses related to solid waste management. That's where, for instance, the garbage fee, which is increasing from $160 to $164 per unit, will live. The creation of this special fund, for one, makes it easier for the comptroller's office to track operational revenue and expenditures.Lastly, for now, here are some projected revenues that are increasing in the proposed budget:I'll have more granular coverage on the proposed budget as we wend our way through the city council's standing committee meetings with the departments they oversee.

Deputy Mayor Interview

The first phase of enhancements include[s] the upgrade of all existing parking meters, deploying upgraded kiosks to high-demand areas, reconfigured parking hours to encourage outer district parking, creation of dedicated visitor parking, improved public parking wayfinding signage, and launch of online payment options for metered street parking.

A few weeks ago, I reached out to deputy mayor Monica Kurzejeski for a status update on the parking saga, and on Tuesday we met to talk about it.



"What we're looking at right now is, we're upgrading the cabinets, so they'll have new guts, essentially," she said. "They'll be a lot more user-friendly. The current ones that we have are like 10 years old. So it's 10-year-old solar technology, 10-year-old batteries, 10-year-old change machines and credit-card machines. So all of that will be replaced."



The cabinets will still basically look the same. The brand-new guts are now at the DPW garage. This week, city crews need to pour three new concrete pads, "and then over the next few weeks, we'll start resetting all the new ones, and expanding the parking options downtown," Kurzejeski said.



Parking kiosks pulled from the RPI area "will come down here"—downtown, where we met up—"and then we'll make a little more rhyme [and] reason of the parking system down here. Instead of one side of the street being yes and the other side no, we'll go through and even up a lot of that. And then that's how we can get to that other piece [Cheryl] had looked at—trying to encourage people to park farther out of the core by making it more affordable out on the outskirts. And then we'll put...the two-hour [or] four-hour parking limits [signs] up at RPI so that way they'll be able to cycle through their parking instead of having people stay there for long periods of time."



New installations will occur between now and the beginning of November. "With that," the deputy mayor said, "we also are going to do a



There are currently three part-time parking enforcement officers, and the city is preparing to add a fourth. In years past, the smaller enforcement crew really only covered mornings and early afternoons, but "now they're spanning the entire time period," 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. or so, Kurzejeski said.



The



The new budget also includes a



One of the city's affiliated economic development agencies and the Troy Redevelopment Foundation, a consortium of big local nonprofits, have allocated funds toward the new wayfinding signage. Recent planning department hire James Rath is stewarding that project, Kurzejeski said. One of the first steps will involve taking down "conflicting signage," she added. This whole effort was identified as a priority project in the city's

1MSQ Update. In



DRI reaction. "It was really disappointing not to get that DRI," Kurzejeski said. "It was everything that they had wanted, and it was really just continuing on something that's already lit here." Similar to what the mayor told me for



7th & Ingalls park overhaul. The city, with help from an engineering consultant and funding allocated by Assemblyman John McDonald and others, intends to make a variety of improvements to the popular neighborhood park at 7th and Ingalls avenues, pictured below.

It abuts the Uncle Sam Bike Trail, and the consultant is exploring how to better connect the two amenities. Other potential improvements include some sort of gazebo or outdoor covered awning place, natural slides using the hill, a non-chainlink fence, better entrances ("People tell you where they walk," the deputy mayor said), a splash pad, reoriented basketball courts, new benches, new grills, and a new playground facility.



Implementation of these changes will likely occur in phases, Kurzejeski said.



Gym! Downtown needs one, I said.



"I would agree with that statement," the deputy mayor replied. "I've been talking to a couple of them." (Incidentally, her husband is a personal trainer, she said, and he also shares my opinion.) She's spoken to the YMCA before about moving to a different location, but a change like that would entail a pretty serious capital campaign.



"It'll be interesting to see what happens with the

This first phase, according to the announcement, would be implemented beginning in May, and additional improvements would be announced later this year. As the city's economic development coordinator, Cheryl Kennedy was working on this stuff, but she left that post this summer."What we're looking at right now is, we're upgrading the cabinets, so they'll have new guts, essentially," she said. "They'll be a lot more user-friendly. The current ones that we have are like 10 years old. So it's 10-year-old solar technology, 10-year-old batteries, 10-year-old change machines and credit-card machines. So all of that will be replaced."The cabinets will still basically look the same. The brand-new guts are now at the DPW garage. This week, city crews need to pour three new concrete pads, "and then over the next few weeks, we'll start resetting all the new ones, and expanding the parking options downtown," Kurzejeski said.Parking kiosks pulled from the RPI area "will come down here"—downtown, where we met up—"and then we'll make a little more rhyme [and] reason of the parking system down here. Instead of one side of the street being yes and the other side no, we'll go through and even up a lot of that. And then that's how we can get to that other piece [Cheryl] had looked at—trying to encourage people to park farther out of the core by making it more affordable out on the outskirts. And then we'll put...the two-hour [or] four-hour parking limits [signs] up at RPI so that way they'll be able to cycle through their parking instead of having people stay there for long periods of time."New installations will occur between now and the beginning of November. "With that," the deputy mayor said, "we also are going to do a WayToPark app ," which will allow you to forgo the slight inconvenience of obtaining a paper ticket and putting it on your dashboard.There are currently three part-time parking enforcement officers, and the city is preparing to add a fourth. In years past, the smaller enforcement crew really only covered mornings and early afternoons, but "now they're spanning the entire time period," 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. or so, Kurzejeski said.The new proposed budget makes nearly the same revenue estimate as last year re: fees from garages, lots, and meters ($655K) but predicts an uptick in parking fines ($400K estimated for 2018, $525K for 2019).The new budget also includes a new, part-time building maintenance person , whose job will include attending to meter-related issues. Additionally, the city has entered into a maintenance contract with a vendor to visit on a quarterly basis to supplement this kind of work, the deputy mayor said.One of the city's affiliated economic development agencies and the Troy Redevelopment Foundation, a consortium of big local nonprofits, have allocated funds toward the new wayfinding signage. Recent planning department hire James Rath is stewarding that project, Kurzejeski said. One of the first steps will involve taking down "conflicting signage," she added. This whole effort was identified as a priority project in the city's unsuccessful DRI proposal In TL2 I reported that the consultant responsible for overseeing the 1MSQ visioning process was eyeing October dates to present a refined version of the concept initially put together over the course of three days in June. Asked if there's a date set yet, Kurzejeski said, "We're trying to get some pricing as to what they've designed...and trying to get some of the information ahead of time that we know people are gonna ask for." She said it looks "very similar" to what was presented this summer."It was really disappointing not to get that DRI," Kurzejeski said. "It was everything that they had wanted, and it was really just continuing on something that's already lit here." Similar to what the mayor told me for TL3 , she expressed her continued support for the sort of tech/creative startup-focused concept that the proposal outlined.The city, with help from an engineering consultant and funding allocated by Assemblyman John McDonald and others, intends to make a variety of improvements to the popular neighborhood park at 7th and Ingalls avenues, pictured below.It abuts the Uncle Sam Bike Trail, and the consultant is exploring how to better connect the two amenities. Other potential improvements include some sort of gazebo or outdoor covered awning place, natural slides using the hill, a non-chainlink fence, better entrances ("People tell you where they walk," the deputy mayor said), a splash pad, reoriented basketball courts, new benches, new grills, and a new playground facility.Implementation of these changes will likely occur in phases, Kurzejeski said.Downtown needs one, I said."I would agree with that statement," the deputy mayor replied. "I've been talking to a couple of them." (Incidentally, her husband is a personal trainer, she said, and he also shares my opinion.) She's spoken to the YMCA before about moving to a different location, but a change like that would entail a pretty serious capital campaign."It'll be interesting to see what happens with the Neff Center ," the deputy mayor said. There are supposedly three or four people who are interested, the listing agent told her recently.

Reassessment, Redux





The city's equalization rate (total assessed value of properties in Troy divided by the total market value of properties in Troy) since that reassessment has remained at 100%. But there's a "strong possibility" that that rate will drop next year, assessor Sharon Martin told the finance committee last night.



She recommended that the city conduct a reassessment in 2020 or 2021. The state recommends performing this update every four to six years, Martin said. Potential benefits include better "assessment equity," improved bond ratings, fewer tax certiorari cases, increased state land assessments, and transparency, per an infosheet Martin shared with the committee.



The infosheet provides four examples of how current assessments might be a little out of whack:

"This is what's happening in our city," Martin said. "It's a wonderful thing—our sales are strong. We get a lot of them every month." But she can't change an assessment because of a sale, unless there's been a rehab or some sort of change made to the building.



Council President Carmella Mantello, citing the $1-million-plus cost of the consultant that oversaw the last effort, said she can't endorse a reassessment "anytime soon." But it seems unlikely that the next reassessment, if done timely, will cost that much, Martin later said, characterizing it as more of an "update" than a "full-blown" reevaluation. Mantello then requested that Martin provide some sort of cost projection in the future.

In 2013, the city, with help from a consultant, completed a citywide reassessment , its first in decades. This prompted some sticker shock The city's equalization rate (total assessed value of properties in Troy divided by the total market value of properties in Troy) since that reassessment has remained at 100%. But there's a "strong possibility" that that rate will drop next year, assessor Sharon Martin told the finance committee last night.She recommended that the city conduct a reassessment in 2020 or 2021. The state recommends performing this update every four to six years, Martin said. Potential benefits include better "assessment equity," improved bond ratings, fewer tax certiorari cases, increased state land assessments, and transparency, per an infosheet Martin shared with the committee.The infosheet provides four examples of how current assessments might be a little out of whack:"This is what's happening in our city," Martin said. "It's a wonderful thing—our sales are strong. We get a lot of them every month." But she can't change an assessment because of a sale, unless there's been a rehab or some sort of change made to the building.Council President Carmella Mantello, citing the $1-million-plus cost of the consultant that oversaw the last effort, said she can't endorse a reassessment "anytime soon." But it seems unlikely that the next reassessment, if done timely, will cost that much, Martin later said, characterizing it as more of an "update" than a "full-blown" reevaluation. Mantello then requested that Martin provide some sort of cost projection in the future.

'Qualified' Grant Writer Wanted





Mantello told the mayor last night that she'd prefer to see the city hire a part-timer or procure outside help on a case-by-case basis for this sort of service.



The city could pursue the latter option, but then "you don't get the follow-up," the mayor said. "You don't get somebody...whose responsibility is to track the grants and reporting, making sure that everything gets done appropriately." There's also less "continuity between and among various grants that you write," he added.



But the mayor also acknowledged that the case-by-case approach may provide a better value, since you can hire people "specifically talented in a particular area."



"Quite honestly," the mayor went on, "it's difficult to find a qualified grant writer at $70,000, and I don't want to hire somebody just to have someone sitting behind a desk."



Councilmember David Bissember expressed support for the full-time option, citing the continuity justification. "I'm glad we're talking about the grant writer," he said. "It's something that comes up consistently in my district. I think, unfortunately, some people are shocked sometimes when they hear we don't have one right now, and it seems like one of those positions that pays in dividends."

The mayor's proposed budget includes $70,000 for a grant writer, as does the current budget, though the most recent person to hold that position resigned at the start of this year Mantello told the mayor last night that she'd prefer to see the city hire a part-timer or procure outside help on a case-by-case basis for this sort of service.The city could pursue the latter option, but then "you don't get the follow-up," the mayor said. "You don't get somebody...whose responsibility is to track the grants and reporting, making sure that everything gets done appropriately." There's also less "continuity between and among various grants that you write," he added.But the mayor also acknowledged that the case-by-case approach may provide a better value, since you can hire people "specifically talented in a particular area.""Quite honestly," the mayor went on, "it's difficult to find a qualified grant writer at $70,000, and I don't want to hire somebody just to have someone sitting behind a desk."Councilmember David Bissember expressed support for the full-time option, citing the continuity justification. "I'm glad we're talking about the grant writer," he said. "It's something that comes up consistently in my district. I think, unfortunately, some people are shocked sometimes when they hear we don't have one right now, and it seems like one of those positions that pays in dividends."

Epstein Trial





A two-decade member of the department and former leader of its since-disbanded Firearms Interdiction and Narcotics Suppression Unit (FINS), last year Epstein unlawfully entered an Oakwood Ave. home and then essentially participated in a cover-up by not seizing what seemed to be cocaine found at the premises and filing a false incident report,



A brief overview of the case, based on court docs: On June 9, 2017, having been informed by a member of the Schenectady County Sheriff's office of an active arrest warrant for a person living at the Oakwood Ave. house, Epstein and other TPD members went to the house to execute the warrant.



No one answered the door, so Epstein kicked it in. (The amount of force he used to cause the door to open might be debated at trial.) The cops found no sign of the person they were looking for, but one officer found what seemed to be cocaine in a freezer.



There seems to have been an argument over whether or not to take the drugs; in the end, they were left behind. Epstein wrote up a report about the incident that same day, which reads, in part, as follows: On Tuesday, I attended a pretrial hearing in the criminal case of Ron Epstein, a Troy Police detective. His trial starts on Monday.A two-decade member of the department and former leader of its since-disbanded Firearms Interdiction and Narcotics Suppression Unit (FINS), last year Epstein unlawfully entered an Oakwood Ave. home and then essentially participated in a cover-up by not seizing what seemed to be cocaine found at the premises and filing a false incident report, according to special prosecutor Paul Czajka . (A judge has dismissed counts 3, 4, 13, & 14 of that linked-to indictment.)A brief overview of the case, based on court docs: On June 9, 2017, having been informed by a member of the Schenectady County Sheriff's office of an active arrest warrant for a person living at the Oakwood Ave. house, Epstein and other TPD members went to the house to execute the warrant.No one answered the door, so Epstein kicked it in. (The amount of force he used to cause the door to open might be debated at trial.) The cops found no sign of the person they were looking for, but one officer found what seemed to be cocaine in a freezer.There seems to have been an argument over whether or not to take the drugs; in the end, they were left behind. Epstein wrote up a report about the incident that same day, which reads, in part, as follows:

[Epstein] knocked on the door with hand and foot loudly to gain attention, door opened. The door seemed to open easily being locked. Further examination it appeared [sic] that the door had been previously damaged. [We] announced our selves [sic] several times with no response. Residence was entered and cleared. No one was found present in residence [...] THe [sic] fact that the door had opened easily without force a ET [evidence technician] was called to the [scene] in case a previous burglary had taken place and the tenant was unaware.





Epstein and Comitale have pleaded not guilty and maintain their innocence (hence the trials).



At the pretrial hearing on Tuesday, Michael Koenig, Epstein's attorney, asked the court to sign subpoenas for the following nine individuals (a sign that they might be called as witnesses): Also that same day, John Comitale—a now-retired FINS member who will be tried on two misdemeanors in connection with the same matter later this year—started drafting a search warrant application that ostensibly would've allowed the cops to seize the cocaine they left behind. Epstein called Troy City Court Judge Chris Maier, who basically seems to have told him that he wouldn't approve such a request and that the cops should have taken the drugs.Epstein and Comitale have pleaded not guilty and maintain their innocence (hence the trials).At the pretrial hearing on Tuesday, Michael Koenig, Epstein's attorney, asked the court to sign subpoenas for the following nine individuals (a sign that they might be called as witnesses):