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Another Paul Feiner initiative to make Greenburgh the most open government in the United States!
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The views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the participants who post comments on the blog and are not those of the town, town employees or town government. The Supervisors views are his alone.
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36 comments:
Lets all take time this weekend to remember the those who died in service to our country.
support the troops. bring them home Now!
oh you mean the pool that is in ardsley but cannot be used by ardsley village residents?
Yes, one of the few town owned parks that is charged to residentd in unincorporated Greenburgh that is actually limited to those residents.
As opposed to most parks that are charged to unincorporated residents that are open to all of the town.
The same pool that the Village of Ardsley gave up taxable property to allow access to and was then denied access to.
Heck, then Ardsley should just file suit to take it back. Aren't the villages seceding soon anyway? Make sure that Veteran Park is included.
Other than for Edgemont schools, I really wish I lived in a village. I'd love to see Ardsley become its own city - take the whole stretch between the Saw Mill and the Sprain, the Yonkers line to Elmsford line (or include Elmsford, too).
The Town bought the property that was previously privately owned. It had every right to. Both the town and county own land in various villages that no longer pay taxes. Go sue. If you can find an attorney.
The access was mandated by the state or county when the Sprain Brook Parkway was built. That is what happens when the state builds highways. If property is "landlocked" as a result of a new highway then the state or county either condems other property to allow access or acquires the landlocked property. In the case of unimproved land owned by a municipality, no payment is required. This was part of the constuction of the Sprain unrelated to the operation of the club. Obviously the old private Scarsdale Bath club had access to a public road. You dont like it -- find an attorney and sue.
big difference - the private club paid taxes on its land including the land in ardsley. veteran park is not open to all town residents. if you keep it restricted then it would not appear to serve a full public service such as a library or a police department or a town hall.
there is no authority or rationale for ardsley to give the town's unincorporated residents who exclude them a gift.
I dont understand what "gift" you are talking about. The access was related to the Sprain Parkway. The state law considers a highway/pwrkway to be a benefit, presumably because it keeps traffic off of local streets. In putting through a new highway, the state can not leave landowners, whether private or the town landlocked. The benefit to Ardsley was not the club but the highway. But heah, you dont like it sue. It might be a tad late (similiar to the Elmsford suit over the library location), but Feiner encouraged that suit too. Go for it.
the town of greenburgh owns 4 acres in ardsley. these four acres can only be used by residents of unincorporated greenburgh. it would seem fair that unincorporated should pay taxes on this restricted parcel. otherwise, the rest of the village taxpayers are making up the difference in taxes for these 4 acres that the "town" is using without charge. that is the gift the unincorporated residents are getting courtesy of ardsley village taxpayers.
Many tax exempt organizations are in various parts of the town and villages.
"It would seem fair"
only to Ardsley residents, like Feiner, who are used to getting the town to subsidize them.
dear anons:
1. veteran park is restricted in use to residents of unincorporated greenburgh. if it was open to everyone then it would serve a true public (and non-taxable) purpose. but its not.
2. feiner lives in unincorporated greenburgh. he does not live in the village of ardsley. he is however served by the ardsley fire department (he pays for this) and he is in the ardsley school district. this only illustrates the absurdity of what we have in greenburgh and in 16 years feiner has done nothing to address this.
Non-taxable property are not limited to those open to the public. If you dont like it sue. Or try to get Paul to change it. He likes Ardsley.
thats some answer - just sue. what about doing the right thing?
Feiner has not lived in this complex from the onset. It was an established group of homes before his moving into it. So I do think the rules and boundaries were already set. The complex is covered by Hartsdale fire dept. and he pay his taxes to Ardsley and he is in the Ardsley school system,
Town property is exempt from real estate tax.
The Finnerman law, which was enacted for Veterans Park, said it was to be limited to residents in unincorporated Greenburgh.
So if you dont like it sue. The Town is handling this correctly. Just because you do not get access to Veterans Park does not mean it is not tax exempt. The exalted VOC should have negotatied instead of insisting that the town litigate these matters.
Unfortunately the VOC listens to Herb Rosenberg. No one elected Rosenberg but he is like an extra mayor.
Too bad everyone has to pay for his decisions.
If the appellate court decides the Finneran law does not apply to the Taxter Ridge purchase or is unconstitutional because it irrationally results in treating taxpayers in greenburgh differently based on where they live, then perhaps village officials will stop listening to him.
Ardsley residents along with all village residents should pay higher taxes for the use of Town Hall/Town court and the Famous Library instead of complaing about using the Town Pool.
dear anon at 12:36
huh? the town board spend 95% of its time on unincorporated greenburgh matters. the same is true for all the boards that handle matters outside the villages such as the zoning and planning folks. each village has its own village hall and court. all but elmsford have a library which anyone in greenburgh can use.
yes the operation of town hall and salaries of the town board are paid for by all town taxpayers including the villages.
as it is, the greenburgh town hall is too large (thats why they are renting space to a credit union)
as for the library, it will be sitting on land owned by the town where the old town hall used to be - no one is paying the villages rent for this.
the same is true for veteran park - 4 acres of that park are in the village of ardsley and no property taxes are paid.
your entire post only begs two questions - if veteran park pool runs at a $250,000 deficit and has declining use - why are still not working to change this by letting in ardsley residents who are the natural users such as those with kids in the adjoining ardsley school district and where there will be no material increase in traffic especially when this makes economic sense?
Because that is what the law says -- how to charge expeneses, etc. The villages, including Ardsley, might have negotatited a settlment to allow use of Veterans. But the VOC didnt want to negotiate. They would rather see the Town lose court case after court case. Ask Rosenberg.
What do the initials VOC stand for?
Thank you.
Also, what does SCOBA stand for? Thanks again. Trying to make sense of all the issues. Hard if I don't know what the abbreviations mean.
VOC == Village Officials Committee
SCOBA == Special Committe on Budget Allocation
The SCOBA members were handpicked by Feiner to include village representative, including VOC members and representatives from the unincorporated area, that were predominantly persons affiliated with Town entities that require financial support from the Town. Representatives from the unincorporated area civic associations were not asked to, or permitted to join, as they were deemed biased. But the VOC biases were OK. So it was a one-sided report, which has accomplished nothing in reaching a consensus.
With many homes installing their own pools the town will have to eventually sell off this land to developers,or open it up to all the residents in Greenburgh.It cannot be a loosing proposition.The residents should not be paying taxes on a failing project.Either open it up to everyone or get permission from the state to sell .
Dear Anonymous 9:09 AM
For your information, the VOC was not formed until after the SCOBA report was released. Second, while Mr. Rosenberg certainly participated in discussions with members of the VOC, he was never a "voting" member of that body as long as I was a member. I can't speak for the present, but I doubt that his status has changed.
Third, who is Mike Segal and where does he live?
Veteran Park is owned by the Town of Greenburgh. If the Town wants to sell the land, it does not need permission from the State. Otherwise the blogger is correct - the taxpayers of unincorporated are continuing to subsidize an ever increasing annual deficit. Those in unincorporated greenburgh who dont use the pool might wonder why this is allowed esp as an easy solution is available - open the pool to a wider group (the most likely group being those residents who live in the ardsley school district) Since the town owns it, all that is needed is a vote of the town board to do so. And as Mr. Samis says - just three votes are needed to do this. Residents outside unincorporated should possibly be charged a higher admission fee in the same manner as is done at the nature center. Seemingly a few die hards in unincorporated greenburgh would rather keep the pool as their private preserve at the expense of everyone else. This should stop.
1254 thank you for seeing things my way. BUT the big problem will be in selling this parcel would be the people in Edgemont. Some times they do not see further than their noses.The town should start to make descisions,how to save tax payers monies. this park is a loosing proposition. Allowing some one else to use the pool is out of the question For the people in Edgemont,so it has to be up to the town board to do the right thing .
Their are numberous problems.
1. The Ardsley School District does not want more develpment.
2. The A/B litigation.
But maybe your right. We need a committee to study putting a pool at Harts Woods -- plenty of land. And selling Veterans to developers. Sounds good to me.
Dont most parks run at a deficit? Isnt that why we pay taxes?
re A/B litigation:
There is nothing that would stop the owner of the property (the town of greenburgh) from changing the rules of admission. In fact, veteran park pool is open to village residents who are volunteer firefighters and ambulance personnel. This was done by a simple vote of the town board.
What the town did is probably illegal. See the Finneramn law.
dear anon at 2:54
i believe you are mistaken.
there is nothing in finneran that prohibits the town from letting volunteers from the villages use its facilty. in fact, the town could let anyone in - the only issue is whether the town then bills the costs of the park's operation to the A (townwide) or B(unincorporated only) budget. so its a budgetary adjustment issue. ardsley and greenburgh possible enter into a shared recreation district. only small mindedness is stopping what only makes economic and civic sense
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