Focus On Elimination Of Waste, Consolidation Of Services, And Savings For Taxpayers
As promised, Governor Eliot Spitzer has delivered -- not with a "ready-to-go" plan to get a handle on the multitude of special taxing jurisdictions in New York that just might keep a few bucks more in the pockets of homeowners -- but rather, with a commission to study the problem and offer prospective solutions.
Not that this is a bad idea, but folks, hasn't the inefficiency, waste, and outright corruption and ineptitude of the special taxing jurisdictions (a/k/a local government) already been studied to death? [Why, we've even blogged on the issues ad nauseum, so much so, that we're tired of hearing our own rant.]
We know what the problems are. We even know what the remedies must be. So why a commission -- as esteemed a panel as it is -- to tell us what we already know, or to merely give validity to plans that have been floated before us time and time again?
Why? Because that's the way government operates -- by creating more government (and by the looks of the panel, it is a government from the government and of the government) to solve problems government itself has created and perpetuated.
Okay. Enough of the cynicism. At least we now have bodies -- and, in most cases, faces -- we can look to for a consensus, and a Governor who we can hold accountable for putting the commission's recommendations into play.
As to the commission itself, its good to see Long Island -- where special taxing districts outnumber by far all other government entities combined -- represented ably and responsibly by the likes of Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman and newly-minted Assemblymember Craig Johnson. [Somewhat more than parenthetically, we would have liked to see Harvey Levinson, the Nassau County Assessor who got the ball rolling (back in 2005) here on Long Island on the hidden costs of the special taxing districts, named to the commission as well. (Harvey, at least you won't have to travel to Albany in the dead of winter, and we're sure you'll be sticking in your two cents every chance you get, anyway.)].
Also serving at the Governor's pleasure are a couple of former Lieutenant Governors (so this is where old Lieutenant Governors go to die, eh?), current and former legislators, and the owner of the Albany River Rats AHL hockey team of Niskayuna, New York.
Missing from the list of commissioners (do they get pension credits, by the way? How about paid health insurance?) is anyone from the rank-and-file. Not a single community advocate. No one from a civic or taxpayer watchdog group. John Q. Public is conspicuous by his/her absence from the commission, and this is most unfortunate.
Citizen representaitives would certainly add another dimension, if not fresh, front-line perspectives to the commission, and would give this assemblage of what can be characterized as the governmental elite -- true blue bloods for a blue ribbion panel -- greater credibility in the minds of the taxpayer. [Don't worry. The taxpayer doesn't expect too much to come out of this conclave, anyway, having seen the antics of the special taxing districts held up to the supposedly cleansing light of day, with little if any resultant change in either method or madness.]
As for our recommendations to the commission (yes, they want YOUR ideas), first off, read The Community Alliance blog (a search therein for "special districts" would be a good place to start). Then, check in with local groups, such as Residents for Efficient Special Districts (yes, we know -- oxymoron) here on Long Island. Pick the brains of those whose pockets are being picked by the tentatcles of local government.
Watch for the commission to hold hearings and forums across the State -- after all, that's what commissions and Blue Ribbon panels do! Yes, it will be deja vu all over again, but only to the extent that we allow the commission to saunter when it should gallup. [Join the commission's e-mail list for updates.]
Bottom line: Let's not spend the next quarter century talking about the problem. Let's actually devise and implement a practical, workable plan to eliminate it. [Hmmm. "Eliminate." Now that's an idea, as concerns inefficient and uncompetitive local government, whose time has come!]
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NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency & Competitiveness
Governor Spitzer today issued an Executive Order creating the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, which will address the issues of local government merger, consolidation, regionalized government, shared services and smart growth. A letter was also sent to county leaders and local government officials across the State, asking them to identify at least one major initiative in these areas that is either already underway or can be initiated this year.
As a local government official or other interested party, you received this e-mail for your convenience in accessing information about the Governor’s Executive Order, his letter to local officials, and the new Commission. That information is available on the Commission’s website, where you can also access a number of resources on local government issues and submit your ideas for local government reform. The website has an option for adding e-mail addresses to the Commission’s ‘list-serve’ for future communications about its work (e-mail addresses that received this note are already on the list, but additional e-mails may be added).
The Commission’s website is: www.nyslocalgov.org
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READ the Governor's letter to local officials
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query special taxing jurisdictions. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query special taxing jurisdictions. Sort by date Show all posts
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Friday, April 01, 2005
The "Special" Taxing Districts
We all cringe when that tax notice arrives in the mail, but have you taken a closer look at who is taxing you and what the increases have been? More than this, do you realize that you may be paying more for services such as sanitation, fire protection and water than your neighbors across town - and in some cases, more than your neighbor across the street?
Nassau County Assessor of Taxes, Harvey B. Levinson, examines the financial impact of so-called invisible taxing jurisdictions, and debunks the myth that the Town of Hempstead has been "holding the line on taxes."
"While some of these special taxing districts or invisible governments have existed since the 1930s," exclaimed Mr. Levinson, "the so-called Commissioner-operated fire, water and sanitary (garbage collection) districts are now collecting some of the biggest tax dollars with little or no oversight." A look at the 2005 Town tax bill of a West Hempstead home, for example, with a market value of $346,900 gives credence to Mr. Levinson's call for increased scrutiny, consolidation and, in some instances, the elimination of these special taxing jurisdictions.
While Town General taxes increased from 2004 by some 8.21% (enough of a burden), Town Highway went up $15.94%; Town Building & Zoning increased by 16.73%; Town Lighting by 14.65%; Town Park by 14%; West Hempstead Public Parking by 1.09% and Town Refuse Disposal by a whopping 18.77%.
Add to this already onerous tax burden (it hurts just to write it) "Special District" taxes for Sanitary District # 6, up 17.27%; West Hempstead-Hempstead Gardens Water District, up 3.41% (even more if you live in Cathedral Gardens); and West Hempstead Fire District, up 10.56%.
Assessor Levinson asserts, and the numbers bear him out, that "if a home in West Hempstead was not in Sanitary District # 6, and its garbage was picked-up by the Town of Hempstead Refuse and Garbage District (for which residents are also taxed), the taxes on this hypothetical home would be reduced from $656 to $308 - a reduction of 53%."---Statistics courtesy of the Office of the Nassau County Assessor.
Learn more about the financial impact of "Invisible Taxing Jurisdictions" by logging on to www.co.nassau.ny.us/assessor/pressrel/01-27-05.html.
Nassau County Assessor of Taxes, Harvey B. Levinson, examines the financial impact of so-called invisible taxing jurisdictions, and debunks the myth that the Town of Hempstead has been "holding the line on taxes."
"While some of these special taxing districts or invisible governments have existed since the 1930s," exclaimed Mr. Levinson, "the so-called Commissioner-operated fire, water and sanitary (garbage collection) districts are now collecting some of the biggest tax dollars with little or no oversight." A look at the 2005 Town tax bill of a West Hempstead home, for example, with a market value of $346,900 gives credence to Mr. Levinson's call for increased scrutiny, consolidation and, in some instances, the elimination of these special taxing jurisdictions.
While Town General taxes increased from 2004 by some 8.21% (enough of a burden), Town Highway went up $15.94%; Town Building & Zoning increased by 16.73%; Town Lighting by 14.65%; Town Park by 14%; West Hempstead Public Parking by 1.09% and Town Refuse Disposal by a whopping 18.77%.
Add to this already onerous tax burden (it hurts just to write it) "Special District" taxes for Sanitary District # 6, up 17.27%; West Hempstead-Hempstead Gardens Water District, up 3.41% (even more if you live in Cathedral Gardens); and West Hempstead Fire District, up 10.56%.
Assessor Levinson asserts, and the numbers bear him out, that "if a home in West Hempstead was not in Sanitary District # 6, and its garbage was picked-up by the Town of Hempstead Refuse and Garbage District (for which residents are also taxed), the taxes on this hypothetical home would be reduced from $656 to $308 - a reduction of 53%."---Statistics courtesy of the Office of the Nassau County Assessor.
Learn more about the financial impact of "Invisible Taxing Jurisdictions" by logging on to www.co.nassau.ny.us/assessor/pressrel/01-27-05.html.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Everything You Wanted To Know About Nassau County's Special Districts. . .
. . .And Should Be Asking!
“Too often, I hear cries of why we cannot do something or why we should not do something for fear of change. To the advocates of the status quo, I say that your time has passed. If we are going to help ease the property tax burden imposed on homeowners and business owners, we need visionaries – not obstructionists with selfserving agendas trying to protect their own fiefdoms.”
“Too often, I hear cries of why we cannot do something or why we should not do something for fear of change. To the advocates of the status quo, I say that your time has passed. If we are going to help ease the property tax burden imposed on homeowners and business owners, we need visionaries – not obstructionists with selfserving agendas trying to protect their own fiefdoms.”
HARVEY B. LEVINSON
Chairman, Nassau County Board of Assessors
OUTLINE OF ASSESSOR LEVINSON’S SPECIAL TAXING DISTRICT PROPOSALS AND SPECIAL DISTRICT TAX SUMMARY TABLES
· Recommend the dissolution of commissioner operated and town operated special districts.
· All services previously provided by commissioner operated special districts, such as sanitary districts, should be provided by each town directly.
· Once under town control, all properties in the unincorporated areas would pay a single property tax rate for all town services, as residents in villages and cities do.
· Personnel currently employed by a special taxing district would remain in place as town employees.
· The tax rate for services would appear on the tax bill as: “Unincorporated Services Fund.”
· Numerous special taxing district lines would no longer be necessary. The new tax bill would have two line entries: “Town General Fund” and “Unincorporated Services Fund.”
· The tax rate for unincorporated services would be based on the total assessed value of all properties throughout the unincorporated areas of the town.
· Comprehensive legislative reform to be sought in Albany to implement proposal.
· Fire Districts, while retaining their local identity, would no longer operate or be treated as separate taxing jurisdictions. Budgets would be submitted to the town for review and approval.
· Establish a Nassau County Water Authority similar to Suffolk County. Widely varying water tax rates would be replaced with a tariff charge based on water usage and a uniform property tax rate based on a total countywide assessed value.
ADVANTAGES OF THE PROPOSALS
1. Low income senior citizens and veterans would see substantial reductions in their property tax bills because exemptions would be applied to the “Unincorporated Services Fund.” Presently, the exemptions do not apply to special districts.
2. Eliminates assessment disparities and widely different tax rates imposed on homeowners throughout the unincorporated areas of the towns.
3. Allows the commercial tax base to be shared within each town.
4. Reduces the confusing multitude of special district taxing jurisdictions.
5. Increases oversight over the delivery of municipal services.
6. Utilities would not be able to avoid paying their fair share of the cost of services. (The Court of Appeals has ruled that utilities do not have to pay special district payments [ad valorem levies] unless they are directly benefited by the districts.)
Viewing documents in PDF format requires the free Adobe Reader. If you have trouble opening these PDF documents, click here.
Sanitary, Garbage & Refuse Disposal Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Home With A $450,000 Market Value (.pdf file)
Sanitary, Garbage & Refuse Disposal Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Business With A $1,000,000 Valuation (.pdf file)
Water Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Home With A $450,000 Market Value (.pdf file)
Library Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Home With A $350,000 Market Value (.pdf file)
Fire & Fire Protection Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Home With A $450,000 Market Value (.pdf file)
Water Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Business With A $1,000,000 Valuation (.pdf file)
Library Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Business With A $1,000,000 Valuation (.pdf file)
Fire & Fire Protection Districts 2006 Taxes Paid By A Business With A $1,000,000 Valuation (.pdf file)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Taking On The "Special" Taxing Machines
New Watchdog Group Plans Multi-faceted Attack On Taxing Jurisdictions
Yet unnamed, a new grassroots organization is taking shape in Oceanside, and reaching out to community leaders throughout Nassau County, dedicated to lowering property taxes by addressing the multitude of problems associated with and created by the so-called Special Districts.
That there are more than 400* Special Districts within Nassau County and its inclusive townships, each acting as quasi-independent governments with the authority to set budgets and tax homeowners, is a given. That many of these districts -- from fire to sanitation to water -- are out of control, is coming to light and beginning to register with taxpayers.
First brought to the public's attention by Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson last year (even before the campaign for Town of Hempstead Supervisor began), the disparate and excessive costs associated with maintaining and operating separate and distinct fiefdoms -- each taking a bite out of our wallets -- is both widespread and systemic.
Sanitary Districts, Water Districts, Fire Districts, Library Districts, to name a few, duplicating effort and services, supporting a patronage mill run by political and familial cronies, self-serving and self-perpetuating mini governments paid for and made possible by your tax dollars.
Audits conducted by Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, and an ongoing investigation by NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi, bear out what many observers and taxpayers already knew: There are too many, doing too little, getting too much, and the taxpayer is getting ripped off -- royally!
Recently, Mr. Weitzman called for a countywide conference to explore the reform of the Special Districts. A daring few have now heeded the call.
And so it was, that out of a failed bid to gain a seat on the Board of Commissioners of a local Town of Hempstead Sanitary District (a bid borne of a desire to expose waste, mismanagement and malfeasance), grew a movement that hopes to educate residents, create transparency, and, ultimately, to consolidate services, eliminating unnecessary and costly layers of government.
Like kids in a candy store, filled with excitement and anticipation, community leaders met last week to form a committee and to brainstorm an agenda. Under the guiding hand of Laura Mallay, President of the South Hempstead Civic Association, the dozen or so civic activists agreed that a non-partisan organization was needed to open the doors of the Special Districts to the cleansing light of day.
The short-term mission is to gather information on the Special Districts -- from budgets, to expenditures, to personnel -- and to disseminate this information to the taxpaying public. [Watch this blog for postings relative to the Sanitary Districts and other taxing jurisdictions that, for the most part, fly beneath the public's radar.]
The group hopes to recruit candidates to run for Commissioners in Special District elections, to lobby for elections to take place on Election Day in November, and to promote a more open, transparent and responsive approach to operating what are essentially self-governing, taxpayer-funded public authorities.
Long-term, this watchdog group will look to our elected officials, particularly the State Legislature (which created the Special District monsters in the first place), to give localities the authority -- and the impetus -- to consolidate services, to eliminate districts that duplicate services more readily and efficiently provided by other agencies or departments, and, in so doing, lowering the tax burden that now consumes homeowners throughout the county.
We say "bravo" to Laura Mallay and her small force of taxpayer watchdogs. We hope that these "hounds" get the "scent" and will stay hot on the trail of those invisible taxing jurisdictions. Once exposed for the wasteful, tax dollar-eating beasts that they are, Mallay & Company should morph from watchdog into attack dog, latching on to the body of the behemoths like a pit bull to the postman's leg; not letting go until the Special Districts have either been brought in line, heeling to the will of the taxpayers, or better yet, taken off line, at long last spayed and neutered.
The next meeting of the taxpayer watchdog group will be held on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 7:30 PM in Oceanside. Community advocates interested in becoming involved in this grassroots campaign, and those seeking more information, should contact Laura Mallay at 516-833-6699 or 516-233-4026, or by e-mail at mallay@optonline.net.
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*The number of Special Districts in operation in Nassau County varies widely from report to report -- generally between 200 and 900 -- depending on which districts are included in the count. The lower figure typically represents fire, water and sanitary districts only, while the greater number takes into account library districts, sewer districts, lighting districts, and so forth. Bottom line: There are too many hands in our pockets, and most of them are not our own!
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For a bit of history (recent and otherwise) as to the antics of the Sanitary Districts, we take you back to July 14, 2005, Picking Through The trash at the Town of Hempstead Sanitary Districts. Much remains today as it was then. Only the tax rates have changed!
Yet unnamed, a new grassroots organization is taking shape in Oceanside, and reaching out to community leaders throughout Nassau County, dedicated to lowering property taxes by addressing the multitude of problems associated with and created by the so-called Special Districts.
That there are more than 400* Special Districts within Nassau County and its inclusive townships, each acting as quasi-independent governments with the authority to set budgets and tax homeowners, is a given. That many of these districts -- from fire to sanitation to water -- are out of control, is coming to light and beginning to register with taxpayers.
First brought to the public's attention by Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson last year (even before the campaign for Town of Hempstead Supervisor began), the disparate and excessive costs associated with maintaining and operating separate and distinct fiefdoms -- each taking a bite out of our wallets -- is both widespread and systemic.
Sanitary Districts, Water Districts, Fire Districts, Library Districts, to name a few, duplicating effort and services, supporting a patronage mill run by political and familial cronies, self-serving and self-perpetuating mini governments paid for and made possible by your tax dollars.
Audits conducted by Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, and an ongoing investigation by NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi, bear out what many observers and taxpayers already knew: There are too many, doing too little, getting too much, and the taxpayer is getting ripped off -- royally!
Recently, Mr. Weitzman called for a countywide conference to explore the reform of the Special Districts. A daring few have now heeded the call.
And so it was, that out of a failed bid to gain a seat on the Board of Commissioners of a local Town of Hempstead Sanitary District (a bid borne of a desire to expose waste, mismanagement and malfeasance), grew a movement that hopes to educate residents, create transparency, and, ultimately, to consolidate services, eliminating unnecessary and costly layers of government.
Like kids in a candy store, filled with excitement and anticipation, community leaders met last week to form a committee and to brainstorm an agenda. Under the guiding hand of Laura Mallay, President of the South Hempstead Civic Association, the dozen or so civic activists agreed that a non-partisan organization was needed to open the doors of the Special Districts to the cleansing light of day.
The short-term mission is to gather information on the Special Districts -- from budgets, to expenditures, to personnel -- and to disseminate this information to the taxpaying public. [Watch this blog for postings relative to the Sanitary Districts and other taxing jurisdictions that, for the most part, fly beneath the public's radar.]
The group hopes to recruit candidates to run for Commissioners in Special District elections, to lobby for elections to take place on Election Day in November, and to promote a more open, transparent and responsive approach to operating what are essentially self-governing, taxpayer-funded public authorities.
Long-term, this watchdog group will look to our elected officials, particularly the State Legislature (which created the Special District monsters in the first place), to give localities the authority -- and the impetus -- to consolidate services, to eliminate districts that duplicate services more readily and efficiently provided by other agencies or departments, and, in so doing, lowering the tax burden that now consumes homeowners throughout the county.
We say "bravo" to Laura Mallay and her small force of taxpayer watchdogs. We hope that these "hounds" get the "scent" and will stay hot on the trail of those invisible taxing jurisdictions. Once exposed for the wasteful, tax dollar-eating beasts that they are, Mallay & Company should morph from watchdog into attack dog, latching on to the body of the behemoths like a pit bull to the postman's leg; not letting go until the Special Districts have either been brought in line, heeling to the will of the taxpayers, or better yet, taken off line, at long last spayed and neutered.
The next meeting of the taxpayer watchdog group will be held on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 7:30 PM in Oceanside. Community advocates interested in becoming involved in this grassroots campaign, and those seeking more information, should contact Laura Mallay at 516-833-6699 or 516-233-4026, or by e-mail at mallay@optonline.net.
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*The number of Special Districts in operation in Nassau County varies widely from report to report -- generally between 200 and 900 -- depending on which districts are included in the count. The lower figure typically represents fire, water and sanitary districts only, while the greater number takes into account library districts, sewer districts, lighting districts, and so forth. Bottom line: There are too many hands in our pockets, and most of them are not our own!
- - -
For a bit of history (recent and otherwise) as to the antics of the Sanitary Districts, we take you back to July 14, 2005, Picking Through The trash at the Town of Hempstead Sanitary Districts. Much remains today as it was then. Only the tax rates have changed!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Its Taxing Just Thinking About Special Districts
Imagine What Would Happen If We Actually Moved To Consolidate/Eliminate Them
Take a look at your 2006 Statement of Taxes/General Levy. By God, its enough to make an exorcist's head spin!
Sure, you've got your special taxing jurisdictions that everyone's been complaining about -- fire districts, water districts, sanitary districts. Those are the big "nuts" -- or so you thought.
Take a closer look.
In the unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead served by Sanitary District 6, for instance, the total 2006 tax levy for that district was $21,587,424.49.
The total tax levy for the Town Refuse Disposal District -- paid by SD6 residents in addition to the SD6 levy -- was more than double the SD6 levy, topping $46 million.
If you live within garbage can throwing range of SD6, you're not only paying four times the going rate for collection, you're paying an additional $46 mil for the Town of Hempstead to dispose of what SD6 has collected.
That's some expensive trash you've got!
But that's not all.
Look at your tax bill again.
The Town Park District is costing taxpayers $32.8 million. Town Lighting District, $8.7 million. Town Parking District, a mere $43,000 -- no wonder you can't find a parking space!
And let's not forget the County Sewage Disposal District coming in at $39.2 mil.
Considering that all of these districts have, in one incarnation or another, their own strata of governance (be they designated as "commissioners" or otherwise), as well as their own rules of doing business (or not), the true cost to the taxpayer -- above and beyong what you see on your tax statement -- is staggering.
Do we really need a seperate Lighting District within the township, or a seperate Parking District in each unincorporated hamlet?
Over the decades, these special taxing districts have taken on lives of their own (beyond the "control" of even the governmental entities under whose name they operate and levy taxes), and, like cancer cells, have found their pervasive way into almost every aspect of our communal lives.
With limited oversight by Town, County and State, few internal constraints, and little if any effective input from the folks who foot the bills (that would be us), the special taxing districts have evolved into tax levy-sustaining fiefdoms, no longer serving the greater good, but merely perpetuating a system where the few serve themselves at the taxpayers' expense.
And so, the panels and commissions convene and opine -- all reaching similar conclusions, more or less: that most of the operations of the so-called special districts can and should be consolidated, and that many can and should be eliminated outright.
The potential savings to the taxpayers like the number of customers served by McDonalds -- billions and billions!
If only we could get past the "can and should" and reach the "are being and have been!"
Of course, there is a downside to consolidating and eliminating the special taxing districts. Imagine the hundreds if not thousands of special district workers -- those who thank the party for their patronage -- who would join the ranks of Long Island's unemployed.
Not to worry. We're confident that no show jobs with attendant six-figure salaries can be found for the disposed and the displaced at the County Seat or in Town Hall.
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LI's 'special' districts draw scrutiny
By Michaek Rothfeld
michael.rothfeld@newsday.com
Nassau and Suffolk counties account for half of all revenue collected in New York State by special districts -- the small and relatively unknown government entities that operate in local towns with little oversight -- a new report by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has found.
In Nassau, the $400 million collected by special districts -- for sanitation, lighting, water and other services -- represented 31 percent of the $1.3 billion statewide total in 2004, the year DiNapoli studied. The $240 million collected in Suffolk was 19 percent of the total that year.
In addition, tax-weary homeowners in Nassau paid an average of $946 for special districts, the most in the state in 2004 and more than 31/2 times the $257 average. Suffolk homeowners paid $512.
Nassau also had the distinction of being home to 15 percent of the state's garbage districts. And those 24 districts collected $181.1 million a year, 14 percent of all special district revenue in New York, the report said.
Special districts first began sprouting up around 1930 and have become more common over the last 50 years as suburban and rural areas have grown. They were put into place to provide services and bill taxpayers within small geographic areas.
But the districts, which now number 6,927, have become so ubiquitous and overlapping -- and often, secretive -- that they are coming under intense scrutiny. DiNapoli cited media reports about wasteful spending, such as a Newsday series in 2005 about spending practices in Long Island fire districts.
"While special districts give towns the flexibility they need to provide critical services to residents, they don't always operate as efficiently and equitably for all taxpayers," DiNapoli said.
In Nassau, nearly 52 percent of all town revenue is collected in special districts, adding hundreds of dollars to tax bills. In some cases, districts are independent of towns and have their own commissioners. In most cases, DiNapoli said, they are simply units of town government which collect revenue, either through property taxes or user fees, and operate on their own for a specific purpose. The cost of government has become a hot-button political issue. DiNapoli said New York has the third highest property taxes in the nation.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has created a Commission on Local Government Efficiency to study consolidation. Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi is examining a potential consolidation of local taxing authorities. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is looking at sharing resources among school districts. And Nassau Comptroller Howard Weitzman has audited several special districts and highlighted poor accounting and spending practices.
"It is a much bigger problem here on Long Island than it is in the rest of the state," Suozzi said.
"This time next year, I'll have a solid, tangible result regarding what should be consolidated and how much money it will save."
DiNapoli, without taking a position on the issue, said the state could pass legislation requiring towns to undertake a consolidation study if, for instance, 65 percent of its population lived in an area serviced by more than one district with the same purpose.
Long Island is definitely at the epicenter of special districts in terms of revenue, but in quantity, the upstate counties of Erie, Onondaga and Monroe contain 34 percent of all state special districts, DiNapoli said. Suffolk has 200 and Nassau has 140 -- a combined 5 percent of the state total.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
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Locally, Long Islanders can check out -- and become actively involved with -- a homegrown, grassroots effort to gain much needed control over the special taxing districts -- Residents for Efficient Special Districts. [Yes, a misnomer, as in, "the only efficient special district is an eliminated special district!"]
For more information on RESD, fill out and submit their online form, or send an e-mail to information@resd.info.
Take a look at your 2006 Statement of Taxes/General Levy. By God, its enough to make an exorcist's head spin!
Sure, you've got your special taxing jurisdictions that everyone's been complaining about -- fire districts, water districts, sanitary districts. Those are the big "nuts" -- or so you thought.
Take a closer look.
In the unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead served by Sanitary District 6, for instance, the total 2006 tax levy for that district was $21,587,424.49.
The total tax levy for the Town Refuse Disposal District -- paid by SD6 residents in addition to the SD6 levy -- was more than double the SD6 levy, topping $46 million.
If you live within garbage can throwing range of SD6, you're not only paying four times the going rate for collection, you're paying an additional $46 mil for the Town of Hempstead to dispose of what SD6 has collected.
That's some expensive trash you've got!
But that's not all.
Look at your tax bill again.
The Town Park District is costing taxpayers $32.8 million. Town Lighting District, $8.7 million. Town Parking District, a mere $43,000 -- no wonder you can't find a parking space!
And let's not forget the County Sewage Disposal District coming in at $39.2 mil.
Considering that all of these districts have, in one incarnation or another, their own strata of governance (be they designated as "commissioners" or otherwise), as well as their own rules of doing business (or not), the true cost to the taxpayer -- above and beyong what you see on your tax statement -- is staggering.
Do we really need a seperate Lighting District within the township, or a seperate Parking District in each unincorporated hamlet?
Over the decades, these special taxing districts have taken on lives of their own (beyond the "control" of even the governmental entities under whose name they operate and levy taxes), and, like cancer cells, have found their pervasive way into almost every aspect of our communal lives.
With limited oversight by Town, County and State, few internal constraints, and little if any effective input from the folks who foot the bills (that would be us), the special taxing districts have evolved into tax levy-sustaining fiefdoms, no longer serving the greater good, but merely perpetuating a system where the few serve themselves at the taxpayers' expense.
And so, the panels and commissions convene and opine -- all reaching similar conclusions, more or less: that most of the operations of the so-called special districts can and should be consolidated, and that many can and should be eliminated outright.
The potential savings to the taxpayers like the number of customers served by McDonalds -- billions and billions!
If only we could get past the "can and should" and reach the "are being and have been!"
Of course, there is a downside to consolidating and eliminating the special taxing districts. Imagine the hundreds if not thousands of special district workers -- those who thank the party for their patronage -- who would join the ranks of Long Island's unemployed.
Not to worry. We're confident that no show jobs with attendant six-figure salaries can be found for the disposed and the displaced at the County Seat or in Town Hall.
- - -
LI's 'special' districts draw scrutiny
By Michaek Rothfeld
michael.rothfeld@newsday.com
Nassau and Suffolk counties account for half of all revenue collected in New York State by special districts -- the small and relatively unknown government entities that operate in local towns with little oversight -- a new report by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has found.
In Nassau, the $400 million collected by special districts -- for sanitation, lighting, water and other services -- represented 31 percent of the $1.3 billion statewide total in 2004, the year DiNapoli studied. The $240 million collected in Suffolk was 19 percent of the total that year.
In addition, tax-weary homeowners in Nassau paid an average of $946 for special districts, the most in the state in 2004 and more than 31/2 times the $257 average. Suffolk homeowners paid $512.
Nassau also had the distinction of being home to 15 percent of the state's garbage districts. And those 24 districts collected $181.1 million a year, 14 percent of all special district revenue in New York, the report said.
Special districts first began sprouting up around 1930 and have become more common over the last 50 years as suburban and rural areas have grown. They were put into place to provide services and bill taxpayers within small geographic areas.
But the districts, which now number 6,927, have become so ubiquitous and overlapping -- and often, secretive -- that they are coming under intense scrutiny. DiNapoli cited media reports about wasteful spending, such as a Newsday series in 2005 about spending practices in Long Island fire districts.
"While special districts give towns the flexibility they need to provide critical services to residents, they don't always operate as efficiently and equitably for all taxpayers," DiNapoli said.
In Nassau, nearly 52 percent of all town revenue is collected in special districts, adding hundreds of dollars to tax bills. In some cases, districts are independent of towns and have their own commissioners. In most cases, DiNapoli said, they are simply units of town government which collect revenue, either through property taxes or user fees, and operate on their own for a specific purpose. The cost of government has become a hot-button political issue. DiNapoli said New York has the third highest property taxes in the nation.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has created a Commission on Local Government Efficiency to study consolidation. Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi is examining a potential consolidation of local taxing authorities. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is looking at sharing resources among school districts. And Nassau Comptroller Howard Weitzman has audited several special districts and highlighted poor accounting and spending practices.
"It is a much bigger problem here on Long Island than it is in the rest of the state," Suozzi said.
"This time next year, I'll have a solid, tangible result regarding what should be consolidated and how much money it will save."
DiNapoli, without taking a position on the issue, said the state could pass legislation requiring towns to undertake a consolidation study if, for instance, 65 percent of its population lived in an area serviced by more than one district with the same purpose.
Long Island is definitely at the epicenter of special districts in terms of revenue, but in quantity, the upstate counties of Erie, Onondaga and Monroe contain 34 percent of all state special districts, DiNapoli said. Suffolk has 200 and Nassau has 140 -- a combined 5 percent of the state total.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
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Locally, Long Islanders can check out -- and become actively involved with -- a homegrown, grassroots effort to gain much needed control over the special taxing districts -- Residents for Efficient Special Districts. [Yes, a misnomer, as in, "the only efficient special district is an eliminated special district!"]
For more information on RESD, fill out and submit their online form, or send an e-mail to information@resd.info.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
The Man Who Exposed The Special Taxing Districts. . .
. . .Has His Say Beford The State Commission On Local Government Efficiency
When all is said, if certainly far from done, with respect to attempts to reign in the excesses of local government, the successes will no doubt have many fathers, and the failures will produce much finger-pointing in every direction.
We should not forget, amidst the glory and the gamesmanship, the man who started us thinking, and got the ball rolling, Nassau County Assessor, Harvey B. Levinson.
His ideas may not be universally accepted, but his insight and candid observations underscore the notion that local government is anything but efficient, and matters cannot be left to the devices of special district commissioners and their ilk, lest residents be taxed out of their homes, and off of our Long Island.
Thank you, Harvey, for the courage and tenacity in telling it like it is, even if some of us simply don't want to hear the painful -- and costly -- truth!
- - -
BOARD OF ASSESSORS CHAIRMAN HARVEY B. LEVINSON’S OPENING REMARKS SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSION ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND COMPETITIVENESS ON JULY 25, 2007
I want to thank the members of the commission for extending an invitation to have me offer some insights on the many special taxing districts that exist in Nassau County. For over 3 ½ years I often felt like the lone voice in the wilderness trying to expose the problems that are now being studied by this committee. I am pleased that my repeated calls for the creation of a statewide committee to study ways to consolidate these districts and to help reduce the overall local property tax burden has finally been realized. I also want to especially thank Governor Spitzer for his leadership on this issue and recognition that our current system is broken and needs to be improved.
While I understand that my time is limited, I will try to be brief and discuss what I feel should be done to change the very fabric of the way that public services have been delivered at the local level and assigned to these “invisible governments.”
When this commission reveals its final recommendations to the public, it is my hope that three things will be accomplished:
Commercial Properties (pdf file)
Port Washington Police vs County Police (pdf file)
Low Income Senior Exemption (pdf file)
Click Here to see a summary of Mr. Levinson's presentation about the "Unfair School Property Tax System"
When all is said, if certainly far from done, with respect to attempts to reign in the excesses of local government, the successes will no doubt have many fathers, and the failures will produce much finger-pointing in every direction.
We should not forget, amidst the glory and the gamesmanship, the man who started us thinking, and got the ball rolling, Nassau County Assessor, Harvey B. Levinson.
His ideas may not be universally accepted, but his insight and candid observations underscore the notion that local government is anything but efficient, and matters cannot be left to the devices of special district commissioners and their ilk, lest residents be taxed out of their homes, and off of our Long Island.
Thank you, Harvey, for the courage and tenacity in telling it like it is, even if some of us simply don't want to hear the painful -- and costly -- truth!
- - -
BOARD OF ASSESSORS CHAIRMAN HARVEY B. LEVINSON’S OPENING REMARKS SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSION ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND COMPETITIVENESS ON JULY 25, 2007
I want to thank the members of the commission for extending an invitation to have me offer some insights on the many special taxing districts that exist in Nassau County. For over 3 ½ years I often felt like the lone voice in the wilderness trying to expose the problems that are now being studied by this committee. I am pleased that my repeated calls for the creation of a statewide committee to study ways to consolidate these districts and to help reduce the overall local property tax burden has finally been realized. I also want to especially thank Governor Spitzer for his leadership on this issue and recognition that our current system is broken and needs to be improved.
While I understand that my time is limited, I will try to be brief and discuss what I feel should be done to change the very fabric of the way that public services have been delivered at the local level and assigned to these “invisible governments.”
When this commission reveals its final recommendations to the public, it is my hope that three things will be accomplished:
- The commission will endorse my plan calling for the dissolution of commissioner-operated and town-operated special districts.
- Support my suggestion that fire districts, while retaining their local identities, would no longer be permitted to operate or be treated as separate taxing jurisdictions and that their budgets be submitted to the towns for review and approval.
- Support the concept of establishing a Nassau County Water Authority, similar to Suffolk County.
One need only to look at the way incorporated villages operate to see that they are a model of efficiency by the way that they deliver public services and the way that the tax burdens for these services are divided. In a village, one tax rate is imposed on all residents for the services that are provided. Under the current multi-layered special taxing district system operating within each town, homeowners on one side of the street may be paying significantly higher tax bills for the same services as their neighbors on the other side of the street. This inequity exists only because of accident of geography.
The advantages of adopting my proposals would be significant.
-Eliminates assessment disparities and widely different tax rates imposed on homeowners throughout the unincorporated areas of the towns.
-Allows the commercial tax base to be shared within each town.
-Reduces the confusing multitude of special district taxing jurisdictions.
-Utilities would not be able to avoid paying their fair share of the cost of services. (The Court of Appeals has ruled that utilities do not have to pay special district payments [ad valorem levies] unless they are directly benefited by the districts.)
The time of the status quo has passed. We have to be visionaries not obstructionists. Every tax savings idea must be on the table with the realization that we must do what is best for the taxpayer.
Fire & Garbage District Comparison (pdf file)
Foxhurst Road Comparison (pdf file)Commercial Properties (pdf file)
Port Washington Police vs County Police (pdf file)
Low Income Senior Exemption (pdf file)
Click Here to see a summary of Mr. Levinson's presentation about the "Unfair School Property Tax System"
Friday, March 26, 2010
Yet Another Passover In The Special Taxing Districts
Why Is This Year Different From All Others?
Does it have something to do with those bitter herbs, more commonly known as special districts?
The Jews may have wandered the desert for 40 years (that's a heck of a lot of matzah), but they've got nothing on those special taxing districts -- from sanitation to water -- that enslave the populace like no Pharaoh ever did.
The Chosen People rose up, freed themselves from the shackles, and made an exodus (yes, we remember the movie of the same name) from an indentured subsistence.
Will the residents of Long Island, armed with the new law enabling elector initiated consolidation and/or dissolution [heck, David had only a slingshot and a small stone when he went after and felled Goliath], take up arms against wasteful, corrupt, and ineffective government entities (of which the special districts are many)?
We shall see, as the law goes into effect.
Meanwhile, back in the hinterlands, still under the yoke of sewer districts, parking districts, sanitary districts, fire districts, refuse districts, lighting districts -- you name 'em, we've got 'em -- very little, if anything, has changed by way of reform, or otherwise, since our 'bread trucks of affliction' story was first blogged way back when on March 9, 2005 -- some five years ago.
The special districts keep taxing. The special trucks picking up leftover bread during Passover are still rolling. And somewhere, somehow, for reasons known only to the GOP, then-counsel for the Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1, Nat Swergold, is collecting a pension. One (or two, perhaps three) that you and I paid for with tax dollars thrown away with the trash.
And so, on the eve of Passover 2010, with Easter hot on its heels (the Last Supper now conspicuously posting a calorie count), The Community Alliance is forced to bring you, without commercial interruption, the sixth coming of the Passover story.
In fact, here are links to all of them, but for the original, which is republished below in all its Pesachdik glory.
A Passover Story
A Passover Story -- Revisited
Tradition!
Passover Has Come To Hempstead Town Again
All is as it was then, except, you are there...
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions (reduced from four): (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'
expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
- - -
A sweet Passover and Happy Easter to all who happen upon this blog. Watch for the Sanitary District's special bread trucks. And follow us on Twitter. www.twitter.com/communityalli.
The blog returns after our spring break, renewed, refreshed, and ready to take on the issues that impact upon our quality of life as Long Islanders. Join us!
Write to The Community Alliance at thecommunityalliance@yahoo.com.
Does it have something to do with those bitter herbs, more commonly known as special districts?
The Jews may have wandered the desert for 40 years (that's a heck of a lot of matzah), but they've got nothing on those special taxing districts -- from sanitation to water -- that enslave the populace like no Pharaoh ever did.
The Chosen People rose up, freed themselves from the shackles, and made an exodus (yes, we remember the movie of the same name) from an indentured subsistence.
Will the residents of Long Island, armed with the new law enabling elector initiated consolidation and/or dissolution [heck, David had only a slingshot and a small stone when he went after and felled Goliath], take up arms against wasteful, corrupt, and ineffective government entities (of which the special districts are many)?
We shall see, as the law goes into effect.
Meanwhile, back in the hinterlands, still under the yoke of sewer districts, parking districts, sanitary districts, fire districts, refuse districts, lighting districts -- you name 'em, we've got 'em -- very little, if anything, has changed by way of reform, or otherwise, since our 'bread trucks of affliction' story was first blogged way back when on March 9, 2005 -- some five years ago.
The special districts keep taxing. The special trucks picking up leftover bread during Passover are still rolling. And somewhere, somehow, for reasons known only to the GOP, then-counsel for the Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1, Nat Swergold, is collecting a pension. One (or two, perhaps three) that you and I paid for with tax dollars thrown away with the trash.
And so, on the eve of Passover 2010, with Easter hot on its heels (the Last Supper now conspicuously posting a calorie count), The Community Alliance is forced to bring you, without commercial interruption, the sixth coming of the Passover story.
In fact, here are links to all of them, but for the original, which is republished below in all its Pesachdik glory.
A Passover Story
A Passover Story -- Revisited
Tradition!
Passover Has Come To Hempstead Town Again
All is as it was then, except, you are there...
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions (reduced from four): (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'
expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
- - -
A sweet Passover and Happy Easter to all who happen upon this blog. Watch for the Sanitary District's special bread trucks. And follow us on Twitter. www.twitter.com/communityalli.
The blog returns after our spring break, renewed, refreshed, and ready to take on the issues that impact upon our quality of life as Long Islanders. Join us!
Write to The Community Alliance at thecommunityalliance@yahoo.com.
The Community Alliance
New Visions for America's First Suburb
Monday, April 18, 2011
Passover Through The Ages
The Angel of Special Districts Passes Over The Houses Of Taxpayers [And He Stops Along The Way To Pick Up The Bread]
Hard to believe that we've been blogging this Passover Story going on seven years now, with absolutely nothing but matzo crumbs to show for it.
No surprise, then, that a recent survey shows that while New Yorkers as a whole favor consolidation of local government services, including special taxing districts, Long Islanders are more ambivalent, favoring, we suppose, not only the status quo, but greater cost and less efficiency as well.
We really do enjoy paying more while getting less, the notable exception being the folks in Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1, who not only continue to have their trash picked up at the back door (really?), but also get special sanitation trucks on the streets to pick up the leftover unleaven food during Passover.
Whether or not consolidating or eliminating local taxing districts, be they sanitary or fire, school or water, would actually save money or beget greater efficiency is a matter of ongoing debate. But, in the interest of our wallets and the efficacy of our Long Island, don't we owe it to ourselves, and our children (or so many of those who still choose to remain here) to at least try?
What is it they say about fools and their money?
Happy Passover to all!
- - -
From The Community Alliance Blog, March 9, 2005:
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'
expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
Hard to believe that we've been blogging this Passover Story going on seven years now, with absolutely nothing but matzo crumbs to show for it.
No surprise, then, that a recent survey shows that while New Yorkers as a whole favor consolidation of local government services, including special taxing districts, Long Islanders are more ambivalent, favoring, we suppose, not only the status quo, but greater cost and less efficiency as well.
We really do enjoy paying more while getting less, the notable exception being the folks in Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1, who not only continue to have their trash picked up at the back door (really?), but also get special sanitation trucks on the streets to pick up the leftover unleaven food during Passover.
Whether or not consolidating or eliminating local taxing districts, be they sanitary or fire, school or water, would actually save money or beget greater efficiency is a matter of ongoing debate. But, in the interest of our wallets and the efficacy of our Long Island, don't we owe it to ourselves, and our children (or so many of those who still choose to remain here) to at least try?
What is it they say about fools and their money?
Happy Passover to all!
- - -
From The Community Alliance Blog, March 9, 2005:
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'
expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Passover Has Come To Hempstead Town Again
A Taxpayers' Lamentation, From Moses To Murray
For the fifth consecutive year, The Community Alliance blog is pleased to republish, in its entirety, A Passover Story, as it originally appeared on this blog March 9, 2005.
"Pleased?" Well, we'd be so much more pleased if the underpinnings of this posting had come unhinged in these intervening years, with reform coming to the special taxing districts.
Alas, much like the Jews at Passover seder await the arrival of Elijah -- and Christians, at Easter, await the return of the Messiah -- residents of Long Island continue their long, disquieting vigil for special district reform.
Talk of reform, like so many readings from the Passover Haggadah, plentiful. True reform, in terms of action by the State Legislature, globally, or by the towns under whose auspices the special districts operate, locally, as elusive as the afikoman.
So, send out those extra trucks during Passover to pick up the bread of our affliction, oh you commissioners of sanitary districts near and far. And may ten thousand plagues be upon all your houses!
As for the rest of you, a joyous Passover and a happy Easter from all of us at The Community Alliance.
- - -
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
For the fifth consecutive year, The Community Alliance blog is pleased to republish, in its entirety, A Passover Story, as it originally appeared on this blog March 9, 2005.
"Pleased?" Well, we'd be so much more pleased if the underpinnings of this posting had come unhinged in these intervening years, with reform coming to the special taxing districts.
Alas, much like the Jews at Passover seder await the arrival of Elijah -- and Christians, at Easter, await the return of the Messiah -- residents of Long Island continue their long, disquieting vigil for special district reform.
Talk of reform, like so many readings from the Passover Haggadah, plentiful. True reform, in terms of action by the State Legislature, globally, or by the towns under whose auspices the special districts operate, locally, as elusive as the afikoman.
So, send out those extra trucks during Passover to pick up the bread of our affliction, oh you commissioners of sanitary districts near and far. And may ten thousand plagues be upon all your houses!
As for the rest of you, a joyous Passover and a happy Easter from all of us at The Community Alliance.
- - -
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
Friday, March 30, 2007
A Passover Story - Revisited
Like The Plagues That Beleaguered Generations Past; Like Locust And Pestilence Upon Our Fields; Like The Blood On Our Doorposts And The Slaying Of The First Born; So, Too, Is The Saga Of Local Government -- The Pharohs Of Our Time
Its that time of year again, folks. Yes, those "special" trucks at Sanitary District 1 will be rolling through the streets of the Five Towns next week, picking up the leftover bread during the Passover holiday.
This will mark the third consecutive year that The Community Alliance blog has run our Passover Story -- a new tradition in blogdom much like A Christmas Story has become to post-Thanksgiving television.
Unlike the real story of Passover, which tells of the exodus of the Jews from the land of Egypt and celebrates the freedom of all people from the yoke of enslavement and oppression, this Passover story is yet to have a fortuitous ending.
Indeed, our long march through the desert that is the realm of the special taxing districts has only just begun, with no oasis in sight, and the oppression of the Pharohs -- be they reincarnated in the form of Joe Mondello or Kate Murray, or as the original April Fools joke, Nat Swergold, Counsel to Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 and purveyor of fine matzo everywhere -- continues, unabated.
Why, just this week The State Comptroller's Office has released the report "Town Special Districts in New York: Background, Trends, and Issues."
The report analyzes the growth in special districts, details how special districts are structured, and compares the geographic concentration of these districts. The report also contains a county-by-county breakdown of the total number of special districts, the total amount of revenue raised and the impact on taxpayers. Click HERE to access the report.
There are no surprises. Nothing new, really. And guess which county tops the list of Special District revenues and leads the way in Special District burden/property taxes per household? [How'd you guess?]
State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, finds that “the revenue raised for special district services represents nearly one quarter of total revenues raised by towns,” and asks, “should residents be charged at different rates for substantially the same public service based on where they live in a town?”
Of course they should be charged more! Why, they enjoy paying more. And just think of what it costs to add those "special" trucks to pick up the bread at residents' backdoors during Passover. . .
- - -
A Passover Story
Why Is This District's Garbage Collection Different From Any Other District's Garbage Collection?
The following story, first blogged on March 9, 2005, drew so much attention, not to mention critical acclaim, that we simply had to run it again. [In fact, several regular readers specifically requested a reprise.]
We all know the outcome of the Nassau County Comptroller's audit of the infamous Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1. A $700 steak dinner for 4, and what was characterized as a "total lack of financial control."
Of course, things have changed dramatically in Sanitary District 1 since last year's audit. Well, at least one thing has changed -- THE TAX RATES! Now Sanitary District 1 residents pay even more to "enjoy" their back door trash pick up.
Dont you just love it?
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews we know, clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold.
Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency."
The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman.
"Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
- - -
And the story continues. The NYS Comptroller's audit of Sanitary District 1 found major transgressions (still denied by Nat Swergold & Company), and the Nassau County District Attorney's office is conducting it's own investigation (begun under Denis Dillon) to see if any Sanitary District 1 Commissioner, employee, or contract worker engaged in criminal conduct.
Meanwhile, those observing Passover who would like to have a truck sent to their homes to pick up bread may call Sanitary District 1 at 516-239-5600. Tell them The Community Alliance sent you! [Passover observers residing outside Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 can call 1-800-I-GOT-BREAD for pick-up. Ask for Kate.]
Its that time of year again, folks. Yes, those "special" trucks at Sanitary District 1 will be rolling through the streets of the Five Towns next week, picking up the leftover bread during the Passover holiday.
This will mark the third consecutive year that The Community Alliance blog has run our Passover Story -- a new tradition in blogdom much like A Christmas Story has become to post-Thanksgiving television.
Unlike the real story of Passover, which tells of the exodus of the Jews from the land of Egypt and celebrates the freedom of all people from the yoke of enslavement and oppression, this Passover story is yet to have a fortuitous ending.
Indeed, our long march through the desert that is the realm of the special taxing districts has only just begun, with no oasis in sight, and the oppression of the Pharohs -- be they reincarnated in the form of Joe Mondello or Kate Murray, or as the original April Fools joke, Nat Swergold, Counsel to Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 and purveyor of fine matzo everywhere -- continues, unabated.
Why, just this week The State Comptroller's Office has released the report "Town Special Districts in New York: Background, Trends, and Issues."
The report analyzes the growth in special districts, details how special districts are structured, and compares the geographic concentration of these districts. The report also contains a county-by-county breakdown of the total number of special districts, the total amount of revenue raised and the impact on taxpayers. Click HERE to access the report.
There are no surprises. Nothing new, really. And guess which county tops the list of Special District revenues and leads the way in Special District burden/property taxes per household? [How'd you guess?]
State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, finds that “the revenue raised for special district services represents nearly one quarter of total revenues raised by towns,” and asks, “should residents be charged at different rates for substantially the same public service based on where they live in a town?”
Of course they should be charged more! Why, they enjoy paying more. And just think of what it costs to add those "special" trucks to pick up the bread at residents' backdoors during Passover. . .
- - -
A Passover Story
Why Is This District's Garbage Collection Different From Any Other District's Garbage Collection?
The following story, first blogged on March 9, 2005, drew so much attention, not to mention critical acclaim, that we simply had to run it again. [In fact, several regular readers specifically requested a reprise.]
We all know the outcome of the Nassau County Comptroller's audit of the infamous Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1. A $700 steak dinner for 4, and what was characterized as a "total lack of financial control."
Of course, things have changed dramatically in Sanitary District 1 since last year's audit. Well, at least one thing has changed -- THE TAX RATES! Now Sanitary District 1 residents pay even more to "enjoy" their back door trash pick up.
Dont you just love it?
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews we know, clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold.
Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency."
The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman.
"Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).
"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
- - -
And the story continues. The NYS Comptroller's audit of Sanitary District 1 found major transgressions (still denied by Nat Swergold & Company), and the Nassau County District Attorney's office is conducting it's own investigation (begun under Denis Dillon) to see if any Sanitary District 1 Commissioner, employee, or contract worker engaged in criminal conduct.
Meanwhile, those observing Passover who would like to have a truck sent to their homes to pick up bread may call Sanitary District 1 at 516-239-5600. Tell them The Community Alliance sent you! [Passover observers residing outside Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 can call 1-800-I-GOT-BREAD for pick-up. Ask for Kate.]
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tradition!
Fiddler On The Roof, Its Not
Tradition!
Paying twice as much for services that cost your neighbors half.
Tradition!
Dead people -- patronage hacks of long ago -- still on payroll, collecting health insurance benefits, and "enjoying" three pensions.
Tradition!
Sending out extra garbage trucks to pick up bread during Passover.
Ah yes. Traditions.
The legacy of the special taxing districts, where little has changed -- not even the commissioners -- since the age of feudalism.
So, why do we pay, accepting the travesty of what is, instead of embracing a future of what could be?
What else? Tradition!
After all, without tradition, life here in our little unincorporated areas would be as shaky as... as... as a fiddler on the roof!
- - -
While we await the final report and recommendations of the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness (yes, yes. We know), due out April 15th, and now put over to the end of the month, we present for your reading pleasure -- for the FOURTH consecutive year, The Community Alliance blog's version of A Passover Story.
Not much has changed since we first ran what has now become an annual rite back in March of 2005.
The special district fiefdoms continue to rule the roost, with charity toward the few and open hands reaching into the pockets of the many.
Local townships continue to assert they have no control over what these districts do, how much tax they levy, or who reaps the multitude of benefits for what are, in many instances, no-show jobs.
And last, but by no means least, the Nat Swergolds of the world continue to counsel special districts, far and wide, offering comfort to the connected, and a rationale to the masses that, although defying reason, has become a mainstay of life here in suburbia.
"Eat Garbage!" they seem to tell us. "Pay more, get less!" "Give us this day our daily matzo. We'll be around to pick up your bread during Passover."
Tradition!
- - -
Friday, March 30, 2007
A Passover Story - Revisited
Like The Plagues That Beleaguered Generations Past; Like Locust And Pestilence Upon Our Fields; Like The Blood On Our Doorposts And The Slaying Of The First Born; So, Too, Is The Saga Of Local Government -- The Pharaohs Of Our Time
Its that time of year again, folks. Yes, those "special" trucks at Sanitary District 1 will be rolling through the streets of the Five Towns next week, picking up the leftover bread during the Passover holiday.
This will mark the third consecutive year that The Community Alliance blog has run our Passover Story -- a new tradition in blogdom much like A Christmas Story has become to post-Thanksgiving television.
Unlike the real story of Passover, which tells of the exodus of the Jews from the land of Egypt and celebrates the freedom of all people from the yoke of enslavement and oppression, this Passover story is yet to have a fortuitous ending.
Indeed, our long march through the desert that is the realm of the special taxing districts has only just begun, with no oasis in sight, and the oppression of the Pharaohs -- be they reincarnated in the form of Joe Mondello or Kate Murray, or as the original April Fools joke, Nat Swergold, Counsel to Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 and purveyor of fine matzo everywhere -- continues, unabated.
Why, just this week The State Comptroller's Office has released the report "Town Special Districts in New York: Background, Trends, and Issues."
The report analyzes the growth in special districts, details how special districts are structured, and compares the geographic concentration of these districts. The report also contains a county-by-county breakdown of the total number of special districts, the total amount of revenue raised and the impact on taxpayers. Click HERE to access the report. There are no surprises. Nothing new, really.
And guess which county tops the list of Special District revenues and leads the way in Special District burden/property taxes per household? [How'd you guess?]
State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, finds that “the revenue raised for special district services represents nearly one quarter of total revenues raised by towns,” and asks, “should residents be charged at different rates for substantially the same public service based on where they live in a town?”
Of course they should be charged more! Why, they enjoy paying more. And just think of what it costs to add those "special" trucks to pick up the bread at residents' backdoors during Passover.
- - -
A Passover Story
Why Is This District's Garbage Collection Different From Any Other District's Garbage Collection?
The following story, first blogged on March 9, 2005, drew so much attention, not to mention critical acclaim, that we simply had to run it again. [In fact, several regular readers specifically requested a reprise.]
We all know the outcome of the Nassau County Comptroller's audit of the infamous Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1.
A $700 steak dinner for 4, and what was characterized as a "total lack of financial control."
Of course, things have changed dramatically in Sanitary District 1 since last year's audit. Well, at least one thing has changed -- THE TAX RATES! Now Sanitary District 1 residents pay even more to "enjoy" their back door trash pick up.
Don't you just love it?
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews we know clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold.
Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman.
"Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100)."
[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically.
He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts' expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations.
He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
- - -
And the story continues. The NYS Comptroller's audit of Sanitary District 1 found major transgressions (still denied by Nat Swergold & Company), and the Nassau County District Attorney's office is conducting it's own investigation (begun under Denis Dillon) to see if any Sanitary District 1 Commissioner, employee, or contract worker engaged in criminal conduct.
Meanwhile, those observing Passover who would like to have a truck sent to their homes to pick up bread may call Sanitary District 1 at 516-239-5600. Tell them The Community Alliance sent you! [Passover observers residing outside Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 can call 1-800-I-GOT-BREAD for pick-up. Ask for Kate.]
Tradition!
Paying twice as much for services that cost your neighbors half.
Tradition!
Dead people -- patronage hacks of long ago -- still on payroll, collecting health insurance benefits, and "enjoying" three pensions.
Tradition!
Sending out extra garbage trucks to pick up bread during Passover.
Ah yes. Traditions.
The legacy of the special taxing districts, where little has changed -- not even the commissioners -- since the age of feudalism.
So, why do we pay, accepting the travesty of what is, instead of embracing a future of what could be?
What else? Tradition!
After all, without tradition, life here in our little unincorporated areas would be as shaky as... as... as a fiddler on the roof!
- - -
While we await the final report and recommendations of the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness (yes, yes. We know), due out April 15th, and now put over to the end of the month, we present for your reading pleasure -- for the FOURTH consecutive year, The Community Alliance blog's version of A Passover Story.
Not much has changed since we first ran what has now become an annual rite back in March of 2005.
The special district fiefdoms continue to rule the roost, with charity toward the few and open hands reaching into the pockets of the many.
Local townships continue to assert they have no control over what these districts do, how much tax they levy, or who reaps the multitude of benefits for what are, in many instances, no-show jobs.
And last, but by no means least, the Nat Swergolds of the world continue to counsel special districts, far and wide, offering comfort to the connected, and a rationale to the masses that, although defying reason, has become a mainstay of life here in suburbia.
"Eat Garbage!" they seem to tell us. "Pay more, get less!" "Give us this day our daily matzo. We'll be around to pick up your bread during Passover."
Tradition!
- - -
Friday, March 30, 2007
A Passover Story - Revisited
Like The Plagues That Beleaguered Generations Past; Like Locust And Pestilence Upon Our Fields; Like The Blood On Our Doorposts And The Slaying Of The First Born; So, Too, Is The Saga Of Local Government -- The Pharaohs Of Our Time
Its that time of year again, folks. Yes, those "special" trucks at Sanitary District 1 will be rolling through the streets of the Five Towns next week, picking up the leftover bread during the Passover holiday.
This will mark the third consecutive year that The Community Alliance blog has run our Passover Story -- a new tradition in blogdom much like A Christmas Story has become to post-Thanksgiving television.
Unlike the real story of Passover, which tells of the exodus of the Jews from the land of Egypt and celebrates the freedom of all people from the yoke of enslavement and oppression, this Passover story is yet to have a fortuitous ending.
Indeed, our long march through the desert that is the realm of the special taxing districts has only just begun, with no oasis in sight, and the oppression of the Pharaohs -- be they reincarnated in the form of Joe Mondello or Kate Murray, or as the original April Fools joke, Nat Swergold, Counsel to Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 and purveyor of fine matzo everywhere -- continues, unabated.
Why, just this week The State Comptroller's Office has released the report "Town Special Districts in New York: Background, Trends, and Issues."
The report analyzes the growth in special districts, details how special districts are structured, and compares the geographic concentration of these districts. The report also contains a county-by-county breakdown of the total number of special districts, the total amount of revenue raised and the impact on taxpayers. Click HERE to access the report. There are no surprises. Nothing new, really.
And guess which county tops the list of Special District revenues and leads the way in Special District burden/property taxes per household? [How'd you guess?]
State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, finds that “the revenue raised for special district services represents nearly one quarter of total revenues raised by towns,” and asks, “should residents be charged at different rates for substantially the same public service based on where they live in a town?”
Of course they should be charged more! Why, they enjoy paying more. And just think of what it costs to add those "special" trucks to pick up the bread at residents' backdoors during Passover.
- - -
A Passover Story
Why Is This District's Garbage Collection Different From Any Other District's Garbage Collection?
The following story, first blogged on March 9, 2005, drew so much attention, not to mention critical acclaim, that we simply had to run it again. [In fact, several regular readers specifically requested a reprise.]
We all know the outcome of the Nassau County Comptroller's audit of the infamous Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1.
A $700 steak dinner for 4, and what was characterized as a "total lack of financial control."
Of course, things have changed dramatically in Sanitary District 1 since last year's audit. Well, at least one thing has changed -- THE TAX RATES! Now Sanitary District 1 residents pay even more to "enjoy" their back door trash pick up.
Don't you just love it?
The Bread Of Our Affliction
A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]
Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."
Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?
What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?
Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews we know clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold.
Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?
Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!
One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?
It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!
Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.
According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]
We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:
Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen
In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.
Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.
According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.
"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman.
"Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."
Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.
According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100)."
[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."
Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically.
He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."
Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.
"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts' expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations.
He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.
The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.
"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."
The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
- - -
And the story continues. The NYS Comptroller's audit of Sanitary District 1 found major transgressions (still denied by Nat Swergold & Company), and the Nassau County District Attorney's office is conducting it's own investigation (begun under Denis Dillon) to see if any Sanitary District 1 Commissioner, employee, or contract worker engaged in criminal conduct.
Meanwhile, those observing Passover who would like to have a truck sent to their homes to pick up bread may call Sanitary District 1 at 516-239-5600. Tell them The Community Alliance sent you! [Passover observers residing outside Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 1 can call 1-800-I-GOT-BREAD for pick-up. Ask for Kate.]
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