Feiner Lies About Fairview Fire Department

As could be expected, Mr Feiner sent out an email blast from his personal email list – oh wait, it’s the Towns email list. No matter, its used by him as his own. He sent out the blast stating the Fairview Fire Department is creating a $160,000 position and how they shouldn’t do it, it will affect the 2% tax cap and more. He also asked residents to attend the Commissioners meeting this Thursday night.

Here’s what he said (Mr Feiner’s comments in black; ABG’s in blue:

FAIRVIEW FIRE DISTRICT TO VOTE ON APPROVING NEW POSITION THAT WILL COST YOU $160,000+A YEAR---EXECUTIVE DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF.  MEETING THURSDAY NIGHT AT 7:30 PM  FAIRVIEW FIRE HOUSE  19 ROSEMONT BLVD, WHITE PLAINS YOU MIGHT LOSE YOUR TAX REBATE FROM THE STATE IF TAX CAP IS OVERRULED BY FAIRVIEW FIRE DISTRICT, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS--- 
The Fairview Fire district Board of Commissioners is proceeding with plans to approve a new position that will cost taxpayers at least $160,000 a year. The position: Executive Deputy Fire Chief. The position never existed before. Some residents have contacted me and  have asked me to encourage residents of the Fairview Fire district to attend the next meeting of the Fire District: THIS THURSDAY February 13 at 7:30 PM--- 19 Rosemont Blvd.  It is possible that the Fairview Fire District Board of Commissioners could finalize their decision to fund this position this Thursday night and to hire someone. They had previously indicated that they would create the position.
This is simply another lie from Mr Feiner! The position has always existed and is not new. It has simply not been filled. If you understand the hierarchy within our paid fire department, you have (working upwards) firefighters, captains, deputy chiefs, one executive deputy chief and the chief. Not all paid fire departments mirror ours and may have other levels, such as lieutenants. For instance, in the Scarsdale Fire Department, they don’t have deputy chiefs, but simply have captains. Their function is the same firematically, but their pay is less. You could argue Scarsdale has a better financial control over their budgets with personnel. And, all of the ancillary costs that go with a captain versus a deputy chief position would be less as well.

Residents whom have contacted Mr Feiner are being lied to by him. Mr Feiner HAS NO CONTROL, INPUT or IMPACT on the fire department. Like us, he is on the outside looking in. 

You may also recall that the Fortress Bible Church refused to be coerced into donating a fire truck to the Fairview FD for approval to build on their property near Dobbs Ferry Road. Actually, its also alleged the church was refused permits and approvals to help out then County Legislator Thomas Abinanti, who lived in that neighborhood and didn’t want the church there and is a friend of Mr Feiner. He has since become a NYS Assemblyman and moved to Tarrytown, possibly to distance himself from all of this. Fortress Bible Church sued Mr Feiner, Ms Juettner and the Town for discrimination and won! Mr Feiner appealed and lost the appeal. They were found guilty on seven counts, including lying under oath, destroying evidence and well, you get the idea.

The Fairview Fire district is totally independent of the Town of Greenburgh.  Commissioners are elected to their positions (elections are held in December) and commission meetings are not televised.  Very little scrutiny by the public.  Some people incorrectly think that the Fire district tax is part of the town taxes. The fire district tax bill is included in the town tax bill--the town acts as a collection agent. It's interesting -- most people now pay almost the same for fire district taxes as they do for town municipal services even though the town offers many different services.
The Fairview Fire District is a separate taxing district that does NOT fall under the auspices of the Town – at all! They operate independently from the Town and are funded solely by taxing us independent from the Town taxes. They receive no money from the Town whatsoever! What they do receive from the Town are fire truck donations from developers when Mr Feiner informs them that to get approval for a project, they must donate a truck to the Fairview FD. 

As for scrutiny, look at the pot calling the kettle black! While the Town taxes may equal the fire district taxes, the Town taxes also provide a police department, garbage and trash removal and highway services (snow removal, water supply). If an argument can be made for a disparity in a tit-for-tat exchange between taxing entities, it apparently doesn’t matter to voters as they just keep going along with it by voting the same people back into office.

I share the concerns people have. The position never existed. I doubt that it is needed.  The cost to the taxpayers will be enormous: over $160,000+ a year (new position).   If the position is funded it will make it more difficult for the Fairview Fire district to comply with the tax cap next year (some of the fire districts have over-ridden the tax cap in previous years).
THIS IS A LIE from Mr Feiner! THE POSITION HAS ALWAYS EXISTED but not been filled. The last time it was filled was when the current Chief Anthony LoGiudice was being “groomed” as then-Chief Robert Mauro’s replacement upon retirement. The decision to not fill the position until now was a financial one. This position is already in the budget but IS NOT a new $160k position! Deputy Chiefs in the Fairview Fire Department are union members and make $140k. The reality is that this is a $20k stipend to offset whomever gets appointed to the position due to their relinquishing of union membership and more significantly, overtime. The position is in actuality the ASSISTANT Chief’s position. In this position, the person will be required to attend more meetings, deal with personnel and confidentiality issues and will make less money than if they stayed as an acting deputy chief.

There is a proposal in Albany that will penalize communities that do not comply with the tax cap.  State lawmakers are considering a plan that will reward citizens who live in communities that comply with the tax cap with a tax credit or check from NYS. If your local government entity overrules the tax cap you will not get the tax credit from NYS or a check from the state to help reduce your property taxes. Among the proposals: Governor Andrew Cuomo's state of the state address on January 22 recommended a two year property tax freeze for homeowners if their local school districts and local governments stay under the tax levy cap for two years and share services or consolidate with other districts to save 1% of the levy a year for three years. The rebate would likely be between $150-$350 a year per household.
Governor Cuomo’s refund will be based on Town property taxes, not taxing entities who tax for their funding such as the Fire District. While ABG is not happy about the tax increases and and expenses that the Fire District is saddled with, Mr Feiner is only posturing. For all the bragging about staying under the NYS tax cap, Mr Feiner raised our taxes 3.4%, above the 2% NYS tax cap!

If the Fairview Fire district creates a new position that never existed before (and some people feel may not be needed) the tax bills of every Fairview resident will go up to pay for the costs. And, your future tax credit could be in jeopardy.
THIS IS A LIE from Mr Feiner! Again, the position has always existed but not been filled. Your tax bill will be unaffected by this change. And, your future tax credits are not in any jeopardy by the FD filling this position!

If you reside in the Fairview Fire district you should attend the meeting on Thursday, February 13 at 19 Rosemont Blvd (Fire house) at 7:30 PM.
If you can't attend the meeting you could write to the Fairview Fire Commissioners at 19 Rosemont Blvd, White Plain, NY 10602.   Ask for justification about the position.
I will be attending a meeting of other municipal officials on Thursday night and will not be at this meeting  but will be expressing my concerns about the position to the commissioners and will invite the Board to appear before a Town Board meeting to discuss ways we can all chip in and cut costs.

Yes, you should come out to these meetings. You should attend the Town Board meetings to see how poorly the decisions are coming from there.

Mr Feiner has gotten all the “play” and attention he can from this issue by sending this email out. He will not attend because he doesn’t have any control over the meeting or frankly, matter. His fire protection for his multi-million dollar home is provided by the Hastings-on-Hudson all-volunteer fire department. He is trying to create a stir over something he doesn’t pay for and has no control or involvement over. The firematic tax rate between what he pays, approximately $10 per thousand is quite a bit lower than what Fairview residents pat, about $140 per thousand.

If Mr Feiner wishes to cut costs and chip in, perhaps he can start by stepping down as Supervisor. We would save $150k per year in his salary with his $10K medical benefits buy-back for using his wife’s NYS health insurance. It would stop the $6.5 MILLION verdicts against him. It would allow us to rent the WestHelp property for $1.2 MILLION a year. Thie list of what Mr Feiner has cost us is close to $40 MILLION. His stepping down would allow a reassessment that would stop the certiorari adjustments made at every Town Board meeting. BTW, the fire district must pay back close to $1 MILLION because Mr Feiner has not done a Town-wide revaluation! If Mr Feiner steps down, then we might begin to see A Better Greenburgh!