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Shady Tree Law & Washed Up Water Rates

Village Mayor & Trustees Reward Excess Water Consumption & Pass Harsher Tree Cutting Restrictions Despite Groundswell of Resident Opposition

Posted Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 5:00 am ET

The Board of Trustee made these decisions this week on April 24, 2018.

Village Mayor and Trustees Reward Excess Water Consumption

The VCP encourages Sensible Sustainability. The Village Board approved new water rates for Village residents that raise the base rate by 12% but lowers the excess rate by almost 4%.
This has the effect of encouraging profligate water use by reducing the penalty for excess use. The changes compel the 90% of Scarsdale households who are moderate water users to subsidize the 10% who consume the most.
Mayor Hochvert addressed the water rate increases in his comments. He complained that he had to field questions from residents about a variety of issues. After expressing his displeasure at having to explain decisions to residents, he tried unsuccessfully to justify the regressive water billing scheme. His rationale is that if some people don’t use a lot of water, the moderate water users will have to pay more to cover the fixed costs of the water department. So instead of discouraging excess users, we should give them a discount from current rates. The mayor concluded, “I believe this board should be trusted.”
In fact, one household in Scarsdale paid $53,000 in water bills last year and uses an average of 10,000 gallons of water per day, enough water to meet the needs of 38 Scarsdale households of median-level consumption.

Village Passes Harsher Tree Cutting Restrictions Despite Groundswell of Resident Opposition

The Board of Trustees unanimously passed a restrictive tree ordinance despite strong community opposition. The village’s written correspondence shows a lack of support (https://www.scarsdale.com/274/Written-Correspondence). Comments made at various public meetings demonstrated an overwhelming lack of support. The only people who spoke in favor of the ineffective, yet burdensome and restrictive, changes were members of the board-appointed group that proposed them.

In March 2018, Trustee Veron claimed the proposed changes to the tree code were designed to prevent developers from clear cutting and that the changes would not be “jammed down people’s throats.” Both of these assertions turned out to be false. Should this Village Board be trusted?
Despite the objections of the three continuing Board of Assessment Review members and a NYS statutory requirement that members have knowledge of local real estate values, the Board of Trustees did not reappoint an experienced and qualified volunteer to the Board of Assessment Review.
Instead, two relatively new residents with no documented financial, real estate or valuation experience were appointed to decide residents’ property tax grievances.
The Trustees refuse to answer questions about the appointments to the Board of Assessment Review and admitted they have absolutely no written policies, guidelines, processes, or practices governing appointments. Should this Village Board be trusted?
As a result of new limitations on income and property tax deductions, most Scarsdale households will see their net property tax expense increase by 30% to 40%.
Understanding and addressing the implications of this, should be the #1 priority of local officials, but the Scarsdale budget doesn’t even mention the issue. Should this Village Board be trusted?

Village Hall is Opaque

Scarsdale Budget Ignores Tax Changes (SALT)

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