Town amends senior tax exemption to the full amount

Board meeting hears strong public comment

Brooke Stelzer BSP Reporter

The Marbletown Town Board meeting was held on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Rondout Municipal Center. Board members present in person included Rich Parete, chairman and town supervisor, along with Tim Hunt, Don LaFera, Ken Davenport and Daisy Foote. Seven resolutions were presented and all passed, 5-0.

The board heard public comment from a turnout of community members who came to voice opinions on the tabled Resolution 23, a local law to amend Chapter 172 taxation to amend income limits for exemptions for senior citizens. The resolution was tabled in the Feb. 7 meeting and slated to be voted on in the Feb. 21 meeting.

Laura Cunningham, a 41-year resident of Marbletown, spoke first. “I think we need not beg for the maximum $50,000, I think we deserve it, and I’m hoping that you can rethink this and go there. New York state did a wonderful thing, they raised the limit from $29,000 to $50,000, and I think they did that so the towns could afford to give it to seniors, and I hope that is the case.”

Barbara Goodwin presented her own study on senior citizen exemptions. “I’m assuming what we all want to do is give seniors as much help as we can,” she said, “and have that amount stay the same over a period of time. Ideally it would be great if we can do 50% and that doesn’t change as a person’s income rises, so [it's by] the scale so they’re still eligible for whatever they got in 2023, and still eligible in 2031.” Goodwin continued, “Let’s do what we can with the $50,000, and the thing to me that is so important is to look back at when the town adopted its scale in 2010. They adopted the maximum of what the state allowed. Let’s do the same now.”

“I want to speak to the issue that you’re all thinking about – you have other people besides seniors,” said Vivi Hlavsa. “The other people besides seniors are working people, they’re making a salary. Maybe not as good as they like, but they’re making a salary. Seniors are on the fixed income and it is very scary for some of these seniors. They’re looking down the road and they don’t know. A friend of mine had to leave her house, she couldn’t afford it. Keep in mind this is a different population. We have to take care of the little ones, and we have to take care of the old ones and the disabled, we have to do that. We are a decent community, we are a decent group of people.”

Nina Shengold, a citizen of Ulster County for 35 years, commented, “What a unanimity of voices you’re hearing here. I want to add mine on behalf of the many people in my neighborhood of the Vly who are retired, semi-retired or can’t afford to retire, and who have not got pensions and have not got fixed incomes beyond basic social services because many of us are freelancers and self-employed.”

June Mastropietro has lived in the area since 1960. “With the cost of food going up and heating oil, it’s cost me almost $6,000 to heat my house this winter.” She continued, “The facts are that we are being squeezed, we are being squeezed horribly … if you could afford us some help.”

The last speaker during public comment was Mary Louise Wilson. “I’m 91,” she said. The room responded with applause. “I only have one eye,” she said, with a chuckle, and the room responded in kind. “I just think that this town supports children and we all pay mightily for the school education, and I think the other end should be addressed with some help.”

“Thanks everybody for coming to speak tonight,” said Parete. “The board has discussed it and we came up with three different options to discuss over the two weeks from the last meeting.” Option three presented was the maximum amount, which is $50,000, receives a 50% exemption, and the scale goes up to $58,400, which gets a 5% exemption. “This does not affect county taxes, it only affects town taxes,” said Parete.

Councilman LaFera stated, “Our tax rate in this town is actually very good.” He continued, “The other thing I want to point out is it doesn’t change our town tax rate, it just takes it away and puts it toward people who don’t qualify, it will be taking up the slack, so to speak.”

Councilman Hunt continued, “We have the second lowest tax rate in Ulster County, as a township, so we’re trying to keep that low and will continue to do that.”

“In 2022, we were the lowest,” said Parete.

“We just got beat out by Rochester last year.”

“And one of the reasons our taxes went up a little bit last year was because of the ambulance service,” said councilwoman Foote.

In response to public comment regarding seniors not knowing about the exemption or what paperwork was needed, Foote continued, “Going forward, when people apply for this, we do try to do everything we can – town website, Facebook page and newspaper. This just came to me right now and we’ll have to discuss this as a board, but maybe next year at tax time, we can have a volunteer or pay somebody just to go over everything you’re going to need for this, because it is … I’m looking at the list of things that will be required … and I think that would be a useful thing for the town.”

“Possibly an information session,” added LaFera.

“I really appreciate the comments here today and input from everyone,” said Hunt. “Especially all the math and accounting.” He continued with clarification of what is not included in income eligibility, which is Social Security income, welfare payments, gifts, inheritances, welfare payments re- ceived as a foster care grandparent, returns on capital, reparation payments due to Holocaust, or distribution from IRAs. “Hopefully, again, exemption people will be aware of it, but hopefully the most vulnerable will be protected,” said Hunt.

“I’m going to make a motion that we go with option three, which is the max that is allowed by the state,” said Parete. The town passed the resolution, 5-0, to applause from the room. The tax schedule will go into effect on July 1, 2023.

Resolution 31, which was previously tabled, provides broadband funding and development to the town and all the unserved and underserved residents and businesses in Marbletown by service provider Archtop. “They’re hiring 70 to 80 technicians in Kingston,” said Parete.

Resolution 36 hires Walden Environmental Engineering to hire a consultant to prepare Exhibit B, “Designated Area for Neighborhood Support Project” at a cost not to exceed $5,000 as part of the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the town and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as it relates to repairs in the Rondout Pressure Tunnel portion of the Catskill Aqueduct, which runs under Marbletown. Parete noted the town will announce a public hearing and information sessions as the work and the case move forward.

Resolution 24 was a tabled resolution that was brought back for vote. It is a taxation to amend income limits for exemptions for disabled persons with limited income.

Resolution 37 adopts local law number three, a law providing for a partial tax exemption upon real property based on the owner’s volunteer membership in a Town of Marbletown fire department or first aid unit.

Resolution 38 appoints Nancy Birdsall to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Resolution 39 reappoints Diane Silverberg to a position on the Board of Assessment Review. The appointment expires Sept. 30, 2027.

In other business, the board reported that the Preservation Committee is anticipating its first check from the real estate transfer tax, which was on the November ballot. The town reports income of $10,200 from the tax. “I think we had nine closings in town, four were over the $320,000 mark,” said Parete. The town supervisor also noted the town is going to put the Marbletown firehouse on North Marbletown Road up for sale and shared that there is already some interest from a local buyer.

Wolfgang Fasser shows the astonishing variety of acoustic spaces in music therapy that can help guide children with physical and mental disabilities, developing their personalities through the interplay of sound and touch.

Science on Screen Series opens with ‘In the Garden of Sounds’ documentary

The documentary “In the Garden of Sounds (Nel giardino dei suoni)” will be screened at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 18, at the Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main St., Rosendale. A post-film discussion featuring psychotherapist SarahRose Hogan and Jim Metzner, producer and host of the Pulse of the Planet radio series and podcast, along with a recent interview with the film's star, Wolfgang Fasser, will also be presented. Alan Newman, the Theatre's Science on Screen® producer, will moderate the discussion.

“In the Garden of Sounds” documents the remarkable work of Fasser with severely disabled children. Fasser, who went blind as a young man, had turned his disability into a tool for helping children through music and sounds. In a small Swiss hamlet, he engages children with drums, piano, and even a bed that resonates with sounds. The documentary is subtitled in English and was recorded in Swiss German and Italian. It is the first of four films in the Science on Screen® series, featured monthly, at the Rosendale Theatre. The series creatively pairs films with a lively discussion by notable figures from the world of science, technology and medicine. Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with significant support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

For more information, visit rosendaletheatre.org or call 845-658-8989.