Tax Reassessment in Process: What it Will Mean for You!
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What do Scarsdale’s Property Tax Revaluation, Woodstock and NASA’s voyage to the moon all have in common? Give up? They all last occurred in 1969. Yes you read it right; it’s been almost half a century since Scarsdale residents have had their property taxes revalued. Most towns re-assess the value of homes every few years in order to maintain an equitable property tax partition. But Scarsdale has refrained from doing so, and as a result, has created a colossal tax inequity amongst residents. Now after 44 years, the Village believes it’s finally time for a re-assessment.
It stands to reason that the market value of homes has fallen out of alignment with 
assessed values of 1969. Forty-four years of underreported renovations, market volatility and a real estate market that is inherently illiquid with uneven turnover (only upon new construction, sale of a house or renovation has a re-assessment taken place) have resulted in relative value disparity among comparable homes in the village of Scarsdale. This has essentially created a system of “winners” and “losers” amongst Scarsdale residents. And in order to shift the burden from those paying too much to those paying too little, a re-assessment is necessary.
Throughout the next six months, tax assessors from Tyler Technologies (the same company that revalued Bronxville’s property taxes) will be knocking on every Scarsdale resident’s door to evaluate on 19 specific criteria, after which they will determine a new assessed value for your home. I’m sure many of you are a little confused as to what actually happens, so I’ll provide a brief rundown of how the process goes. The assessor will try a total of four times to contact you. First, the assessor will attempt to come to your house on two separate occasions. If you are either unavailable or choose not to allow the assessor in to your home on both of those occasions, you will receive up to two letters attempting to schedule a date and time for your re-assessment. 
If you choose not to reply to those letters, the assessors will merely measure the outside of your house and make certain assumptions about the inside (such as a finished basement and overall excellent house condition) that add value to your home. That being said, it’s clearly in everyone’s best interest to let the assessor in, as those who don’t will have their house overvalued and thus end up potentially paying higher property taxes. Besides, it defeats the purpose of a revaluation if a meaningful portion of homes declines to allow the assessor in, as the data for the whole village will be skewed.
It is estimated that approximately one third of households will be assessed at a higher value, one third will remain the same, and one third will be assessed at a lower value. By re-assessing all homes based on current fair market value, the playing field will be more level for Scarsdale residents.
The assessors started their procedure last week, and so far things are running smoothly, 
except for one minor blip. Some people were not notified ahead of time that the assessor was visiting because it’s difficult for the assessors to gauge just how many houses they will get through each day. If the assessor finishes the ten houses he was assigned for that day but still has some extra time, he may try to squeeze in a few more houses. Naturally, residents of those extra houses were not expecting an assessment, and were displeased when the assessor showed up without warning. When speaking to Scarsdale Village Trustee David Lee about this issue, he assured me that from here on, the village staff will give notice to all residents ahead of time before an assessor arrives.
In about six months the revaluations will be complete and by January 2013 residents will receive a form that breaks down the home’s data (ex. number of bathrooms) and provides a new assessment equal to current fair market value. An important clarification to those whose assessments have increased: The combined village and school budget is approximately 200 million dollars per year, meaning the village must raise this much money each year through property taxes. Because the total amount needed to be collected is the same, a higher assessment for one’s homes will not necessarily yield higher taxes. What determines any change in your taxes is how much the value of your home increases or decreases relative to other homes. So if all the homes in Scarsdale were re-assessed and increased an identical percentile amount, no resident’s taxes would increase. However, residents won’t know how their taxes have been effect until January of 2014, when the new tax roll is released.
So why after 44 years, has Scarsdale decided that it is time for a re-assessment? What are the incentives for having a village wide revaluation of homes? Village Board Member and Scarsdale Resident David Lee believes the issue boils down to fairness. Having some residents overpay in property taxes to subsidize those underpaying is purely unfair. Lee believes that “If people think that their neighbors aren’t contributing what they should be, it undermines confidence in the village.” Further speaking with Lee on the subject, he stated that another reason for re-assessment is to combat the sheer amount of Certiorari Procedures brought against the village. Throughout the past 44 years, many companies realized the potential profitability of Scarsdale due to its considerable number of over-assessed homes. These firms contact residents and essentially say, “I am a professional challenger of assessed values on houses and I can help you to fight it and bring it down.” Those who believe their house has been over-assessed will hire the firm to bring a Certiorari proceeding to the Scarsdale Village Court in hopes of having their assessment decreased. If the firm wins the case, the resident’s real estate tax decreases, and he/she would pay a portion of the decrease, perhaps half, to the firm over the next few years. These court proceedings are expensive (Mamaroneck spent over $600,000 fighting Certiorari Procedures) and have become an unnecessary drain on the village’s limited budget. Hopes of mitigating these costly disputes has prompted the village to re-assess homes.
Although the revaluation will be expensive (the total nearing one million dollars), this procedure is necessary and will ultimately save money when considering its mitigating effect on certiorari procedures. The cost will be repaid over a five-year period. Once the initial revaluation is done, it can be updated inexpensively as the systems, processes and baseline data will be in place already. In other words, the village won’t have to wait another 44 years for a revaluation and Scarsdale’s property tax distribution will remain relatively equitable from here on out.
David Candell graduated from Scarsdale High School in 2011 and recently completed his freshman year at Boston University.
Scarsdale Procedure Committee Considers Changes to the Non-Partisan Resolution
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This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by David Brodsky and Eli Mattioli, the 2012 Chair and Vice-Chair of the Scarsdale Procedure Committee respectively.
The Scarsdale Procedure Committee, of which I am the 2012 Chair and Eli Mattioli is the Vice-Chair, have had three meetings in May and June, and have discussed various proposed Amendments to the Non-Partisan Resolution, of which three have been adopted to date and others are still being discussed.
First, we propose to amend Article V to make open to the public major portions of the first, or Organizational, Meeting of the 2012-13 Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) meeting. The amendment is designed to inform the public of the roles of the Mayor and Trustees, as viewed by incumbents not standing for reelection, and all of the ground rules by which the CNC finds and interviews candidates and conducts due diligence. The amendment, if adopted, should, we hope, go a long way to dispel the suspicions voiced by some in the past about such proceedings. What will continue to remain confidential are the names of any proposed candidates, the due diligence collected about them, the discussions held by members of the CNC leading to the vote, and the actual votes themselves. Candidates may, as some have chosen to do in the past, reveal to the public their candidacies. The text of the proposed amendment is as follows:
Article V, Section 5A (Organization Meeting). To be added to end of the existing language.
"The Chairperson of the Citizens Nominating Committee shall submit for publication in the two issues of the official Scarsdale newspaper to be published immediately preceding the Organization Meeting and shall make public by internet posting on one or more reasonably available websites, including the website of The Procedure Committee, a notice inviting Scarsdale residents and other interested persons to observe the portions of the Organization Meeting relating to the following: such presentations or statements by and discussions with the Mayor and Trustees; discussion with respect to and voting upon its rules of procedure (including best practices with respect to due diligence); review of the responsibilities of the Citizens Nominating Committee; and such other portions as the Chairperson shall deem appropriate; provided, that there shall occur only in closed or executive session the identification of, and comments, discussion, other furnishing of information and vote with respect to, each person who has been previously considered (other than the identity of persons previously selected), or who might be solicited or has expressed interest to be considered, for a Village office or position; provided, further, that the Chairperson may, upon the determination of the Chairperson (unless such determination of the Chairperson is overruled by two-thirds of the voting members present), or the determination of the Citizens Nominating by vote of the majority of the voting members present, in either case in extraordinary circumstances, to preserve order or other reason, close the meeting of the Citizens Nominating Committee to the public or go into executive session, without the observation of the public. While such portions of the Organization Meeting are open for observation by the public, they are not open to public participation."
Second, we propose to further amend Article V by adding a codification of the method of voting for candidates by the CNC:
Article V, Section 6 (Voting Procedure). To be added as the new antepenultimate (third to last) sentence.
"The election for each open office or position will be conducted separately, without reference to the name of the current occupant of an office or position, by separate successive vote for each open office or position until a person is selected for such office or position."
Third, we propose to amend the Resolution to extend the deadline for voting by mail-in ballot to the day of the election from the day now set, the day before. This will provide an extra full day for eligible residents to vote by mail if for some reason they cannot vote in person.
Finally, as will be reflected in the Minutes of our last meeting on June 18, when posted on our website, representatives of the League of Women Voters spoke to our membership and there was extensive discussion of their recommendations regarding the Non-Partisan System and the process by which the leadership of the CNC is chosen. Although there was not a consensus to adopt the League's proposal at this time, we continue to discuss this important issue and various alternative proposals.
We intend to hold public meetings on all of these proposals and issues in September and October before making formal proposals to the voters in early October.
Residents Raise Concerns About Village Construction and Parking at Scarsdale BOT Meeting
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Residents and business owners expressed concerns about the lengthy Popham Road Bridge project and parking at Freightway Garage at the June 12 meeting of the Scarsale Board of Trustees.
In her comments, Mayor Flisser reported that the trustees had taken a tour to many sites of concern throughout Scarsdale, including the bridge. She noted that residents have expressed concerns over bridge construction, and that a July 11th meeting is being held concerning the amelioration of the Crane Road Bridge project which threatens to close the both the north and southbound exits from the Bronx River Parkway to Scarsdale Village. During the public comments portion of the meeting, the bridge was brought up again. A Garth Road resident and business owner complained that bridge construction, along with the current work being done by Verizon, is hurting his business both through travel and parking difficulties. Considering fixed costs such as rent, any loss in business cannot be made up, and a loss has already been seen. The board promised to take the testimony into account.
The meeting brought a victory for commuters who objected to enforcement of a rule that forbid back-in parking at the Freightway
Garage, located near the Scarsdale Train Station, Some commuters prefer to back-in their cars in the morning to speed their exit at night. The Village Manager’s Office announced the results of a study that did of parking patterns in the garage which found that 80% of parkers still chose to park head-in and than no accidents were caused by back-in parking. As a result, the new regulation barring back-in parking has been tabled and all signs requiring head-in parking have been covered up. During public comments, a Blackbirch Lane resident thanked the board for their decision on behalf of back-in parkers. Later in the meeting, a resolution was unanimously passed to abridge the contents of Sprint Spectrum LP’s lease at the garage to increase the number of telecommunications panels it stores there.
The Village Manager’s Office also made a statement about a complaint from Ruth Frankel of 17 Richbell Road. At the May 22 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Frankel said that “the driveway under construction at her neighbor’s home at 15A Richbell Road was so flooded the day before that her neighbors needed a rowboat to cross it,” and chastised the Board for letting this happen. Village Manager Al Gatta reported that forty-three inspections have been conducted in response to the Frankel’s frequent complaints and no violations had been found. In response to the latest accusations, village inspectors were dispatched on the rainy days of May 21st and 22nd and found “ponding” which they attributed to the face that the project was not yet complete.
In her comments, the Mayor also noted the importance of cooperation in the current National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, run by the CDC. Starting in Westchester on May 23rd, the survey attempts to better gauge fitness levels in order to make policy decisions. It has been run each year for over fifty years in fifteen counties across the nation. If a resident is selected for the survey, they will first receive a letter asking for participation in a home interview. If accepted, this interview will be followed by a second interview and then an examination. Any participants will be compensated for their time.
During public comments, the Chamber of Commerce thanked the board for help with the Taste of Scarsdale event and asked for their participation in the upcoming events including the Health and Wellness Fair held at Village Hall on June 16th and the Sidewalk Sale to be held in the village between July 26th and 28th.
Later, a Chesterfield Road resident complained to the council that the police have failed to enforce an ordinance against the use of leaf blowers from Memorial Day through Labor Day. He stated that the World Health Organization has announced the unnecessary noise produced by the blowers to be detrimental to overall health. Last, a Willow Lane resident who desired to speak about storm drainage was deferred until the July 16th meeting, due to a limitation on the time allotted for public comments.
Pictured at top: Mayor Flisser, Trustee Brodsky, Village Engineer Paul Zaichek and other Trustees get on update on the Popham Road Bridge from atop the Freightway Garage
Second Photo: Boarding the Bus for the Village Tour- Trustees Lee, Eisenman, Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser, Trustees Brodsky, Mark and Harrison
Article by Zach Edeleman, Photos by Harvey Flisser
Noisy Overnight Demolition Planned for Popham Road Bridge
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Demolition of the old portions of the Popham Road Bridge is set for June 18th through the end of July and some residents are not happy. The trouble is that the work will be done at night, between 9 pm and 5 am and will utilize drills, jackhammers and backhoes. The plan is to demolish the concrete deck, concrete abutments, concrete footings and structural steel – and this work needs to be done at night for safety reasons. Due to requirements from Metro North, the demolition has to done when the trains are out of service.
According to an email from Scarsdale Village, “the noise level will vary in intensity depending on the type of demolition being performed. The Village has directed the contractor, whenever possible, to perform the noisiest work at the beginning part of the night. “
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner who represents residents who live on the Edgemont side of the bridge, says that he has already received complaints about noise from those who live on the west side of the Bronx River Parkway near the bridge.
He is currently circulating these two emails:
With all due respect, we are working people and need to sleep. This is a form of torture. It is after 11 p.m. and the drilling is keeping me awake. I need to get up at 5 a.m. This is unbearable.
Please make them stop.
Just to point out that it is 3:07 am and the house is wide awake from the jack hammering. This is UNACCEPTABLE!!! I trust this will not happen again and ask assurance that no jack hammering will happen again after midnight.
In response, Feiner says that he “reached out” to Scarsdale Village to ask them or the contractor to pay for hotel stays for residents who live near the bridge and are adversely affected by the noise.
However, Village Manager Al Gatta explained that though it is unfortunate that the work has to be done in the wee hours of the morning, housing residents in hotels is not an option. Here is his reply to Feiner:
We are on Stage 3 relative to the Popham Road Bridge construction. Stage 3 is the last intensive stage of work and involves demolition of footings, abutments, structural steel in the center of the old bridge and the concrete road deck (the north and south wings of the new structure are already in place). Since this work is being conducted over the tracks, Metro North insists that it be performed only between the hours of 2 AM and 5 AM when there are no trains running. This is well understood by all involved as we must protect the tracks for the safety of passengers.
It is unfortunate that is work must occur between 2 AM and 5 AM and we understand that there will be some disturbance for residents and neighbors, but there are just no other options. The Popham Road Bridge is over 100 years old and should have been replaced a quarter of a century ago, but because of its age, number of public agencies involved, tedious amount of work that must be done over the tracks, a small work area making it extremely difficult and expensive for a contractor to maneuver and little construction storage area, Metro North would not step forward to take responsibility for being the prime project sponsor. Keep in mind that the bridge structure is the property of Metro North and the Village only owns the road base.
The Village did step forward as the project sponsor and as such dedicated its staff and local resources for building a new bridge. The Village as the sponsor ensured that the new bridge would be more than just a “span over rail tracks”, the kind typically built by Metro North. The bridge needed to be replaced as the old one was deteriorating and the Village believed its leadership was necessary to assure that the final product would be not just a bridge, but an aesthetically pleasant, pedestrian friendly, landscaped public thoroughfare that would be functional for regulating traffic.
The Village in stepping forward assumed all of the risks and the unknowns that replacing a 100 year structure can cause relative cost overruns, construction delays, noise and disruption of retail businesses, pedestrian travel and traffic.
As the project sponsor the Village is extremely sorry for any disturbance that has occurred and will occur for the night work that must continue through the end of July. But there are just no other options. The suggestion that the Village or the contractor provide alternative living accommodations is just not possible in this construction project.
Engineers Explore Options to Alleviate Flooding Around Cayuga Pond
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The village is still looking for a solution to the periodic flooding in the area bordered by Oneida, Seneca and Cayuga Roads, which peaked in 2007 and again during Hurricane Irene in August, 2011. After Hurricane Irene, a Cayuga Road resident with a pool found water rushing into his basement and fish swimming in his pool. In response to complaints from homeowners, Scarsdale Village has retained engineers Dvirka and Barticlucci of White Plains to do an analysis of the problem and recommend solutions. The firm came before the Municipal Services Committee and concerned residents on May 31 to share their findings and explore options.
The problem is easy to understand. Homes in the affected area are built on a FEMA designated flood plain flood plain and previous to the construction of the development in 1960, this area served as a drainage basin. Since the entire area is flat and has a high water table, there is no slope to move water away -- and it’s not possible to dig deep retention basins as the water table is too high.
Engineers came up with two options for improving, but not completely alleviating the flooding using dry detention underground with infiltration and moving the water away from the site using pumps or gravity. According to the engineers’ simulations, using dry detention in the two ponds they could alleviate flooding from a “2 year” storm, meaning one where 3.5 inches of rain falls in 24 hours. However, for volumes above that, there would still be flooding in the area. For instance, in a 100-year storm like Hurricane Irene, 7.5 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period and the recommended plan would not avoid flooding in extreme storms.
To start, the firm recommends that two ponds in the area, Murray Hill Pond and Cayuga Pond be converted into true storm water detention 
ponds. They currently provide no storm water attenuation. They recommend the removal of 6 to 12 inches of silt from Cayuga Pond, and removal of debris and sediment in Murray Hill Pond. They also suggest that the storm water piping be rehabilitated to improve conveyance. The approximate cost for the above is estimated to be at $1.6 to $2 million.
As an extra measure, to keep homes dry in more severe storms, the engineers recommended building underground storage detention in private yards or pumping the water away from the site to underground retention basins that could be built at the Scarsdale Middle School. This option is far more costly and requires the construction of detention basins under the playing fields at the school.
In a discussion following the presentation residents made other suggestions about what could be done.
One suggested building up the ground around Cayuga Pond in a berm to block the water from flowing out. Another wanted to widen the existing culvert to accommodate more water – though the engineers were doubtful that this would work as the area is flat. For a larger detention basin more land area was needed and the engineers did discuss storing it on the golf course that surrounds the development – however cooperation would be needed.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Trustee Kay Eisenman who chairs the Municipal Services Committee told the group that the “staff would look at all the comments they heard, spend two or three weeks evaluating them and then come forward with what they think can or cannot be done.”
Following the meeting residents discussed yet another option – proposing that Scarsdale Village purchase three homes in the area that are prone to flooding. The homes could be taken down and the property used for water retention. However this would be a costly undertaking for the village as it would need to pay for the homes and lose ongoing real estate tax revenues. This idea may be more wishful thinking on the part of homeowners than a workable solution for Scarsdale. It was evident at the meeting that homeowners are anxious for decisions to be made and work to begin to safeguard their homes before another "ten year" storm occurs.
