By Jacky Gerzema
Paul and Ellen Bartolemea live on Eastern Parkway and their canal runs between Washington and Hayes Streets. Like Lincoln Canal residents, the Bartolemeas and their neighbors schedule their boating time around the low tides, and because of eroding bulkheads, their yards are slowly sinking into the canal, causing cracks in their house walls and brick foundations. Unlike their Lincoln Street neighbors, their canal is not under Town or county jurisdiction, so there is no municipal body to turn to for help.
Homeowners might be getting some relief in the form of proposed legislation that would allow residents who live along private canals to form their own tax benefits districts.
These tax benefit districts would allow residents to pay for dredging and repairs through bonded tax dollars over the course of 20 to 30 years. The districts would be formed by majority rule, and once formed, residents would select commissioners for their districts who would oversee each step of the canal process, from taxing plans to hiring engineers.
About 50 Baldwin Grand and West End Canal residents attended a meeting at the Coral House last Wednesday night with Town of Hempstead and state officials to discuss the progress of the bill.
Grand Avenue resident Sandy Camenzuli has been fighting for the tax benefit district legislation for three years. At the meeting, Camenzuli said, "I was a victim like many of you, who bought their house at high tide. We aren't asking the state or town for money, we're just asking them to help us help ourselves.
"Do we want this tax benefit district?" Camenzuli asked the crowd.
"Yes!" came the resonating response, followed by loud applause.
Baldwin residents have been at the forefront of pushing this legislation forward, said Camenzuli. The bill would benefit all canal-dwellers, not just those living in Baldwin.
"If this bill passes, it will not only help us, but it will help every canal on the South Shore," she said. "Residents will be able to form these tax benefit districts on their own and facilitate the process of paying for the repairs to their canal."
Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony Santino worked with Baldwin Grand and West End canal residents and helped the bill get passed by the Town of Hempstead and introduced into the state Senate. The final obstacle is for the bill to pass the Assembly.
"We've hit a speed bump at the state Assembly," said Eugene Ferencik, deputy town attorney. "They've raised fundamental concepts and questions and said to come back when you have answers."
Ferencik explained that there are some detailed issues that need to be resolved in order for the Assembly to pass the bill. One issue is how votes in the district will be weighed. Votes could be counted by either one person, one house, or by proportional voting based on the amount of land each property owner has. The more frontage land they have, the more voting power.
Another issue is how residents will be taxed. Ferencik said that one of the most common methods of taxation is based on property ownership. The more land and property a resident has, the more taxes he or she pays.
"I have to stress that this does take two houses [the Senate and the Assembly]," said Assemblyman David McDonough (R-Merrick) at the meeting. "The new Assembly members in Albany just found out about this issue. This is a new animal for them. Nothing has been done like this before, establishing a tax benefit district. They are asking a lot of detailed technical questions. We need ideas so we can go back to Albany and show that this what you're striving for."
In the next few weeks, residents will receive a ballot in the mail to vote on the wording of the tax benefit district bill to send back to the Assembly, Camenzuli said.
After the meeting, Camenzuli was optimistic about the bill's passage. "It's all majority rule, and from everyone's support last Wednesday, we should be able to move ahead with this. There's just a lot of fine print to work through," she said.
Camenzuli estimated that with the establishment of the canal district and the intricate legislative processes, the actual dredging and bulkhead repair of their canals probably won't happen for another two to three years.
"But once this bill passes, other residents throughout Nassau County can start establishing their own tax benefit districts," she said. "It's a long process, but the final product should be worth it. We're setting the precedence for this. We're making sure the canals don't die."
