Revaluation Phase In
By now, you may have seen the news reports or online postings reporting that the special revaluation “Phase In” legislation requested by the Town of Greenburgh has been signed by the Governor. Irvington’s Trustees and I strongly supported that legislation and we are pleased that it has been enacted into law. Thank you to our local Westchester delegation in Albany including Senator Stewart-Cousins, Assemblyman Abinanti, Assemblywoman Galef, and Senator Carlucci for shepherding the legislation and to Governor Cuomo for signing it. Thanks also to Supervisor Feiner, the members of the Greenburgh Town Board, and Assessor Edye McCarthy for initiating the effort.
Now, the Greenburgh Town Board must enact a local law to implement the provisions of the new State law. A public hearing to consider the local law is scheduled for Tuesday, July 12 at 7:30pm at the Greenburgh Town Hall.
If the local law is adopted, we will have additional details on exactly how it will be implemented. The exemption will apply only to those residents who own a 1, 2, or 3 family residential property and who qualify for a basic STAR exemption. In addition, the property must not have had any delinquent taxes as of June 1, 2016 and must have a valid Certificate of Occupancy. If granted, 66% of the assessed value increase attributed to the revaluation will be exempted in year 1 and 33% of that assessed value increase will be exempted in year 2. In year 3, there will be no exemption.
I want to assure you that our Board’s support for phasing in the impacts of the revaluation do not represent a last minute attempt to make the best of a difficult situation. On the contrary, the significant impacts of a revaluation were anticipated. In 1993, the Board of Trustees wrote to Supervisor Feiner strongly supporting a revaluation provided the impact was phased in. In 2010, the Board of Trustees, which included both Trustee Kehoe and myself, wrote a letter to the editor repeating a call for a revaluation with its impacts phased in. We intend to support Greenburgh’s local law implementing the phase in since it is completely consistent with our Board’s position for at least the last 23 years. Please consider showing your support by attending the public hearing or writing to the Greenburgh Town Board at townboard@greenburghny.com.
I’m sure there will be more details to cover in future emails. But, in the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please write to Village Administrator Lawrence Schopfer at lschopfer@irvingtonny.gov.
Fire Department Equipment Grant
I am pleased to report that the Irvington Fire Department, led by Chief Anthony Tarricone, is one of two Westchester fire departments to receive a Federal grant ($27,239) to help with the purchase of new protective turnout gear to keep our firefighters safe while in burning buildings and dangerous situations. Thank you Chief Tarricone and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand!
Brian C. Smith
bsmith@irvingtonny.gov