July City Council Updates from Rye City Mayor Doug French

Managing within the Property Tax Cap

The passage and signing into law of the New York State Property Tax Cap of 2% or the rate of inflation if it is lower provides necessary property tax relief, but also poses challenges for municipalities in balancing service levels -- particularly without any relief in state mandates.  In Rye, a 1% increase in tax revenue is $190,000 so the City will be capped at roughly $380,000 or lower since the rate of inflation is lower, yet pass-through costs far exceed that dollar threshold.  As we approach the budget season, the City will continue to use this opportunity to explore all revenue and budget options with our departments, organizations and other local governments.

The Basics on Property Revaluation

As Westchester communities work together to standardize the property records process and more and more municipalities are conducting full reassessments of their properties – Rye Town, Bronxville and Pelham most recently and Mamaroneck, Scarsdale and New Castle in process, the Council got a briefing on the pros and cons of revaluation from our Government Policy and Research Committee.  There are no plans to conduct a City-wide revaluation, but the objective of the report was to inform the Council and the public on this hot topic.  Rye last had a full reassessment in 1972 (the City of Mount Vernon was pre-Civil War) and since then, properties are reassessed as improvements are made.  The committee reported that revaluation is a complex and expensive process ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to $1M.  The goal is to make the assessment process more equitable and in short, roughly one-third of the properties end up getting a higher assessment and tax bill, one-third get a lower assessment and tax bill, and one-third stay at the same rate.  Outside of a City-wide reassessment, property owners can file a grievance with Rye’s Board of Assessment Review to try to get their taxes lowered, but under the NYS Real Property Law, tax assessments cannot be raised in the grievance process.  Grievances have cost the City about $1.2M each of the last two years in 2009 and 2010, but grievance filings have dropped by 25% in 2011.  In terms of all relevant measures that look at the need for revaluation, Rye currently sits at around the median the committee noted.

Flood Mitigation:  The Sluice Gate Project

The City took the next step in progressing with the flood mitigation sluice gate project at Bowman Avenue Dam by authorizing the City Manager to complete an Inter-Municipal Agreement (IMA) with the Village of Rye Brook for maintenance and operating protocols.  The IMA will go before Rye Brook for approval.  That is the last step in the planning process and now that funding is in place, the City will then be moving forward to bid the project out and begin the construction phase.  The automated sluice gate will reduce flood elevations during peak storm events.

Playland’s Citizen Committee Report on Proposals

After more than 3 months and several meetings, the 19-member Citizen Committee established by the County Executive in March and is representative of many stakeholders is on track to release its final report in the next few weeks.  The Committee’s charge is to evaluate the feasibility of proposals in response to the Westchester County request for proposals to “Re-invent Playland Park for the 21^st Century”.  We are in phase two of a four phase process and have focused on determining which proposals of the 12 that were submitted should move on to the next phase which is for County staff to review the financial and legal viability of the proposals.  The final phase will establish a future direction.

Capital Improvement Planning

At the next City Council meeting on August 10^th, the Council will begin to review the infrastructure needs of the City.  With some improvement, roads continue to be in poor condition overall and there are several infrastructure needs.  The CIP identifies projects and acquisitions of infrastructure, buildings, land, facilities, vehicles and equipment that also include areas of drainage, flood mitigation, sewer, transportation and recreation.  Traditionally capital projects are funded through general fund surplus, grants, debt or tax increases.  With limited funding and the cap, the City will need to determine how best to fund essential improvements both in the short and long-term.

Congratulations to Laura Slack on her appointment as President of the Board of Education.   The Council and I look forward to continuing our work and collaboration with the Board.

Mayor Doug French, mayor@ryeny.gov. 

Visit the City of Rye Website at www.ryeny.gov or contact me, City Council members or the City Manager should you want more information.  Sign up on our website for City announcements through the City of Rye listserv or emergency notifications through the nixle.com service.