Can the same person in New York serve as police chief of one town and as a board of assessment review member in a different town?

Plain-English summary

Hyde Park's town attorney asked the AG whether a board of assessment review member in one town could also serve as the police chief of a different town. The AG said yes. No statute prohibits the combination, and the People v Green compatibility test is satisfied. The two offices are in different governmental units (different towns), so neither is subordinate to the other. The duties (administering a town police department on one side and hearing property tax assessment appeals on the other) have no inherent inconsistency. There is also no overlap in the budgets or oversight structures that often drive compatibility problems in dual-office cases.

The AG noted the standard subsidiary point: even compatible offices can produce specific-matter conflicts that recusal addresses. If, for example, the police chief somehow had a personal stake in a property assessment being reviewed in town B, recusal from that matter would handle it. But the offices themselves are compatible.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Why do different towns matter here?
Because the police chief role gives the chief budget exposure to town A's town board, while the board of assessment review role puts the holder in town B's tax-appeal process. The two roles do not share a chain of command or a budget. If both positions were in the same town, the analysis could shift (a police chief is paid out of the town budget, which is affected by aggregate property assessments).

What does a board of assessment review do?
At the time of the opinion, Real Property Tax Law § 525 made the board of assessment review responsible for hearing and deciding appeals from property assessments within its town. Property owners challenge the assessor's valuation, and the board renders a determination, which is then judicially reviewable.

How is a town police chief appointed?
At the time, Town Law § 150 authorized towns to establish police departments. The chief was appointed by the town board, which also set the chief's compensation under Town Law § 150(1). The chief was generally responsible for the department's administration.

Are there any specific matter conflicts to worry about?
The AG opinion does not work through specific scenarios, but the typical conflict would be a town B property assessment involving property in which the town A police chief has a personal interest. If that happens, recusal handles it. Beyond that, the two roles have no functional overlap.

Background and statutory framework

Town Law § 150 authorized towns to establish police departments and provided for the appointment of police chiefs by the town board.

Real Property Tax Law § 525 established the board of assessment review and its duty to hear assessment appeals.

People ex rel. Ryan v Green (1874) supplied the compatibility test: incompatibility requires subordination of one office to the other, or inherent inconsistency between the duties. The AG concluded that neither prong was satisfied for a police chief in one town paired with a board of assessment review member in another town.

The two subsidiary aspects of compatibility apply here as well: the doctrine extends to combinations of office and employment, and even compatible positions can produce specific-matter conflicts that recusal resolves.

Source

• Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
• Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/I_96-33_pw.pdf

Original opinion text

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opn. No. 96-33
REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW § 525; TOWN LAW § 150.

A person may serve simultaneously as chief of police for one town and as a member of another town's board of assessment review.

September 19, 1996

Thomas D. Mahar, Jr., Esq.
Town Attorney
Town of Hyde Park
42 Catherine Street
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

Informal Opinion No. 96-33

Dear Mr. Mahar:

You have asked whether a member of a town board of assessment review may hold simultaneously the position of police chief of another town.

We have found no statutory prohibition on the holding of these two offices. See, Town Law § 150 (establishment of a town police department); Real Property Tax Law § 525 (establishment of a board of assessment review). In the absence of a statutory prohibition, the question remains whether the offices are compatible under the common law rule of compatibility of offices.

In the absence of a constitutional or statutory prohibition against dual-officeholding, one person may hold two offices simultaneously unless they are incompatible. The leading case on compatibility of office is People ex rel. Ryan v Green, 58 NY 295 (1874). In that case the court held that two offices are incompatible if one is subordinate to the other or if there is an inherent inconsistency between the two offices. The former can be characterized as "you cannot be your own boss", a status ordinarily easy to ascertain. The latter is not easily characterized, for one must analyze the duties of the two offices to determine whether there is an inconsistency. An obvious example is the inconsistency of holding both the office of auditor and the office of director of finance.

There are two subsidiary aspects of compatibility. One is that, although the common law rule of the Ryan case is limited to public offices, the principle equally covers an office and a position of employment or two positions of employment. The other is that, in instances where the positions are compatible, a situation may arise presenting a conflict of interests arising out of the simultaneous holding of the two positions. In such a situation the conflict can be avoided by declining to participate in the disposition of the matter.

A town board of assessment review is charged with the duty of hearing and determining appeals in relation to the assessment of real property within the town. Id., § 525. The chief of police of a town police department is generally responsible for the administration of the department. The chief of police is appointed by the town board, which also fixes his or her compensation. Town Law § 150(1).

A comparison of the duties and respective jurisdictions of these two positions leads us to find no conflict of duties. Accordingly, we conclude that one person may serve simultaneously as chief of police for one town and as a member of another town's board of assessment review.

The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to officers and departments of State government. This perforce is an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this office.

Sincerely,
JOSEPH CONWAY
Assistant Attorney General