And the Winners Are...
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 5576
On Sunday morning April 6, 382 adults completed the 15K or 4 mile run sponsored by the Scarsdale Recreation Department and the Scarsdale Antiques Running Club. The 15 K run is the longest running race in Westchester County and began on Brewster Road continuing through Fox Meadow and Greenacres. At the same time, 116 kids, ages 12 and under participated in the 1-mile fun run around the high school track.
Awards were given to the first three finishers in male and female groups: 14 and under, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70-79, 80+. Team awards were also given in the 15K for the first three teams in male (50+) and female (40+).
Awards were given to the first Scarsdale finisher (Male and Female) in the 15K.
Bagels, water and coffee were available for the runners. The coffee was courtesy of 
Lange's Deli.
Among the runners was Scarsdale Board of Education member Lew Leone who finished first in the age 50-59 group of the 4 mile run and Scarsdale Village Treasurer Mary Lou McClure who finished first in the 4 mile run for the 60-69- age bracket and Recreation Department Superintendent Jason Marra.
Here is a list of the top winners: To see the list of winners by age group, click here:
15K Winners
Overall Male Winner: John Carron 56:54
Overall Female Winner: Daisy Neumark 1:04:34
First Scarsdale Male Finisher: Chihiro Ota 57:32
First Scarsdale Female Finisher: Cynthia Fisher 1:13:27
4 Mile Run Winners
Overall Male Winner: Marc Weisglass 25:32
Overall Female Winner: Moriah Trenk: 25:55
Residents React to Tax Revaluation in Scarsdale
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 24781
The results of Scarsdale's first tax revaluation since 1969 have been released and residents are busy evaluating their new assessments. Some are breathing sighs of relief while others are vowing to pack-up and put their homes on the market. As predicted, anecdotal data shows that homeowners on large lot sizes are seeing the most dramatic increases in their taxes, ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 per year with some going up by as much as $100,000 per year.
For most, the changes are not as dramatic, varying by a few thousand dollars in either direction. On a cumulative basis it appears that the steep increases to homeowners on larger lots have funded decreases to the owners of more modest homes.
The mailers that were sent to homeowners show the new assessed value of the home and what real estate taxes would have been in 2013 based on this new assessment. However, 2014 tax bills will be based on the old assessments. The best way to calculate real estate taxes in 2015, the first year the new assessments will be in effect, is to multiply the new assessed value by a factor of .02241%.
Village Assessor Nanette Albanese explained why the mailers and the 2015 projections don't match up. She said, "Because of the limitations of the NYS assessment disclosure system, and because people are demanding to know how to calculate their taxes, I have provided an ESTIMATED 2015 TAX RATE AND A 2015 TAX RATE CALCULATION on the Assessor's webpage. The number that I calculate on the assessor's page (.02241) takes the calculation out one more year to 2015 by inflating the 2013 levy another 4%, which I believe is much better way of getting to an estimate of 2015 taxes than is shown on the assessment disclosure notice, even though it's any one's guess how much the 2014 levy will increase. The assessment disclosure notice is a NYS document that is antiquated, most of which is hard-coded and, therefore, we could not change. There is an explanation on the cover letter that went with the disclosure notice, but I understand that it is wordy and people probably didn't read it closely."
What are people saying?
- Many have noticed that their assessments are $100,000 or $200,000 more or less than their neighbors on similar lot sizes with homes in similar condition? Why? It's difficult to know.
- Though Tyler Technologies assessed each home based on 17 characteristics, it appears that lot size weighed heavily in the equation. The bigger the lot, the higher the taxes, even if much of the lot is wooded or wetlands and is not buildable area.
- We've heard comments about location and noted that there seems to be little difference in assessments between similar homes on busy streets and quiet streets –though location is a significant factor in home pricing and buying decisions.
- Those who are facing large tax increases are questioning the basis of the new assessments. At the high end, there are few comparable sales and it's difficult to know how the assessor was able to define "fair market value."
- Those who are poised to get a decrease, are wondering why they were asked to subsidize their neighbors – sometimes at a cost of $5,000 a year in overpayments. Now that the new valuations are out, they are asking why they have to pay taxes based on the prior assessments for yet another year in 2014, further compounding their losses.
Will the cycle end? Though it was hoped that the revaluation would stem the tide of certiorari claims, the new valuations will undoubtedly stir a new wave of tax grievances. In fact, the Scarsdale Village Assessor has arranged for representatives from Tyler Technologies to hold informal meetings with the aggrieved at the Scarsdale Congregational Church during the month of April. If taxes on these properties are reduced, those reductions will be borne by the balance of taxpayers, pushing their tax bills upward.
Realtors have noted that sales of high-end properties, above $3 million, has fallen off of late... perhaps due to uncertainty about real estate taxes. Now that the valuations have been released, the sales prices of these homes could fall, spurring reductions in taxes on these homes. Again, those tax reductions would mean an increase for everyone else.
Incoming President of the Scarsdale Forum Bob Berg who championed the revaluation said, "I am speaking both personally and as Chair of the Forum Assessment Revaluation Committee. Property taxes in Scarsdale have been a particular fixation of mine ever since I moved to the Village in 2002, and over the ensuing years, I encountered many examples of egregiously unfair property assessments when I prepared for various tax grievances I filed against the Village in my effort to obtain assessments consistent with the changing market value of my property. In early 2010, former Mayor Carolyn Stevens asked the Forum to consider researching and drafting a report on property tax fairness in Scarsdale. I agreed to form and Chair the Assessment Revaluation Committee. After extensive research and analysis, the Committee determined that serious inequities had, indeed, arisen since the last townwide revaluation had been completed in 1969, and the Committee strongly recommended that the Village conduct a revaluation. The Committee issued a comprehensive report documenting the inequities and buttressing its recommendations, and our report significantly influenced the Village Board to proceed with a townwide revaluation. Notably, our report found the largest inequities in the treatment of larger estate properties in the Murray Hill/Heathcote estate area, with many of those properties being vastly underassessed based upon their market values. Although I have not had time to analyze in any depth the preliminary assessments just released by Tyler Technologies and the Assessor's Office, I have reviewed a non-random sampling of properties. To me, at first blush, it seems that the revaluation has largely corrected the inequities that I had found so troubling. For instance, many of the smaller properties I reviewed will see in decrease in their property taxes; others will stay basically the same. As we predicted, a number of the estates lining Heathcote Road will see dramatic increases in their property taxes (e.g., from $147k to $276k for one well-known property; from $151k to $217k for another; from $100k to $169k for a third). Another example is a house on 2.5 prime acres on Morris Lane of my friend who recently passed away who paid property taxes of $55k last year and would now pay $92k. Because of the ad valorem nature of property taxation in NY State and the zero-sum game for distributing the property tax burden, these wealthy homeowners were being massively subsidized, in many cases, for decades, by the rest of Scarsdale's taxpayers. Revaluation seems to have largely eliminated these gross inequities. At the granular level, however, individual property valuations arrived at by Tyler Technologies preliminarily may have issues. For example, I believe (unsurprisingly, I'm sure to some) that my property has been significantly overvalued in the revaluation – no property in my neighborhood has sold in that price range since 2006. Consequently, I will avail myself of the opportunity to meet with Tyler Technologies tomorrow night to discuss the valuation and to review the comparable sales upon which Tyler relied. If I remain unsatisfied, I always have the option to file a grievance between June 1 and 17. Overall, I think the revaluation process has worked very well. The appraisers have been very professional. Cooperation from Village residents has been unbelievable – I have heard that well over 90 percent of residents have allowed internal access to their homes which is unheard of. Tyler has been open and cooperative in setting up follow up meetings, and hopefully I will be left with a valuation I can live with. If not, I can always move to Christie Place."
As the tax role is a public record that is posted on the Village website, it is easy to see who's paying what. Here are a few interesting examples from the new tax role:
2 Cooper Road: Now on the market for $16.5 million the property has a new assessed value of $11,360,700. Taxes on the old assessment were $128,908. But now, with the new assessment, taxes on this 3.75 acre property are estimated at $254,593 per year.
18 Heathcote Road: This one is a puzzler. Though it's on 5.39 acres, the assessed value has dropped from $7.7mm in 2013 to $6.9mm in 2014. In 2013, real estate taxes were $188,000 but are now estimated to be $154,651 far less than other homes on smaller plots on Heathcote Road.
We compared two houses on the same street in Greenacres and noted a wide disparity in their valuations:
The first is at 3,689 square foot house with 6 bedrooms on .31 acres rated excellent overall. The house is valued at $1,375,000. Two houses away is a comparably sized home with 3,638 square feet of interior space, on .3 acres, rated "good." The second house received a valuation of $1,662,000, almost $300,000 higher than their neighbor. Though both paid $31,000 in real estate taxes in 2013, taxes on the second home will rise to $37,000 in 2015, for no rhyme or reason. Go figure!
If you have stories to share, please email them to us at scarsdalecomments@gmail.com, or post them in the comments section below.
Greenacres Town Hall Meeting Draws Record Crowd
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 8634
A large and lively crowd turned out to greet Scarsdale's leadership at the Greenacres Town Hall Meeting on Thursday night March 13 at the Greenacres School. Concerns about potential renovations to the Greenacres School and the Village-wide tax revaluation were among the chief concerns of over 60 residents who came out to get answers .
The meeting drew a cross section of young parents, retirees and everyone in between. The panel of speakers included:
- Mayor Robert Steves
- Ken Mazer from the Volunteer Firefighters
- David Raizen from the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps
- Deputy Village Manager Steve Pappalardo
- Greenacres School Principal Gerry Young
- School Board Vice President Sunil Subbakrishna
- Dana Matsushita – President of the Greenacres PTA
- Chief John Brogan of the Scarsdale Police
- Jason Marra, Supervisor of the Scarsdale Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department
Each had just three minutes to update the audience on key issues, closely monitored by Laura 
Fratt of the GNA who sounded a loud cowbell when the allotted time was passed.
Among the facts that emerged from these brief speeches were the following:
Tax Revaluation: The long awaited letters to homeowners that will advise them of their new assessments – and offer a comparison of what they paid in 2013 vs. what they would have paid with their new reassessment – will be in the mail on March 28. Watch for it! The new assessments will not be in force until 2015. Anyone who wishes to discuss their assessment with Tyler Technologies, the company that did the revaluation, can do so between March 31 – April 26 when you can make an appointment to meet with them, see comparable assessments and question any assumption made about your home.
Greenacres School: Principal Gerry Young will retire in June along with six more members of the staff of Greenacres including STA President Trudy Moses, long-time teachers Jack Dean and Oksana Slywka and School Psychologist Nancy Karagis. When discussing the school building, Young said it will celebrate it's centennial in 2015 and is now up to 100% capacity. Since space is tight and the building cannot be expanded beyond its current footprint, the options are to build a second story above the kindergarten wing, build a new school across the street on the field, close Huntington Avenue and use that space for the school or to redistrict to reduce the school's population.
In his remarks, School Board VP Sunil Subbakrishna explained that the Board is aware that something needs to be done at Greenacres but that the school was not a part of the facilities master plan now being done by the district. According to Subbkrishna, a full analysis needs to be done to review the options and decide on next steps. During the question and answer period one woman, who lives next to the field, expressed her opposition to moving the school across the street. She said, "I am mortified that you would take this beautiful field and build the school there – everyone uses the field!" She then suggested that those opposed sign a petition.
Amy Nadasdi, an architect and Greenacres parent who has attended the meetings of the facilities committee told the group that she was "Encouraged by what we heard from the district architect." She continued,, "They are a professional firm, doing a great job with the district. They will conduct a fair and professional feasibility project and there will be time for the community to get involved."
In his remarks, Subbakrishna also updated the group on the superintendent search, the school budget and the strategic planning process. The district had 48 applicants for the position of Scarsdale Schools Superintendent, interviewed 6 candidates, narrowed the filed to three and plans to make an announcement shortly about who has been selected. About the school budget, he said that they have proposed a modest increase over last year, just under the tax cap, and will add 8 teachers. According to Subbakrishna, the Board has "maintained a balance between the tax increase and safeguarding the educational program." The district also began to formulate a five-year strategic plan this fall. Focus groups were conducted and a survey of the community will be done. Using this input the Board will do a 5-year financial projection.
The proposed $56mm Village budget will mean a tax rate increase of 3.3%. Deputy Village Manager Steve Pappalardo explained that on average, homeowners would pay $258 more per year. The budget maintains services at the current level.
Both Ken Mazer and David Raizen called for volunteers to join the volunteer firefighters and the 
ambulance corps. In both organizations, volunteers can take on as little or as much personal risk as they like. Raizen also encouraged residents to take the CPR course offered by SVAC.
The Greenacres PTA held their most successful fundraiser ever, according to Dana Matsushita, PTA President. They will continue to fund all programs and add a science fair. The school directory has now gone online and is updated regularly. The school is also searching for a new principal.
Police Chief Brogan shared the good news that burglaries have dropped in Scarsdale and in Greenacres. Though there were 12 burglaries in Greenacres alone in 2012, in 2014 there has been only one in the village – and it was not in Greenacres. However he warned that identity theft is rampant and suggested that residents check their accounts regularly to search for signs of theft.
Red flags have been placed next to 900 fire hydrants in the Village this winter, as part of a joint effort between the water and fire departments to allow hydrants to be located quickly in the snow. These flags will be collected in the spring.
The Village's summer camp program is going strong and you can expect to receive the spring brochure from the Scarsdale Parks and Recreation Department shortly. Jason Marra said that new tennis programs for kids 10 and under will be offered in conjunction with the USTA and the Youth Tennis League will be re-implemented. The Rec Department is also planning "Parties in the Park" this summer where there will be entertainment and picnics. Watch for notifications.
Greenacres Neighborhood Association President Barry Meiselman thanked former Neighborhood Association President Kathy Steves for her service to the neighborhood and presented her with a bouquet. Trustee Liaison Jon Mark, who is completing four years of service on the BOT was recognized for his responsiveness to the GNA. Meiselman also mentioned a newcomer's reception for Greenacres residents that will be held on Sunday March 23 from 2-5.
In the Q and A period, questions were posed about what could be done about commuters who park their cars on streets in Greenacres and walk to the train. Chief Brogan promised to step up enforcement of the three-hour parking rule. Others were concerned with sagging utility lines and temporary power lines dating back to Hurricane Sandy. Parents asked about improving the Greenacres Playground and representatives from the Village said they could work with the neighborhood association and school to look into this.
One mom took up more than her fair share of time to complain about a perennial issue, parking during school pick up. She said that she left her car parked on Huntington Avenue during pick up, went inside for a short meeting with the school psychologist and came out to find a parking ticket. Though others explained she had blocked the bus lane, she continued to protest. Some things never change.
Use Tip411 For Anonymous Tips to the Police
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 5746
See something suspicious? Now there's a way to report it to the police without using your name. The Scarsdale Police Department is offering a completely anonymous service to allows citizens to submit tips to the police department. Using Tip411, citizens can send in tips by using a text messages or a web form. Both methods sent the tip to the Citizen Observer website, who then forward only the tip to the local police agency. A smartphone app to allow citizens to send in anonymous tips using their smartphones will be deployed this summer. The program is already being used successfully by the Yonkers Police Department, and through the District Attorney's Office is being offered to all Westchester Departments.
The Scarsdale Police Department is offering this service in a joint effort with the Westchester County District Attorneys Office. A page with links to the Tip411 service has been setup on the Scarsdale Police Department's website at: www.scarsdale.com/police.
Tips can also be sent in anonymously via text message to the Scarsdale Police Department by texting VSPDTIP and your tip to 84741. A smart phone app is in development and will be available by summer.
Remember: In case of an emergency or any urgent matter always call 911. Be sure to save/record your tip ID. You can use the ID to login to view feedback about your tip from the agency/group. Just enter the ID on the tip submit page and any feedback about your tip from the group will display. You can then submit additional information to the group using the tip form.
Scarsdale Father Dies in the Bronx
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 24367
Scarsdale is mourning the loss of a resident and father who took his own life this week. According to the NYPD, Ivan Rodriguez, 44 year- old, of School Lane jumped from the Henry Hudson Bridge at 9:45 am on Tuesday March 11. Metro North spokesperson Marjorie Anders reported that Rodriguez's body was spotted by a Metro North engineer who saw him under the platform at the Hudson Line's Spuyten Duyvil train station in the Bronx. It appears that Rodriguez jumped from the bridge that crosses over the Spuyten Duyvil Train Station on Tuesday morning. His car was found parked on Kappock Street with a note that said he intended to kill himself.
After the discovery, Metro North turned off power at the station at 10 am, halting service on the Hudson Line. Service resumed at 10:25 am but there were 10-15 minute delays in service until noon.
The NYPD contacted the Scarsdale Police at 12:24 pm on March 11 to assist them in advising Rodriguez's wife, Zobeida Graff, about the death of her husband. They stood by while she told her two children who attend high school and elementary school.
This was not the first time that Rodriguez went missing. On New Year's Eve, 12/31/12, Rodriguez's wife called police when he said goodbye to his children at 9:30 pm and failed to return by 1:30 am on 1/1/13. Police filed a missing person report but cancelled it when Rodriguez contacted them to say he had left the house on his own free will.
Rodriguez was an investment banker and a former employee of Bentley Associates and Rabobank. He was a graduate of the Universidad Central de Venezuela and had a Masters in Management and Finance from UC Davis.
Rodriguez was active on the Scarsdale Little League and was remembered by Josh Glantz, Co-President of the Board of the Scarsdale Little League who said, "Ivan Rodriguez was a dedicated and valued member of the Scarsdale Little League community and served as a board member from 2012 to 2013. As a board member, Ivan led several league initiatives including the 2013 Michael Ludwig Sportsmanship Award and the ever-popular Scarsdale Little League Day at the Rockland Boulders game. Ivan truly embodied Scarsdale Little League's mission of using baseball to build sportsmanship with a focus on fun for all children in our community. We are saddened by his passing and share our condolences with his family and friends."
If you or anyone you know needs help, reach out to Scarsdale and Edgemont Family Counseling, by phone at 914-723-3281 or by email: info@sfcsinc.org.
