The Big Votes in Fire District Election

Greenville FD map courtesy of Google

The biggest votes in the Fire Districts races will apparently take place in the Greenville Fire District. It encompasses a pretty extensive area that includes some affluent neighborhoods. Most notably are Edgemont and the Fort Hill area. Here’s some information regarding the three proposals.

Greenville Voter Proposal #1 
This proposal is for the Greenville Fire District to borrow up to $285,000 to repair and renovate its only building, their fire headquarters located on Central Avenue. They previously had a major renovation in 1991. Now, some twenty years later, they are looking for a new roof, waterproofing, and parking lot repaving.

Greenville Voter Request #2

The second proposition is to borrow up to $550,000 to pay tax certiorari refunds. Tax certiorari refunds are payments made to commercial property owners in Edgemont who successfully petition the Town for reductions over multiple years in their property tax assessments. The district is forecasting that the amount of refunds it will need to pay the settlements can’t be covered by the district’s operating budget.

The Town has apprized the fire districts to expect an unprecedented level of tax certiorari claims to be settled over the 2015-16 period once the town-wide reassessment project is finished. Mr Feiner reduced our fund balance by 40% (approximately $2M) which is normally used to cover our own certiorari obligations in another ill-fated attempt to balance this year’s budget. Ill-fated because if his prediction is true, and ABG believe it is, the Town will not have enough money to pay it’s own certiorari payouts!We average $100K per meeting and have peaked on occasion to $3M.

This 40% reduction will offset next year’s tax hikes so that town officials can tell voters they’ve met the state tax cap again. Can you say, “Election year hijinks?” What ABG believes should happen is a) the Town doesn’t raid the Reserve Fund; b) the Town loan the necessary funds for the certiorari adjustments that must be made by the Fire Districts instead of them having to borrow money commercially; and c) since the certiorari adjustments are due to the lack of a Town-wide revaluation for at least the last 22-years, the loans should not have any interest attached to them.

Greenville Voter Request #3

The third and largest proposal for borrowing is for up to $950,000 to replace the district’s 13-year old ladder truck that is approaching the end of its useful life. Not knowing what the expected lifespan of this aerial ladder is, it is difficult to say exactly when it should be replaced. We don’t know the condition of the ladder or even if the ladder should be refurbished, which would extend its life by about ten years and save the taxpayers some money. That's a decision the Fire District's Board must answer. Although, most residents in Edgemont that ABG discussed these three proposals with were in favor of approving all three proposals, including purchasing a new aerial ladder truck. 

ABG often writes about the willfully ignorant voter in Greenburgh. History has proven that not many people will be voting in these fire district elections and that few ever attend the monthly Board meetings. While the deck is said to be stacked against the residents/taxpayers at this point because of their lack of involvement, we can only hope to see more people getting involved. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.