East Park Civic
Association P.O. Box 374, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577
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East Park Civic
Association P.O. Box 374, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 |
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Correspondence
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Are You Being Taxed For Sewers That You Don't Have
We are some of those taxpayers that pay two different sewer taxes and do
not have sewer service. These taxes were instituted for the purpose of providing
sewer service, and they've been collected for 30 and 40 years. Now The County
wants to establish a new taxing authority, refinance sewer debt, thereby
furthering us into an entrenchment where we are paying for a service we do
not receive, saying these taxes provide a "mutual benefit" for everyone by
protecting groundwater. Maintaining a properly functioning cesspool, paying a water district tax, and purchasing our water from someone we hope is using his profits to respect our groundwater, we feel, is exercising enough civic duty without paying a tax for the collection and treatment of other people's sewage. This amounts to triple or quadruple taxation. The only remedy is not to tax people for services they do not receive. Now that The County plans to evaluate previously established district boundaries as part of a broadly scoped district consolidation plan, it has an opportunity to set things right once and for all. The following article appeared in Newsday on Sunday Sept 29, 2002
Raising A Stink Over Sewage Taxes By Víctor Manuel Ramos (Staff Writer) When Edmund Fieldsteel pays more than $3,000 in district, town and county taxes every six months, he knows that his money funds essential services. Some of it goes to schools, lighting, sidewalks, police and firefighters and other necessities, like drinking water. There is something about Fieldsteel's tax bill, though, that doesn't make any sense to him. Every six months, Fieldsteel, 76, also contributes to Nassau County more than $300 in sewage taxes, even though his Roslyn Heights home has no sewage connection. Neither do the homes of his neighbors, nor those of thousands of others in his sewage collection and disposal districts for that matter. For decades, residents in that part of North Hempstead and a smaller segment in neighboring Oyster Bay town have been paying sewage taxes -- that will generate about $3.8 million for the county this year -- even though they have to dispose of waste at their own cost. County Department of Public Works officials say the taxes are a result of agreements that precede the administration of County Executive Thomas Suozzi. They also say the taxes ultimately benefit everyone, because the money supports sewers and waste treatment elsewhere in the district, thus protecting groundwater. But a group of new and longtime homeowners, such as Fieldsteel, do not see any compelling reason to continue paying them. "We have a fire department, we have police, and I expect I should pay for our share of it. I pay for the library. But the sewer is something else, because we pay for sewers and there aren't any,” said Fieldsteel, a 42-year resident of the East Park development, a cluster of single-family homes between the Long Island Expressway and the Northern State Parkway. "I just feel that we've been unfairly taxed.” Although the county does not record the number of households in sewage districts, tax records show that thousands of taxpayers live in the districted part that has no sewers. If every resident in that section paid the average sewage tax of $197, more than 18,000 households without sewers would be left paying either one or two sewage taxes, which were imposed since the districts were drawn in 1965 and 1974. The way Nassau's system typically works, taxpayers in sewer districts pay taxes -- funneled through the town -- that cover the expenses of two types of districts. First there are three sewage disposal districts, each covered by its tax. Then, within those three, there are 27 smaller sewage collection districts, each with its tax. As a result, many Nassau homeowners see two county sewage fees on their tax bills. The sewage disposal district tax is costlier and funds the operation of two large sewage treatment plants as well as "interceptor” sewers that move liquid waste to those plants. The second tax is for whatever sewage collection district a home is connected to. It pays for the operation and upkeep of side sewers and pump stations that take waste directly from homes to county interceptors. The northern parts of the county, mostly shore areas with different groundwater flows, are left out of Nassau's sewage system but may have other local arrangements for waste treatment. Of all of Nassau County's sewage districts, a chunk of Disposal District No. 3 -- roughly north of Jericho Turnpike and east of Searingtown Road -- remained largely without sewers. The district was created in 1965 by what was then the Nassau County Board of Supervisors. The plan was for the county to install sewers based on population growth, but village zoning laws kept development to a minimum. Still, homeowners in that section pay disposal taxes, which according to the Department of Public Works average $197 per household every six months. The county will collect an estimated $3.7 million this year in disposal tax revenue from homes without sewers, out of $47.9 million districtwide. In addition, within that disposal district the county established the East Hills/Roslyn Heights Collection District in 1974, mostly to provide sewers for public housing in the Roslyn Urban Renewal area near Roslyn Road. About 6,000 households in that subsection -- roughly east of the Christopher Morley Park to SUNY Old Westbury in Oyster Bay -- will contribute about $92,400 more this year. However, only about a dozen densely developed blocks in Roslyn Heights have the actual sewers. County administration officials said sparse development, coupled with community opposition, were to blame. In 1977, Republican Town Supervisor Michael Tully and East Hills Mayor William Fleischer, both now deceased, spoke against sewers for the entire collection district. The resulting arrangement was to install sewers only for the public housing area and spread the cost to all homeowners. The district got a reduced collection tax of $15 for the average home, compared with $124 per household in other districts. "So we are paying for somebody else, basically,” said Steve Strachman, 53, president of the East Park Civic Association, a group of residents fighting the sewage taxes. "How could that be fair?” County officials acknowledge that the district's setup is unique, but they said the taxes are not useless. Treated waste, they said, prevents the contamination of drinking water for all district residents. "The sewage disposal districts were established based on the topography of the areas, groundwater flows and what areas would benefit from the treatment of the sewage,” said Joseph Davenport, chief sanitary engineer with the county's public works Division of Sanitation and Water Supply. "The people in the districts are basically paying for the protection of groundwater.” But residents have a problem with that rationale, even in areas like the Village of East Hills, which according to county records opposed the installation of sewers due to cost and other concerns. "It's a bone of contention, because it costs $4,000 when you have to replace your cesspool and the county doesn't help you,” said East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz, who gets calls from angry residents when they discover the sewage fees on their itemized bills. "The time to put the sewers in was 30 years ago and no one wanted to spend $250 at that time. ... I always refer residents to the county because I have no answer on why the tax is there.” County officials do not discount the possibility of a tax break and acknowledge that the East Hills/Roslyn Heights Collection District's arrangement is unusual. "People recognize there is an issue here with the collection tax. On the disposal tax there are real arguments to be made on both sides,” said county Legis. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington), adding he wants to work with the cash-strapped county on a compromise. The county said it would look at the matter as part of a larger plan to consolidate collection and disposal districts under a proposed countywide Storm Water and Sewage Authority. The proposal, intended to save money through the refinancing of common debt, first needs approval from the State Legislature. State lawmakers declined to act on the county proposal in the last legislative session, but Suozzi has said he will continue to push for the plan. "There is an opportunity then to look at the boundaries, to go back and look at what might make sense and bring some harmony to the issue of who pays and where the service is,” said Helena Williams, counsel to Suozzi. "This appears to be a quirk that exists in District 3." The East Park Civic Association in Roslyn Heights is asking for their sewage taxes to be dumped. They have met with county officials and addressed the county legislature in January. Older residents in that development not only do not remember ever opposing sewers, but also say they were always told they would be eventually installed. Newer residents say the tax is clearly for sewage, and not for groundwater protection. "We are paying these taxes, we are paying for our cesspools, we are paying the overhead the carting company is charging us, we are paying a water district tax,” said resident Nurhan Hamarat, 51, secretary of the civic group. "All we do is pay, pay, pay. ... We are paying for clean water five different ways here.” Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-lislud022955417oct07,0,5711749.story
Nassau Sludge a Murky Issue Hauling firm faces allegations By Dan Fagin STAFF WRITER
October 7, 2002
For almost 10 years, Nassau County's solution to its sewage sludge disposal problem has been simple, if expensive: Truck it somewhere else.
Now things may be getting a little more complicated.
There's no reason to think a fleet of trucks will stop hauling away the smelly residue of sewage treatment - 80,000 tons of it per year, at an annual cost of about $8 million - from the county's two treatment plants at Cedar Creek and Bay Park, both on the South Shore. There may soon be changes in who hauls that sludge, where it goes, and what happens to it when it gets there.
J.P. Mascaro & Sons, a controversial Pennsylvania-based company that in 1993 won a 25-year contract to get rid of Nassau's sludge, is waging a battle on three fronts to keep the lucrative deal.
Last week, Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher filed criminal charges against Mascaro, alleging that a transfer station near Allentown that handles Nassau's waste operated for years without the required state environmental permits.
In West Virginia, meanwhile, Mascaro is racing to comply with an Oct. 15 ultimatum from Gov. Bob Wise to either finish upgrading or close a giant landfill and composting center that for the last two years has been the final destination for Nassau's sludge.
On Long Island, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi has begun a court fight with Mascaro in an effort to either slash the cost of the sludge-hauling contract or break the agreement and find a replacement for Mascaro.
"We believe Mascaro has breached the contract. Basically, we've been lied to," Suozzi said.
Not true, said William Fox, the attorney for the Harleysville, Pa., -based hauler, which also trucks away about 100,000 tons of New York City sludge every year to a composting center near Harrisburg. "All this stuff has been overmagnified," Fox said. "Once all the facts come out, everyone will understand the real situation."
Suozzi and Mascaro are battling because, starting in 2000 when a judge ordered a second West Virginia facility closed for environmental violations, Mascaro has been landfilling Nassau's sludge instead of turning it into compost. Once Mascaro started burying the sludge instead of recycling it, Suozzi argues, the company should have charged Nassau only about $70 a ton, instead of more than $100, under the terms of the contract.
Mascaro says the contract's "bypass" provision allows "temporary" landfilling at the premium price as long as the company is making progress toward resuming composting, which he said should begin again as soon as the West Virginia upgrades are completed. According to Fox, aides to Suozzi's predecessor Tom Gulotta knew about the switch to landfilling and didn't seek lower fees.
The fight is pending in Cenral Islip before U.S. District Judge Arthur D. Spatt, who this summer issued an injunction preventing Nassau from soliciting bids from other sludge-haulers until the case is resolved. In the meantime, Nassau is paying Mascaro $76 a ton, but the county is still arguing that Mascaro owes the county millions in past overcharges. Suffolk, which incinerates some of its sludge, pays Waste Management Inc. about $65 a ton to truck the rest to landfills in Pennsyl- vania and Ohio.
Nassau's sludge operations have always been controversial. It took a federal court order in 1989 to force Nassau to stop dumping sludge 106 miles offshore, and county officials signed the 25-year contract with Mascaro in 1993 only after an outcry from South Shore communities killed plans to build two local plants to compress sludge into pellets for use as fertilizer or fuel.
Ever since then, Mascaro has faced dogged opposition in West Virginia, where at various times the company has been barred from composting and landfilling at its two huge landfills in the northernmost part of the state. In fact, Nassau's sludge has become a major political issue, and Gov. Wise has been sharply criticized in recent weeks for extending the deadline for Mascaro to build a $4-million indoor composting building that is supposed to curb the reeking odors that have emanated from the Wetzel County site for years.
Fox, the Mascaro lawyer, said the company intends to finish the 240,000-square-foot building "on or shortly after" the Oct. 15 deadline, and is "far along in securing alternate sites" for the sludge if the Wetzel County facility is shut down.
The company's Pennsylvania legal problems are "paperwork violations," Fox said, pointing out that environmental officials in that state "were fully aware at all times" that the Lehigh County transfer station was handling New York sludge. "I'm not going to say that every piece of paperwork was perfect, but I'm telling you that in my mind there's no question whatso- ever about the propriety of our receiving Nassau County's material."
The criminal charges, which are third-degree misdemeanors, carry fines of $25,000 per violation per day. Since there were 28 violations and most of them occurred over more than two years, Mascaro could face millions of dollars in fines if convicted, Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Heather Castellino said. Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
ONLINE EDITION FRIDAY NOVEMBER 08, 2002
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Tax Revolt in Roslyn Heights? By Joe Scotchie Residents of the East Park neighborhood of Roslyn Heights pay their share in local, county and state taxes. But some say the burden, especially concerning sewer taxes, is getting to be too much. East Park civic leaders claim that homeowners there pay not one, but two taxes for services that they don't even receive.
According to Nurhan Hamarat, secretary of the East Park Civic Association, up to 18,000 households in Nassau County pay two sewer taxes, one for maintenance and one for collection, for a line that doesn't run through their neighborhoods. Some of these households are located in Oyster Bay and Long Beach. Others are in Roslyn Heights. The civic association is now mounting a campaign to have the two taxes repealed.
Hamarat said the first tax was imposed in the mid-1960s. In 1965, a county resolution created a Sanitary Sewage Disposal District, one that ran from the southern edge of Roslyn, down to the south shore, including Roslyn Heights. This resolution, Hamarat said, authorized the construction of a large sewage disposal plant, which would collect sanitary sewage from the entire disposal district, and was designed to accomplish that by allowing sewage to flow, by gravity, from north to south.
The resolution also authorized the collection of a sewer tax from all property owners in the disposal district covered by the resolution, to initially collect enough money to build the disposal plant and thereafter to pay for the operation of the disposal plant. The funds for plant construction and eventual operation were raised by collecting taxes from local residents.
"Because the disposal plant was to service all properties within the district, every property owner in the district was taxed even before the plant was in, and even though no sewage was being installed," Hamarat said.
In 1973, a resolution was adopted which created smaller Sewer Collection Districts within the larger disposal district. Now, an additional tax was levied on the property owners within each of those districts to pay for the installation and maintenance of sewer lines in the streets of the collection district. Those lines would then tie-in to the main sewers leading to the disposal plant.
East Park is located in such a Sewer Collection District, as well as in the original Sewer Disposal District, even though that neighborhood does not have any sewer lines. Decades later, both taxes remain in place.
Hamarat said that many homeowners remain unaware of the sewer taxes. They simply pay whatever taxes are demanded of them. However, in recent weeks, Hamarat noted that the situation is beginning to change. More of his neighbors are becoming involved in East Park's ongoing struggle, as are other civic associations in Roslyn Heights.
The County Responds Last January, Hamarat appeared before the Nassau County legislature to give a brief history of the two taxes. His testimony did receive a reply from Peter Gerbasi, the county's commissioner of public works.
In a letter dated April 3, Gerbasi wrote to Hamarat, telling them that the treatment and disposal of sanitary sewage generated within Sewage Disposal District III (which runs through Roslyn Heights) provides a "mutual benefit to all county residents" simply by "maintaining the quality of the groundwater and surface waters."
Gerbasi added that his department plans to begin re-evaluating the collection and disposal district boundaries in an effort to reduce the yearly costs for administrating and operating the three sewage disposal districts and the 27 sewage collection districts. Gerbasi said the county hopes to develop such a plan by either the end of this year or the beginning of 2003.
While the civic association considers attempts to reduce such costs an improvement, its members still feel overwhelmed by the overall tax and costs burdens regarding sewage maintenance. According to Hamarat, Roslyn Heights residents are groaning under "triple or quadruple" taxation. First, there are the two county taxes that the civic association wants repealed. There is also a tax paid to the Roslyn Water District. In addition, Roslyn Heights homeowners operated their own private cesspools, the yearly costs of which range from $500 to $1,000 per year.
Whatever the county decides, the entire issue will continue to keep the civic
association busy, by lobbying both their elected officials and their fellow
homeowners.
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