FORUM ON REASSESSMENT RESCHEDULED FOR MONDAY...CRIME IN GREENBURGH WENT DOWN IN 2010

The forum on reassessment, originally scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) has been rescheduled to Monday, January 31st at 7:30 PM at Town Hall. Representatives are coming to the meeting from Albany and we did not want them to have to make a special trip because of the anticipated snow storm tomorrow. If it snows the Town Board meeting will be rescheduled to Monday, January 31st.
CRIME IS DOWN!
Hat’s off to the Greenburgh Police Department. Crime in the town was down in 2010.
Hope we continue to see crime go down in 2011!
PAUL FEINER
Chief DeCarlo today released statistics on Part I Criminal Offenses for the year 2010. Part I Offenses are considered serious crimes by the United States Department of Justice. Included in this category are Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Homicide, Larceny, Motor Vehicle Theft, Robbery and Rape.

During the year 2010, a total of 730 Part I Offenses were reported to the department as compared to the 932 reported during 2009. This represents a decrease two hundred two (202) offenses constituting a decrease of approximately 22%. Decreases were noted in six of the seven crime categories with Assaults having an increase of 7%.

The decrease experienced in 2010 was driven by a 34% decrease in robberies from 38 to 26 and a 34% decrease in burglaries, from 121 to 79.

In reporting these statistics, the Greenburgh Police Department utilizes the New York State Incident Based Reporting System (NYSIBRS) as opposed to the Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR) generally employed by police agencies in New York and throughout the nation. The difference in the two systems is that NYSBIRS, which is based on the U.S. Department of Justice’s, National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), reports multiple offenses committed during the same incident while UCR reports only the most serious offense involved in the incident. For example, utilizing the UCR system to report an incident where an individual unlawfully enters a building to commit a crime (Burglary) and while in the building forcible rapes (Rape), robs (Robbery) and murders (Homicide) a person, would result in the single Part I Offense of Homicide being reported, since Homicide is the most serious offense related to the incident. In contrast, however, use of the NIBRS format would result in four Part I Offenses being reported; the Homicide, a Rape, Robbery and a Burglary.

Since NIBRS reports all crimes associated with an incident, the number of offenses reported is quite likely to increase even though the number of criminal incidents may decline. The data collected by NIBRS does, however, provide a more comprehensive description of criminal activity thereby allowing law enforcement to utilize its resources in a more efficient and effective manner
PART 1 AND SELECTED PART 2 OFFENSES

PART 1 OFFENSE 2009
IBR 2010
IBR % +/-
HOMICIDE 2 0 -129
RAPE 9 4 -85
ROBBERY 38 26 -32
FELONY ASSAULT 27 29 7
BURGLARY 121 79 -34
MV THEFT 36 23 -44
LARCENY 699 569 -18
TOTAL PART 1 932 730 -22
Selected Part 2 Offenses
PART II TOTALS 1333 1065 -6
SIMPLE ASSAULT. 48 53 10
DWI 129 127 -2
SEX OFFENSES (EXCEPT RAPE) 5 14 180
DRUGS 115 119 3
CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 243 215 -12
FRAUD/FORGERY 196 164 -16
PUBLIC ORDER 356 330 -7
THEFT OFFENSES 46 43 -7



OTHER SELECTED STATISTICS



Arrest Statistics 2009 2010 % +/-
Arrests - Total 1325 1225 -8
Felony 189 238 26
Misdemeanor 952 867 -9
Violation 76 98 29
Warrant 96 140 46
Juvenile 8 8 0



Miscellaneous Statistics 2009 2010 % +/-
CALLS FOR SERVICE 35584 42437 19
Reportable M.V.A’s 1264 1301 3
Injuries (Reportable MVA’s) 287 287 0
Impounded Vehicles 338 321 -5
Animal Control Total 1963 2124 8
Alarm Responses 4238 4248 .24

FORUM ON REASSESSMENT RESCHEDULED TO JANUARY 31 AT 7:30 pm GREENBURGH TOWN HALL
In recent years, school districts, the town, fire districts, and village governments have been issuing refund checks to commercial businesses and some homeowners. The above noted taxing jurisdictions issue as much as $10 million a year on refund checks. The lost revenue means that everyone's property taxes have to go up or services have to go down. One way to stop the grievances and refund checks is to conduct a reassessment of town properties. The last time a reassessment took place in the town was in the mid 1950s . Should the town conduct a reassessment of properties? Should hardship provisions be authorized by the state to ease the transition? How would a reassessment impact your neighborhood and friends?

. This portion of the Town Board meeting will last from 7:30 PM to 9 PM. The presentation will be given by the Office of Real Property Tax Services Acting Deputy Commissioner, Victor Mallison and Southern Regional Director, John Wolham. The presentation will present the pros and cons of a town wide revaluation with regard to the following: Background of the real property tax in New York State; How the Town can attain and maintain fair and equitable assessments; and Explanation on what a reassessment is and what it does. They will discuss the impacts on the different property types and on exemptions where applicable. We have also invited the Mayor of Bronxville to discuss the positive and negative ramifications of their revaluation. Lastly, there will be an opportunity for questions and answers as well. We hope you can join us and also hope that you will encourage your neighbors to attend.

A suggestion has been made for the town to conduct an impact study to determine impacts reassessment could have on different neighborhoods. This study will help the town and state officials come up with state legislative initiatives that would address hardships if the town decides to proceed.

Your input is greatly appreciated. Hope to see you on January 26th.
Paul J. Feiner
Town Supervisor