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Written by Midori Im

Published: 28 May 2014

Created: 28 May 2014

Last Updated: 28 May 2014

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On Friday May 23rd the Environmental and Sustainability Committee of the Greenacres Elementary PTA implemented a "walking school bus," where children walk to school along a safe route accompanied by a minimum of two parent "drivers." One parent leads the pack while the other supervises the rear. The walking school bus picks up "passengers" along the way to school. The Greenacres school bus will operate every Friday for the remainder of the school year.

The bus started with seven lines, spanning the various corners of the area of Greenacres. On its first day there were over 60 passengers. The reason for the bus is twofold – to encourage walking as an environmentally- friendly practice and to promote a healthy lifestyle.

The key to the success of the bus program is the parent volunteers who are needed to supervise the walkers. While the Greenacres community is a relatively quiet one, there are some streets which are not pedestrian-friendly and greater caution is required.

Organizer Eunjee Hong explained that, "Having just moved from Manhattan, we were used to walking to school and I wanted to keep that up with my kids, so I was already walking them to school here. I thought the idea of a walking school bus was great and was happy to hop on board." She added, "We see this as a great opportunity to save gas, reduce harm to our environment and have healthier kids.

Another outgrowth of the walking school bus is increased interaction between neighbors and foster community-building among residents who are often isolated in their cars. In an age when students sit in front of a screen rather than play outdoors it's beneficial for them to get to school on their own two feet.

One mother noted that, "It was usually challenging to wake my son up for school. But since he started walking with our neighbors, he's eager to get up and enjoys 'carpooling' to school. I'm so glad this bus program has been initiated so that more children will be able to walk to school on a regular basis, even if their parents are unable to accompany them."

At the debut of this year's walking school bus, one of the buses had a special passenger, Scarsdale Mayor and Greenacres resident Bob Steves. Mayor Steves has been a longtime advocate of reducing traffic around the school and in fact was responsible for doubling the parking fines around the school to encourage students to walk instead of drive to this neighborhood school.

More information on how to start a walking school bus can be found at http:// www.walkingschoolbus.org.
(Photos by Amy Nasdasdi)

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 03 June 2014

Created: 03 June 2014

Last Updated: 05 June 2014

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A large crowd turned out on Thursday May 29 to hear answers from Tyler Technologies on the methodology behind the first revaluation of Scarsdale real estate in 43 years. Many who rarely visit Village Hall appeared to have come to listen as well as to vent about the results of the revaluation that caused dramatic changes to some property assessments.

In an effort to keep the crowd under control, Mayor Bob Steves gave the floor to Tyler for a lengthy presentation and initially asked those with questions to submit them on index cards rather than come to the podium themselves. He warned the audience that this was not the opportunity to debate the valuation of individual properties but a time to learn more about how properties were assessed.

Eugenia Flynn, the Appraisal Operations Manager at Tyler, shared her credentials and introduced the Tyler team that includes Dr. Richard A. Borst, a senior research scientist – and statistician. Also on hand was John Ryan, an independent revaluation consultant who was hired by Scarsdale Village to monitor the process. Ryan told the group, "If you have good data in the system they are the basis of good values." John Wolham of the NYS Office of Real Property Tax Services also attended the meeting. He will certify the new tax roll when the process is complete.

Flynn explained that the purpose of the revaluation was to bring appraisals to fair market value. The process was begun in 2012 and considers property class, location, desirability and market supply and demand using fair market value as of July 1, 2013.

She explained the difference between a mass appraisal where "all properties are appraised using a common database, uniform methodology and allows for statistical testing of the results," versus individual appraisals who are done by a real estate agent, a certified appraiser or a bank.

According to Flynn, "Equitable appraisals among similarly-valued properties is critical. The same model is applied to all properties." In Scarsdale, "95% of homes were inspected (a highly unusual access rate), Tyler built and tested models and valued all properties using these models." Since, "land directly relates to the desirability of a property's specific location." Tyler "analyzed all vacant and teardown land sales to develop land valuation models that were considered to reflect the market as of July 1, 2013." Scarsdale was divided into 13 areas for the purpose of defining comparable sales.

Following the completion of the process earlier this year, notices of the new property assessments were mailed to residents and posted online. Property owners were given the opportunity to have informal meetings with Tyler, and 927 or 15.6% of property owners met with Tyler and 1,088 properties were reviewed. This week, June 1, revised mailers were sent out to those who asked for a review, and the valuations of approximately 437 properties were changed.

Property owners who wish to grieve their new assessments can do so between June 2 – 17, and the final assessment roll for 2015 will be filed by the Village in September, 2014. The Tyler powerpoint presentation has been posted on the Village website and can be viewed here:

A question was asked about how assessments will be updated in the future and Village Assessor Nanette Albanese explained that now that the Village has done the revaluation they have the right to review assessments on an ongoing basis and make changes if they spot trends that affect a group of properties. The Village has submitted a grant application to the state for funds for personnel to keep the property tax roll updated. From the discussion it was not 100% clear how this would be accomplished but Village officials agreed that the roll would be maintained and they would not let many years lapse without a reassessment.

Many questions were asked about the value of the land vs. the home, the inclusion and weight of different variables in the model, the process for making corrections for over-assessed and under assessed properties and the difference between land values in each of the 13 assessment areas.

The statistician spoke at length about the statistical modeling process, but it was very difficult to understand his explanation.

At one point, someone in the audience asked Tyler if they have a way to do the revaluation in a more transparent manner. Borst responded that it is possible to put constraints into the mathematical process that would do this.

The meeting went on after 11 pm with the Mayor giving everyone a chance to speak – some even twice. Despite the call from the Heathcote Association to delay the revaluation, Mayor Steves indicated that " we will make what we have here work," and said he saw little benefit to repeating the process. In addition, Wolham and Borst of Tyler agreed that the model was valid and fell within a 97-98% tolerance level, even if it did not pass muster with some of the taxpayers.

The session was recorded and can be viewed online here:

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 20 May 2014

Created: 20 May 2014

Last Updated: 29 May 2014

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Scarsdale celebrated its diversity on Sunday May 18 with a dazzling international display of the cultures, foods and traditions of Scarsdale's international population. Twenty two countries were celebrated in an elaborate event sponsored by the multi-cultural committees of the PTA's, PT Council and the Scarsdale School's Interdependence Institute.

Colorful flags of countries around the globe decorated the entry to Scarsdale High School where the event kicked off with a parade of nations to the music of Irish bagpipers. Choral, instrumental and dance performances were held throughout the event in the high school auditorium including a demonstration of Korean Tae Kwon Do, a Papua New Guinea dancer, an Irish fiddle performance from the renown Finbar Kantor and a Chinese face changer.

Simultaneously, booths representing each country were open in the cafeteria, displaying the history and culture of each. We saw Chinese calligraphy, Japanese origami, pastries from France, the food of New Guinea, games from Australia and henna from Pakistan. Parents, many wearing the garb of their native countries, seemed to be having just as much fun as their kids – celebrating and sharing their cultures with their American neighbors and each other.

As if that was not enough, an elaborate food court was assembled in the Board of Education room where exotic dishes were available to taste. From Brazil there was Feijoada – with pork, bean and beef jerky – falafel and pita from Israel, mumu – which is chicken ,fish and coconut from Papua, New Guinea, Lamingtons (eggs and strawberry jam) from Australia and shepherd's pie from Ireland.

Throughout the day there were demonstrations and games in the courtyard. The high school was swarming with activity and fun for people of all nations.

See the photo gallery below and send your own photos of the day to [email protected] to share on Scarsdale10583.

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