Board members
The State Board of Real Property Tax Services is a separate and independent body within the Department of Taxation and Finance. It is comprised of up to five members who are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. One member must be engaged in the commercial production for sale of agricultural crops, livestock, or livestock products. The Board members' eight-year terms are staggered so that no two members' terms expire in the same year. The Governor designates one member as chair. The Board members serve without pay, but they are reimbursed for necessary expenses while on State Board business. There is currently one vacancy on the Board.
Scott C. Becker
Scott C. Becker, Partner of Kavinoky Cook, LLP in Buffalo, was nominated by the Governor to the State Board of Real Property Tax Services and confirmed by the Senate on June 17, 2016.
Mr. Becker is a trial attorney and concentrates his practice on property tax assessment litigation, as well as wills, trusts, and estate planning. Mr. Becker has appeared for and advised clients in tax certiorari, eminent domain and other commercial litigation matters in federal and state courts throughout New York State. Mr. Becker has lectured and organized programs on property valuation issues and litigation for clients for various bar associations.
Mr. Becker is a member and past-chair of the Erie County Bar Association’s Committee on Eminent Domain and Tax Certiorari. He is also a member of the Bar of a number of state and federal courts, the New York State Bar Association and the Erie County Bar Association. Mr. Becker has also been appointed as a hearing referee in tax certiorari matters in the Eighth Judicial District of the New York State Supreme Court (which includes the counties of Erie, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming).
Mr. Becker is a member of the Board of Directors of the UB Law Alumni Association. He is also a Trustee of St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo. His public service experience includes handling a variety of matters on a pro bono basis as well as volunteer and charitable work for Cornell University, Nardin Academy and Holy Spirit parish in North Buffalo.
Mr. Becker graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, cum laude, in 1993 and from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1988.
Mr. Becker was appointed in 2016 to a term expiring on December 31, 2023. (By virtue of Public Officers Law section 5, a member of the State Board whose term has expired may continue to serve until a successor takes office.)
Robert A. Bick
Robert A. Bick was confirmed as a member of the State Board of Real Property Tax Services on June 10, 2025.
Mr. Bick is the assessor in the Town of Clay, where he has served since 2005. Previously, he was the assessor in multiple towns and counties dating back to 1997. He began his career as a design professional working for Sargent, Webster, Crenshaw, and Folley Architects., Engineers and Planners, L. Robert Kimball Consulting Engineers, Key Bank of North America as a Project Manager, and has worked as a design, construction, and development consultant for 30 years.
Mr. Bick is currently fulfilling a one-year term as the New York State Assessors Association President, where he has been a board member for six years and an instructor for twenty years. He has served as the President of the Onondaga County Assessors Association twice, a past board member of the Adirondack Architectural Heritage Foundation, Midstate Youth Hockey Association, and Erie Canal Museum, and is currently a member of the Town of Cicero Zoning Board of Appeals. He was also a publicly elected President of the Board of Trustees for the Northern Onondaga County Public Library system, where he served for 10 years. He has participated in search and rescue work in the Adirondacks for 15 years.
A graduate of St. Lawrence University, Mr. Bick has done graduate work at Syracuse University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He recently completed a professional certification in Municipal Finance from the University of Chicago.
Mr. Bick is an internationally award-winning author with expertise in PILOT programs and development and their impact on property taxation. He has authored works on backcountry skiing, wilderness snowmobiling, fiscal remedies for current methods of taxation, leadership and management, and several articles on assessment administration.
Mr. Bick was appointed in 2025 to a term expiring on December 31, 2027.
Samuel J. Casella
Samuel J. Casella, member of the New York State Advisory Council on Agriculture and Vice-Chairman of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Agricultural Advisory Committee (1996-present), former Supervisor of the Town of Canandaigua (serving from 1998-2005 and 2010-2013), former member of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors and former member of the Ontario County Board of Ethics, was nominated by the Governor to the State Board and confirmed by the Senate on June 15, 2016 as the representative on the State Board for the agriculture community.
Mr. Casella has extensive service on committees pertaining to agriculture and the environment. Mr. Casella serves as Chairman of the Ontario County Soil & Water District Board of Directors and member of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County Agriculture Economic Advisory Team. He was also elected Committeeman to the United States Department of Agriculture and was elected to the Ontario County Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Committee being awarded the ten-year Dedicated Service Award upon conclusion of his service.
Mr. Casella has broad service on committees focusing on regional planning and economic development for sound land use. He currently is on the Finger Lakes Resource Conservation and Development Council (1998-present) and the Partnership for Ontario County (July 2016-present). He has served on the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council (2002-2005 and 2010-2013), Genesee Transportation Council Executive Committee (2003-2005), Ontario County Office of Economic Development and Industrial Development Agency Strategic Review Steering Committee (1999-2005), Infotonics Center of Excellence Economic Development Advisory Committee (2004-2005) and Ontario County Farm Bureau (former President, Vice-President and Treasurer).
In addition to being involved as federal appointed member of the VA Hospital Local Advisory panel and Finger Lakes Veterans Advisory Committee and Member of the Sons of the American Legion Post 256 in Canandaigua, Mr. Casella has been a speaker at several Veterans memorial functions and received the New York State Department of Veterans Affairs appreciation award in 2005. Mr. Casella has consulted on local governance, agriculture and watershed management issues abroad with Honduras, as part of a USDA project, after devastation by Hurricane Mitch in 1999. Mr. Casella's affiliations include the Cornell Cooperative Extension, Ontario County Agricultural Society, South Bristol Fish and Game Club and Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department.
A graduate of Finger Lakes Community College with an Associates of Science degree in Humanities, Mr. Casella and his wife Debra and daughter Kathryn reside at the family farm in Canandaigua.
Mr. Casella was appointed in 2016 to a term expiring on December 31, 2022. (By virtue of Public Officers Law section 5, a member of the State Board whose term has expired may continue to serve until a successor takes office.)
David F. Moog
David F. Moog, IAO, was nominated by the Governor to the State Board of Real Property Tax Services, and confirmed by the Senate on May 29, 2025.
Mr. Moog has dedicated his career to property tax and assessment administration, having served as a City Assessor for New York City’s Department of Finance and the Law Department for more than 20 years. His service at the Law Department involved negotiation and settlement of hundreds of Tax Certiorari cases, including cases involving some of the largest buildings in New York City.
Most recently, Mr. Moog was the County Assessor and Director of Real Property Tax Services for Nassau County, where he oversaw a major overhaul of Nassau County’s property tax system. He previously served as a Senior Analyst and Negotiator for AFSCME, District Council 37.
Mr. Moog is a current member of the New York State Assessors Association and Institute of Assessing Officers. He is also a former member of Community Board One Manhattan, former president of Local 1757 Assessors, AFSCME, and former vice president of District Council 37 AFSCME.
A graduate of New York University with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Finance and Public Administration, Mr. Moog also earned his Masters of Public Administration from City University of New York, Baruch College.
Mr. Moog and his wife, Jean Carubia, reside in Sunnyside, New York.
Mr. Moog was appointed in 2025 to a term expiring on December 31, 2029.