Latimer With Regards To County Property Taxes

New York State Executive Order Allows Westchester County Executive George Latimer To Remove Property Tax Late Fees For County Residents And Businesses. Residents and businesses must demonstrate economic hardship caused by COVID-19, threshold will be set by the County and vetted by the towns and cities.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer received permission from Governor Andrew Cuomo to go forward with his plan to remove late fees for County residents and business for the late payment of their property taxes (New York State Executive Order No. 202.22). 

Latimer said: “I want to thank Gov. Cuomo for recognizing the need to help Westchester residents and businesses. I am concerned about the financial pressures that the residents of this County are under. We can, we should - and now, we are - offering them some financial relief by waiving the late payments for the County taxes now due. This is the right thing to do for our constituents.”

To provide assistance to the cities and towns that collect these taxes, the Executive Order allows for the County Executive to accept less than 60% of the taxes (along with special ad valorem levies and special assessments) due on May 25 from towns and cities, as long as the municipalities waive residents’ late fees for the late payment of property taxes up to July 15, 2020.

To have the fee waived, the resident or business must certify economic hardship caused by COVID-19. The threshold for the certification requires in part that a resident must have qualified for the STAR exemption, is not paying property taxes through an escrow account and can assert that they have suffered loss of substantial employment income as a result of COVID-19.

Join Westchester County Executive George Latimer at Town Hall

In response to a request earlier this year from Westchester County Legislator Alfreda Williams, the CGCA agreed to sponsor a meeting with Westchester County Executive George Latimer regarding the County budget. 

 You can ask the County Executive:

WHAT SERVICES ARE PROVIDED?

WHAT SPECIAL CONCERNS DO TAXPAYERS FACE?

LEARN THE ISSUES. 

ASK QUESTIONS.  EXPECT ANSWERS.

ATTEND THIS SPECIAL MEETING

WITH

WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE

GEORGE LATIMER

Monday, September 24, 2018

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Greenburgh Town Hall
(177 Hillside Avenue)

sponsored by

The Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations

THE COUNCIL OF GREENBURGH CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS IS A NONPARTISAN, UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION.

OUR PURPOSE IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION AND ADVANCE THE COMMON INTERESTS OF MEMBER CIVIC GROUPS IN IMPORTANT

TOWN AFFAIRS.

Tax Information:

Many complain that a significant portion of your annual tax bill is for monies that go toward funding County operations. The county government portion of the property tax is about 15-18% of a property owner's total bill. The remaining property tax is collected by local governments, school districts and special districts (such as fire, water, sewers). The total sales tax varies in Westchester, as the county's largest four cities (White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mount Vernon) collect a sales tax of their own. In addition, the state levies a sales tax as well as many unfunded mandates. Westchester County, as well as the Town of Greenburgh, also collects a tax on hotel occupancies. This tax was recently proposed and pushed by Democrats Tom Abinanti and Paul Feiner, helping to make this area and the Town in particular more expensive for travelers. It as passed unanimously by his Town Board.

Business taxes Westchester County offers the following tax advantages to businesses: 

• no local corporate income tax • no local personal income tax (except in Yonkers) 

• no personal property tax 

• no commercial rent tax 

• no unincorporated business tax Although a number of factors will ultimately determine an organization's tax liabilities, some generalizations can be made regarding taxes. New York State's maximum corporate income tax rate is 7.1%. In addition, tax savings may result from investment income treatment. 

The following sales tax rates apply in Westchester County: 

• State sales tax (4%) 

• Metropolitan Transportation Authority tax (0.375%) 

• County sales tax (except in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers) (3%) 

• County sales tax (in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers) (1.5%) 

• Municipal sales tax (in White Plains) (2.25%). 

• Municipal sales tax (in Yonkers, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle) (2.5%).\ 

*an additional 2.5% in the cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and Yonkers. An additional 2% in the City of White Plains. Tax information is courtesy of New York State Empire Development Corporation, a division of New York State Department of Economic Development. 102 WESTCHESTER COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING DATABOOK Taxes Resident Taxes The County of Westchester does not collect a personal income tax, a factor which helps companies attract skilled, highly-paid employees. The personal income tax is assessed by New York State. New York City and the City of Yonkers assess an additional graduated income tax on residents. Connecticut also has a state income tax. 

Fireworks Fiasco Eludes Safety

Many people have commented that they have witnessed fireworks for sale in almost every retail store they go into. Local firefighters and police officers are also confused. Some that we've spoken to have claimed that they too have seen and even purchased fireworks, believing that they are now legal since they are being sold in stores throughout Westchester County.

While residents are now able to purchase fireworks legally in Westchester County, there is still some confusion about which ones people can buy and just as importantly, if it's legal to use them or shoot them off? Certain types of fireworks can be sold in New York to those 18 years of age or older, but according to New York law, the ones for sale are “sparkling devices.” These are what is commonly referred to as simply sparklers.

The law passed in 2014 and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, a democrat, lets retailers sell the small fireworks from June 1 to July 5 and December 26 to January 1 each year. Similar to tents and stands seen in other states, some even along the roadsides, temporary stands or tents can get a NY State permit to sell the sparkling devices from June 20 to July 5 and December 26 to January 1. According to the State's definition, sparkling devices are ones that burn on the ground and do not explode in the air.

A 2016 law decided that if a particular County wanted to “opt out” of selling fireworks, it would have to formally do so. Westchester never did opt out, allowing sparklers, fountains, cakes and tubes to be legally purchased. To that end, the Westchester County Association of Fire Chiefs, the Westchester County Volunteer Firemen's Association and the Westchester County Association of Fire Districts petitioned County Executive George Latimer as well as all County Legislators to have Westchester County "opt out" of this law, stating among other points that these devices are extremely dangerous burning at temperatures from 800 to 2,000 degrees!

In response to the letters sent, County Legislator Williams responded. An excerpt from her response clearly indicates that profits over safety were paramount for the legislators. Here's a portion of her response, "I have discussed your request, for Westchester Co. to opt out of the sparkler law, with my colleagues and some vendors in the area. It seems that it is too late to opt out now, due to the nearness of the July 4th Holiday, most vendors have already ordered their supply. However we will consider doing this next year, early enough to notify all involved.” A second legislator we discussed this with said she wasn't even aware of the "opt out" provision. In a subsequent meeting with County Executive George Latimer, he assured us that the County Attorney will be drafting a bill that will be introduced after the July 4th Holiday and he assures us that he will sign it.

While doing this after the July 4th Holiday may be the proverbial closing of the barn door after the animals are out, the attitude at the County Legislature appears somewhat apathetic. At least we can hope that no one gets injured during the highly anticipated use of these easy-to-come-by fireworks. It now comes down to each municipality as to whether or not they are legal to be used. So, even though you can purchase them, you might not necessarily be allowed to shoot them off! We urge you to check with your respective municipality's building and codes department or police department to find out wjhat you can and cannot do with fireworks.

As always, please stay safe this July 4th and enjoy the holiday, keep an eye on your kids and when in doubt, err on the side of caution and don't use any fireworks.

For those who prefer to write letters or call their legislators, please use the following information:

Your Legislator Name
Westchester County Board of Legislators
Michaelian County Office Building, 8th Floor
148 Martine Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601

Name	District	Phone
John G. Testa	1	(914) 995-2828
Kitley S. Covill	2	(914) 995-2810
Margaret A. Cunzio	3	(914) 995-2847
Michael B. Kaplowitz	4	(914) 995-2848
Benjamin Boykin	5	(914) 995-2827
Nancy E. Barr	6	(914) 995-2834
Catherine F. Parker	7	(914) 995-2802
Alfreda A. Williams	8	(914) 995-2833
Catherine Borgia	9	(914) 995-2812
Damon R. Maher	10	(914) 995-2817
James Maisano	11	(914) 995-2826
MaryJane Shimsky	12	(914) 995-2821
Lyndon Williams	13	(914) 995-2837
David J. Tubiolo	14	(914) 995-2815
Gordon A. Burrows	15	(914) 995-2830
Christopher A. Johnson	16	(914) 995-2829
Virginia Perez	17	(914) 995-2846

Storm Highlights Frustrations

It seems that every politician is trying to grab more and more headlines during the two most recent storms. Newly elected County Executive George Latimer has had numerous television clips showing him basically yelling into the phone at ConEd executives. Anyone who has gone to and had to deal with the Town Board at a meeting will certainly empathize with his level of frustration. These first 100-year storms and now 500-year storms seem to be happening every year, often several times in one year. But why? There is no easy answer to this unless you are a politician. Of course, it’s climate change – or is it?

In Mr Feiner’s most recent email blast, he says:
“I'm very aggravated. Thought and hoped that everyone would have their power back yesterday as Con Ed promised earlier in the week. Was wrong. Although many residents did contact me--delighted that their power was restored sometime yesterday, others are still out. As of 9 AM there were 338 homes in Greenburgh out of power, down from over 1000 at some points yesterday. Last week there were over 4,000 outages. Con Ed has not been notifying local officials from anywhere in the county what streets they are going to next. We can yell, scream, beg them to help. We can highlight hard luck stories. Sometimes they listen. They also have not always responded to some of our requests. Every municipal official I speak with from other communities has shared similar stories. And some communities are worst off --have more outages.” Now he is starting to know how residents feel whenever we’re trying to get answers from him and his Board!

Mr Feiner has also gone to great lengths to highlight some of those without power or the resources to be able to leave for a stay with relatives, friends or simply a hotel. We truly sympathize with those people without power and with damage to their homes. Oddly, the hotels in our area are all rather expensive, now including a new 3% room tax that Mr Feiner and his Board, along with Assemblyman Abinanti and Senator Stewart-Cousins could not wait to impose on guests. Their claim was that this would not cost residents because they, ahem, don’t rent rooms in Greenburgh. How’s that working out now? Karma.

After the storm always seems to be a political free-for-all to see who can beat up the big bad utilities for not doing something right, not doing anything at all or not doing enough. One way or the other the news media will jump at each one of their attempts to point fingers and replay it incessantly. The utilities are Public Service organizations, regulated by what must seem like billions of regulations put in place by, yes, politicians. This seems to be a sort of Catch-22. One thing the politicians never do is to blame themselves!

Mr Latimer, while new in the County Executive position was a County Legislator, Assemblyman and Senator before assuming this new position. So none of this is new to him, and he has not done much in his previous positions to alleviate any of these difficulties. He remains culpable to a degree and should not get a pass because he’s in a new position. Mr Feiner on the other hand, has been in office even longer and actually exacerbated the problem.

After Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, the Fulton Park Civic Association leaders met with Commissioner Victor Carosi and Richard Fon about trying to get the trees in the area trimmed to prevent further trees from coming down and taking out wires. To their credit, and the efforts of many, a good number of problematic trees were taken down. Because of that effort, no trees have come down onto wires, causing any power outages in that corridor. This type of maintenance needs to happen regularly. Mr Feiner, while always happy to talk about issues, is also very unwilling to take action – unless of course he can get publicity from it. Instead of focusing on the 2% tax cap – which isn’t really followed anyway, Mr Feiner should focus on spending some money on maintenance for the taxpayers well being, instead of $6.5 million fines from guilty verdicts as with the Fortress Bible Discrimination case.

Indirectly, however, Mr Feiner has had trees removed by authorizing all of the overdevelopment throughout the Town. Yes, hundreds and maybe even thousands of trees and pervious space have been removed or will be removed to permit zone-busting, oversized and inappropriate buildings wherever a developer asks for it. The latest will be the former Elmwood Country Club, which succumbed to a falling membership and sold the property to a developer seeking to alter the property’s zoning to create 175 townhouses.

Each time we create more impervious space through these types of construction projects, the remaining permeable spaces wind up getting abnormally inundated with water. As the area saturates more and more, to the point of over-saturation, the soil’s stability is undermined and the trees, usually the older, taller and heavier ones come down. Maintenance of the large trees, as well as a reduction of these over-sized projects and a stricter adherence to our zoning and building codes would surely help.

Several years ago, after Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, Mr Feiner lied to a flood ravaged resident on Old Kensico Road that F.E.M.A. would purchase their home to help them get “out from under”, that resident learned an inconvenient truth: Mr Feiner will say anything without regard to whether it is true or not! Regardless, yesterday Mr Feiner sent out another Feiner email blast that Town employees had finished clearing the trees off of all roadways. Yesterday. Why is that important? Because the utility workers were often unable to access their power equipment until the Town cleared a way for them to get in and operate safely. So, while we feel bad for those residents who have been suffering without power, there is plenty of blame to go around, starting with Mr Feiner’s and his administration.

We will continue to get more severe storms such as this. Mother Nature, while full of surprises, can afford some predictability that will allow us to be better prepared. First, we must dredge the Bronx and Saw Mill Rivers to help storm water flow unencumbered. Second, we must have a tree trimming initiative that operates all of the time, not just when it’s convenient for a TV sound byte. Third, any new construction should mandate underground wiring. Fourth, Mr Feiner needs to operate during storms at the County’s Emergency Command Facility in Hawthorne. That’s where government leaders, utility leaders, police, fire and other heads of organizations operate from during an emergency. Why does this make sense? Because Mr Feiner could simply turn to the head of ConEd and ask direct questions and get direct answers.

There are other things that need improvement such as our sorely neglected infrastructure. How this Town operates is woefully inefficient and it shows up painfully for the abused and beleaguered taxpayers time and time again, especially highlighted during storms. This has to change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.