By Tom Jordan and Leslie Gonzalez
The increase adds up to hundreds of dollars for the average homeowner.
"Everyone blames Gulotta. Everyone blames the legislature, but the bottom line is, we're all stuck paying this horrendous bill," he said.
Bills obtained by the Herald for the villages of Lynbrook and Rockville Centre show a 100-percent increase in general-purposes taxes and a 55 percent rise in sewage-disposal taxes. For Greenfield, a Lynbrook business owner and Rockville Centre resident, the two combined increases averaged $698 for his business and $425.50 for his home.
County legislators knew as far back as July that many homeowners faced a large increase in the sewage tax this year, but never alerted those homeowners, according to information obtained by the Herald. Eric Naughton, acting director for the Office of Legislative Budget Review, is quoted in minutes from the Nassau County Budget Review Committee's meeting of July 17 as saying legislators could expect a substantial deficit in Sewer Disposal District Two.
"It appears that they could have about an $8 million shortfall in revenue, which would mean that the district will have a major deficit to start next year," Naughton said.
Without publicity, that deficit was passed along this year to residents of Sewer District Two, whose boundary begins by the Meadowbrook Parkway, extends westward toward the Queens border, and reaches as far north as the Long Island Expressway. According to the county's Sewer Permit Department, the areas of Malverne and East Rockaway are included in its jurisdiction.
Greenfield went straight to the top: "Please attempt to educate me regarding this startling tax increase," he wrote to Gulotta.
In a publication released last month by his office, Gulotta continued to say he vetoed legislative proposals that would have created a 15.4 percent tax hike in favor of a proposal of his that would raise taxes "8.9 percent for the average household." While the average household in the rest of Nassau is seeing the much-publicized 8.9 percent overall increase in county property taxes, residents in Sewer District Two were hit with much higher increases.
At Lynbrook Village Hall, Greenfield urged Mayor Eugene Scarpato, an officer of the Nassau County Village Officials Association, to question and investigate further the reasons local residents were so hard hit. Previously, Greenfield appealed to Rockville Centre Mayor Eugene Murray, who also expressed displeasure.
"We don't know why the Sanitation 2 tax increased by 55 percent. The county has done that before without any explanation whatsoever. It's very upsetting," said Murray.
Some residents and business owners who were able to figure out their bill also voiced their displeasure. "I thought the amount was a misprint," said Harold Reese, Jr., owner of Lynbrook's Reese Dodge. "These taxes are a runaway train. The fluctuations are nonstop."
"There wasn't even any warning," said Michael Gold, a Rockville Centre resident. Combined, the General Purpose and Sewer District Two increases for his home averaged $434. Gold also wondered why the parks and recreation levy he paid last year was not evident on his current bill. "It's either missing or buried. Maybe they'll try to sneak that in later."
John Zaher, a spokesperson for County Executive Tom Gulotta, said the parks and recreation tax has been folded into the general-purposes levy, which partly explains the steep rise in that tax.
Zaher told the Herald, "Since the Independent Budget Review Office determined that the average taxpayer would see an adjustment of 8.9 percent, we will have to research with the County Assessor's office to determine why these taxpayers experienced a larger increase."
"Please help me understand what transpired here," Greenfield wrote in a letter dated Jan. 9 to Sixth District Legislator Francis X. Becker (R-Lynbrook). Both Becker and Vincent Muscarella (R-Malverne) declined to comment to the Herald. A representative said both referred to the matter as "an assessment issue."
"No, it is not as assessment issue," answered Greenfield.
"I find my colleagues' response odd," said Leg. Jeff Tobak (D-East Rockaway). "They were there while all this happened."
County legislator Joseph Scannell's office was among the first to hear of Greenfield's complaints. A spokesperson from Scannell's office said that the legislature passed only an 8.9 percent increase and that much of the additional increase is the result of the sewage disposal tax, which is not voted on by the legislature.
"The county sewage disposal tax is not in the hands of the legislature in any way," the spokesperson said. "It's a separate entity."
According to Mark Young, budget director for the legislature's Democratic majority, sewer district taxes "vary from homeowner to homeowner, based on the water usage and maintenance costs in individual communities." In a memo dated Jan. 12, he wrote that the tax increase was attributable to "increasing water usage, water collection and disposal costs, and the need to cover deficits that were created in 1999."
Scannell blamed the revenue shortfall in Sewer District Two on county Republicans, particularly former majority leader Bruce Blakeman, saying taxes should have been raised in the 2000 budget. Scannell said Republicans did not raise taxes then because they feared it would hurt their chances for re-election.
Scannell stood by his vote to increase the budget to cover the sewer increase. "We made a hard decision (in July) that the Republicans couldn't make" in 1999.
Scannell said Blakeman was counting on receiving grant money from the federal and state governments to cover the sewer district deficit last year. But the grants never materialized.
"They hired a consultant on contingency to help close the $12 million (sewer budget) gap," said Tobak. "They were told that federal funding would cover it. Only $800,000 was secured, and they were left with an $11 million problem."
"It was a case of short-term political budgeting," Scannell said. "It's frustrating, because they played with [the sewage tax] like a football just before elections last year. They punted it away until later."
"It seems convenient to point fingers at past elected officials," said Bob Lazaro, press secretary for the Republican legislators. The fact of the matter is, Sewer District Two budget rises and falls based on the capital needs of the district." This year's district budget was increased by $20.6 million to $58 million, due to required improvements to meet federally-mandated environmental standards.
"Scannell was right," said Tobak. "Perhaps we should have better informed the public."
The increase is especially steep for veterans. Because they receive a discount on all county taxes except sewage disposal, the increase weighs more heavily on them.
Angela Marshall contributed to this story.
