Trustees Approve Village-Wide Reval

Residents came out to voice their concerns about a number of issues at the Scarsdale Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday night March 19th. On the agenda for the meeting was a bond resolution to finance the first town-wide revaluation in 44 years as well as a resolution to retain Tyler Technologies to conduct the reval. Reading the resolution to retain the reval firm, outgoing Village Trustee Richard Toder highlighted the need for the reval, saying, “Property taxes are the primary source of funding for the County government, local government government (etc) In order for taxes to be supported by the public, citizens must believe that the tax system is uniform in application and equitable in incidence.”. There is a lack of public confidence in the system and an extraordinary number of annual tax appeals.”

The Board approved both the issuance of the bond and the resolution to hire the firm. It will take approximately two years and be effective with June 2015 tax bills.

Robert Berg, who served as Chairman of the Assessment Revaluation Committee of the Scarsdale Forum commended the board for moving forward with the town-wide revaluation and offered the committee’s assistance. Doug Ulene also spoke in support of the revaluation, saying it is an issue of “fairness and unfairness, right and wrong,” that “two generations of Village mayors and Trustees have failed to address…creating winners and losers who pay more than their fair share.” He thanked former Mayor Carolyn Stevens for her courage and leadership on this issue, and credited her with “making it a reality.”

Henry Landau of Chesterfield Road was the sole objector. He said, “Fairness is something that is poorly defined,” and commented that the Village “seems to be attacked by people filing grievances.” He suggested that Scarsdale “look at this as a business,” and “hire young lawyers and students to help us marshall our defenses,” rather than spend $1 million on the reval. He ended by telling the Board, “Don’t plunge into this all at once.”

In other business, Lewis Arlt and Carolyn Stevens attended the meeting on behalf of the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce to announce three upcoming events and ask for the support of the Village.

The Westchester Fine Art Festival will return to Scarsdale on May 19-20. As the Merchant’s Lot will not be available, the Chamber hopes to use Chase Road between Christie Place and Spencer Place, some of Woodland Place and a portion of Chase Park to accommodate 75 juried artists from around the country. The street in front of the Post Office would need to be closed for the event.

The second event is a tasting from 25-30 restaurants and caterers, called the Taste of Scarsdale. The plan is to hold the tasting in Boniface Circle on a Sunday afternoon. The event will expose residents to fare from Scarsdale’s chefs and support local businesses.

Last, the Health Fair will be back this year on Saturday June 16th at Village Hall. The event features local healthcare providers, therapists, doctors, and caregivers. For further information on these events or to get information on participating, email the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce at: mail@scarsdalechamber.org.

Also on the agenda:

A bond resolution for $5,800,000 was approved for improvements to the Village water supply and distribution system including upgrading and rehabilitation of the Reeves Newsome Pump Station.

Another resolution for $1,460,000 in bonds was approved to fund the revaluation purchase equipment

A resolution for a revocable license to use the Village right of way at 39 Olmstead Road was granted to James Lin to install an overflow pipe that will connect to the Village catch basin. The license permits the installation and maintenance of a 4-inch overflow drainpipe in the village right of way.

The Trustees also approved a resolution to modify the deed for the Boulder Brook Property. The current owners, 291 Mamaroneck Realty wished to make improvements to the riding stable and facilities but were unable to get financing due to the “reverter price” stated in the deed. To end litigation between Mamaroneck Realty and the Village, a settlement was negotiated. Mamaroneck Realty will pay the Village $75,00. The Village will have the right of first refusal if the property is put up for sale or ceases to be used as an equestrian period, Mamaroneck Realty will spend $750,000 on improvement and the property will continued to be used as a riding facility.

Mayor Miriam Flisser made the following statement at the meeting:

Residents who follow the activities of the Village Board are aware that there are many complex issues being undertaken at this time. The Budget for fiscal year 2012-13 is very near completion, and the Board has undertaken to balance residents' commitments to

Issues such as Storm water and Sewer water infrastructure maintenance, Roadway maintenance, and modernization of the maintenance of our archaic Property Tax data, which you will see tonight. On March 27, we will finalize the South Fox Meadow Drainage project.

All of these issues have had resident input in the past months, and have been balanced against a State budget initiative to keep the tax levy at a fixed rate above the current amount for villages. The VB has held public hearings on this matter and the results will be published on our website soon.

In addition, the Board is involved in an initiative presented by petition of 200 residents, involving policy and procedure in the Village Building and Engineering Departments. The next meeting concerning this topic will be on March 19 at 6:55 PM.

Another issue receiving our attention is Historic Preservation. The VB has received the Reconnaisance Level Cultural Resource Survey Report of our consultants, LI Saltzman, Architects, on Feb 22, 2012. The report, which is approximately 300 pages, is posted on Scarsdale.com for all residents to read; and a public presentation is expected on Monday April 16 at 6:30 PM. The report takes note that Scarsdale has recently felt the loss of Architectural treasures, notably at Duck Pond, and at Richeleau Road, and we are all aware of the Villages lacking the legislative tools needed to preserve 15 Gatehouse Road.

Following the Reconnaisance level report, the Village will go through Cultural Resource Surveys Phase 1&2, considering establishing historic districts; and producing NY State Historic Preservation Resource Inventories for Landmark properties. The Village will need to review the draft new Historic Preservation Law (Chapter 182) concerning establishing landmarks, owner consent, and training of members serving on the Village's Committee on Historic Preservation, for methods of implementation of the law.