Reproduced with permission of The Scarsdale Inquirer.
© 2004 S.I. Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Published in The Scarsdale Inquirer on Friday, November 5, 2004
7.4% tax hike for unincorporated G'burgh residents?
By SUSAN F. WOLFERT
According to the town's preliminary operating budget released this week, residents of unincorporated Greenburgh could see a 7.4 percent increase in their town tax bills in April.
If the town board approves the proposed budget, total town taxes for unincorporated residents would be $120.16 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Last year's comparable bill was $111.93.
The townwide budget, shared by all Greenburgh residents, is projected to be $13.5 million, up almost 5 percent from 2004. The town outside, or unincorporated, budget is at $51.5 million, up just over 5 percent.
Unincorporated residents pay into both budgets. Village residents will pay $6.91 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, up almost 17 percent from 2004.
In a letter to residents accompanying the preliminary budget, Town Supervisor Paul Feiner noted a number of reasons for the budget increase. Significant items include insurance premiums, health insurance, fuel costs and refuse costs together accounting for $728,837 or 23 percent of the $3.1 million increase in the combined budgets.
The increases in insurance premiums and health care are both significantly lower than they were in the 2004 budget. Payments into employees' pension plans, a major factor in previous years' budget increases, have leveled off and came in slightly lower than the 2004 budget.
Feiner's letter blames New York State for causing a "dramatic erosion in [the town's] commercial/industrial tax base over the last few years." A 41 percent drop in the state-mandated equalization rate, used to promote uniformity in property assessments among municipalities throughout the state, has meant lower assessments and, thus, less tax support from commercial tenants here.
Feiner said the town has been "seeking relief to change the methods used by
New York State to establish equalization rates." He added that, to date, the town has seen little success from its efforts.The 2005 budget assumes $1.2 million for tax refund payments pursuant to certiorari claims throughout the town. And, almost $1 million is set aside in the unincorporated budget for contingencies including certiorari payments, new initiatives, union contract settlements and emergencies.
Other budget expenses include $7,000 for a part-time special assistant to the supervisor to oversee the expansion of the Greenburgh Public Library. Feiner wrote in the letter, "If the town board approves this line item request, I will appoint [tax assessor] Gerry Iagallo to this position."
But, on Oct. 19, the town board had voted to eliminate Iagallo's position of special projects coordinator and the $7,000 stipend that came with the job. As coordinator, one of Iagallo's special projects was the library expansion. Feiner had reportedly attempted to keep Iagallo as coordinator for the library expansion when the board voted to eliminate the special assistant position, but failed to win support for the plan.
With that vote, the town board sought to eliminate a potential conflict of interest from Iagallo serving as assessor while simultaneously negotiating the purchase or sale of town property. An unknown factor in the proposed library expansion is whether the adjacent old town hall site will be sold, leased or demolished to increase the land available to the library.
Town department heads will all earn 3 percent raises in 2005. If the proposed budget is passed, Feiner's salary will be just over $120,000, of which he will put $5,000 into escrow pending his annual performance review at year-end. Other budgeted salaries include the comptroller ($123,600), the town attorney
($116,390) and the assessor ($112,270 not including the potential stipend). Also regarding personnel, the proposed budget includes an additional $53,376 for Jim Hubert, who was elected Tuesday to the newly created position of third part-time town judge, and $35,828 for an assistant court clerk, both to begin in January. All these department heads and town court salaries are part of the townwide budget and thus shared by all Greenburgh residents.The issue of trees figured prominently in the proposed unincorporated budget with an arborist budgeted at just under $50,000, tree service contracts at $80,000 and professional fees for "trees and other" at $26,000. A part-time forestry officer, assumed to be part of the planning commissioner's office which Feiner recommended early this year, is projected at $27,000.
Zoning and planning revenues and expenses are part of the unincorporated budget as the incorporated villages have their own such departments. The planning commissioner is budgeted to earn $100,425 in 2005. Operating the Greenburgh Public Library, also under the unincorporated budget, is projected to cost the town $3.1 million. This figure does not include any of the costs associated with the library's proposed expansion.
A new initiative to enable wireless Internet access at two town parks next year is budgeted to cost $3,000. Feiner said he hopes to expand the program to all the town's parks by 2006. This program is under the parks and recreation department, part of the townwide budget.
Sources of revenue
Major sources of revenue in the unincorporated budget include property taxes ($38 million), sales tax ($4.8 million), various fees and permits ($2.9 million), cable franchise tax ($460,000) and investment interest and earnings ($675,000). Funding for cable equipment from Cablevision ($75,000) is slated to go to Greenburgh area schools for producing and televising programs there.
Mortgage tax revenue, generated by new and refinanced mortgages, is budgeted at $3 million, down from a projected $4.9 million in 2004. The revenue goes to the townwide budget and represents over 22 percent of the total appropriation there.
Many have criticized the exclusive allocation of mortgage tax revenue to the townwide budget, arguing it should be given to the municipality that generates it. But, according to comptroller Jim Heslop, the funds are allocated according to state mandate. The state comptroller's office "issues a formula to determine how mortgage taxes are allocated to each municipality," he said.
In his annual budget letter, Feiner wrote, "The town must be fiscally prudent to safeguard the future through fiscal restraint and long-range planning." He added that the budget is "fiscally responsible to both the competing needs for services and the recognition that we must limit the tax increase for our property owners."
Feiner told the Inquirer that he expects "some questions and modifications" in the budget review process, but does not expect great controversy. He added, "The town board will probably make some changes, but none that will reduce the taxes."
The proposed operating budget and Feiner's accompanying letter can be accessed on Greenburgh's Web site (www.greenburghny.com). A public question-and-answer session on the proposed operating budget will be held Monday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. at Greenburgh Town Hall. The public hearing on the budget will follow at 7:30. State law requires that town board adopt the budget by Dec. 20.