Where Your Village Taxes Go

Though the portion of your real estate taxes that goes to Scarsdale Village only accounts for 18.3% of the total bill, the services they fund are perhaps the most visible manifestation of your payment. Many residents are not clear on which department is providing which service and how their tax payments are being spent. In an effort to enlighten the public on just what the Village does, the Scarsdale Forum and League of Women Voters presented a session called “Where Your Village Property Tax Dollars Go: An Overview” at Village Hall on Thursday January 10, 2019. You can watch the presentation on video here:

The program was well attended and included presentations from Village Manager Steve Pappalardo, Village Treasurer Mary Lou McClure, Benny Salanitro head of the Department of Public Works, Police Chief Andrew Matturro and Fire Chief Jim Seymour. They explained how the annual $56.5 million in Village taxes are spent.

Here are just a few facts that may surprise you:

Scarsdale has 91 miles of roadways – 78 miles are owned by the Village and the rest by the county and the state.

5 miles of roads were repaved and 8,000 linear feet of curbing were installed in 2018

The Department of Public Works collected 4,100 tons of fall leaves in 2018.

The Sanitation Division collected approximately 6,700 tons of solid waste, 8,000 tons of organics, 650 tons of co-mingled recyclables, 1,800 tons of newspapers, 14.8 tons of textiles in 2018.

In 2018 the Scarsdale Fire Department responded to 1,778 calls, an increase of 343 over 2017. Why? Chief Seymour says, “My best conclusion was that the automatic aid agreement added roughly 24 responses and there were two significant storms (3/2 & 9/25) in which handed us 50 responses for each. Lastly, through social media and word of mouth, we have really increased our efforts to educate our residents to call us when they need us.”

And Police Chief Andrew Matturo reported that the average response time for police for priority calls in 2018 was 4.05 minutes and for all calls was 4.40 minutes.

What is the cost of these services per household?

The average household pays $832 a year for roads, sanitation and facilities maintenance.

The average household pays $751 for police protection.

The average household pays $629 a year for fire protection.

Another question often asked, is how do our local taxes compare to those paid by residents of neighboring municipalities. It turns out that our rates are pretty favorable.

Village Treasures Mary Lou McClure presented the following bill that compares property taxes in Scarsdale against taxes in Larchmont and Pelham Manor for homes of a similar assessed value:

And how does Moody’s rate Scarsdale’s debt? McClure reported that Scarsdale has an Aaa rating which “reflects the village’s sound financial position with healthy reserves and history of stable operations, affluent and sizeable tax base favorably located near New York City and manageable fixed costs. The rating also reflects moderate pension and OPEB liabilities.”

Following the presentation, the audience was given the chance to ask a few questions. The first asked if the Village of Scarsdale has considered consolidating services with other municipalities. Village Pappalardo replied that “yes” the Village had considered this many times and is doing what it can to share services with neighboring municipalities without doing a wholesale consolidation. Fire Chief Seymour noted mutual aid agreements with other fire departments to respond to fires in Eastchester and Greenburgh and to have their forces back ours as well.

Another asked if the Recreation Department was self supporting. Village Manager Pappalardo said that the Rec Department puts on 150 programs and 65% of their expenses are covered for fees collected by users. However, the cost to manage the department and maintain the facilities are covered by taxes rather than fees.

To a question about the development of the Freightway site, Pappalardo said, “We have seven responses from developers. The Board is discussing next steps – including drafting an RFP. There is a public comments session on January 22 at 6:30 and you can see all the documents online under “planning.”

To a question about upgrading Village Hall, Pappalardo said, “There is nothing in the budget now, though it will have to be addressed sometime. We need $1.5 million just to upgrade Rutherford Hall. The whole building needs a lot of work.”

Dara Gruenberg who spearheaded the event said, "I am thrilled that the LWVS and Forum collaborated which is unprecedented. The feedback I have received from many who attended and aren’t involved in the Village was that it was very informative and clear. We marketed it to the real estate agencies and a lot of brokers came. I think there were 60 people there. So overall a success! Huge thanks to the LWVS, the Forum, Village Staff, and the committee that worked so hard to put this together."

Learn more about where your taxes go here: