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WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. From Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. July 6,2016:

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the legislation that Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, Assemblywoman Sandra Galef and Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins worked so hard on –authorizing the town of Greenburgh to phase in the impacts of reassessment for those whose taxes will go up for two years.

By the third year all taxpayers will pay 100% of the taxes owed.

The Town Board will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday evening, July 12 at 7:30 PM at Greenburgh Town Hall prior to enacting the phase in  as a local law.

The issue: should the phase in apply to everyone  who qualifies or those whose tax hikes are over a certain percentage or dollar amount?

Greenburgh is reassessing properties for the first time in 60 years. Although most residents of the town will experience no tax hikes as a result of the reassessment  – some have received bad news–significant tax hikes. In recent weeks I have met with property owners who have seen their taxes increases by 50%, 100%, 200% –even more.

Neighborhoods most impacted were Irvington, Hastings & Edgemont. The phase in legislation only applies to tax hikes, not tax decreases.

The legislation will help us have a smooth reassessment transition. Neighborhoods impacted negatively by the reassessment will be able to avoid panic selling. And, those residents who are being impacted by the reassessment will have little more time to plan what they want to do with their properties.

The revenue that the school district will raise will not be affected by this legislation.  The tax levy will be the same; it will then be allocated as always based on the entire assessed valuation for the school district and the tax rate.  This bill will be revenue neutral for the school.

The legislation signed into law authorizes a 66% exemption in year one and a 33%  exemption in year two.

The legislation does not require the school district to take any action.    The assessor will finalize the assessment roll for the district, determine the tax rate and send out the tax bills as usual.   There will be no impact in this regard on the schools as well.

In 2009 and 2010, before the town decided to reassess, Assessor Edye McCarthy and I spoke before dozens of groups (village, school, civic groups) and discussed the reassessment process.

I indicated to groups that I met with that I would push for a phase in process if we implemented the reassessment. Earlier this year former Irvington Trustee Ken Bernstein sent me the following e mail reminding me of the promises we made that we would phase in reassessment.  Prior to the Town Board committing to reassess properties we met with numerous groups, village and school boards and made similar pledges to push for phase in.  At that time no one objected to the phase in because, people were worried that their taxes would go up.

This is a big victory for the town and highlights the excellent relations we have with our state government leaders. Earlier this year one civic association that is always critical of the town  sent out an e mail blast stating that “the chances of getting last minute approval form the state legislature for a measure to give some relief to taxpayers in the areas of Greenburgh hardest hit by increases in their property assessments were pretty remote to begin with, but as the legislative session winds down this week, they appear just about dead.”

E MAIL FROM FORMER IRVINGTON TRUSTEE KEN BERNSTEIN AND VIDEO OF A 2010 MEETING AT WHICH TIME TOWN OFFICIALS PROMISED TO PHASE IN REASSESSMENT  (we made similar promises to other civic groups in 2009 and 2010)

Ken Bernstein

April 11 at 11:11am

On 10/12/10 there was a “town hall” meeting in Irvington to discuss the possibility of reassessment based on the demands of some Irvington residents. Then-Mayor Jon Siegel and trustee Brian Smith organized the meeting to allow a presentation and Q&A of Paul Feiner and Edye McCarthy. I was also a trustee at the time. Then-county legislator and now State assemblyman Tom Abinanti was also in attendance. I just looked back and found the video on the Irvington Village website at

http://irvington.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=88#.VwuvIHHtoYQ.email. It is a lengthy but informative 2 hour video.

To Paul’s credit, at around 1:30 on the video clock (the clock doesn’t work well), he said that (1) he would only support reassessment if there was a hardship provision and (2) he felt strongly about incorporating a phase-in plan, and was going to investigate those possibilities. Others concurred. I believe he consistently took those positions elsewhere. So I’m interested to know what Paul Feiner learned from those investigations before making the decision to proceed. And what help can Tom Abinanti provide now that he is at the State level?

Editor’s Note: WPCNR has learned from a source familiar with the effects of the legislation that should a homeowner sell their property during the 2 to 3 year phase-in, the full amount of the revised upward assessment will be in effect for the new buyer (in addition to any reassessment applicable to the sale.)