Scarsdale 10583

For those who support the incorporation of Edgemont into Greenburgh’s seventh Village, the news that real estate sales for Edgemont are down this year was the latest in a long litany of reasons why Edgemont should become independent.

Realtors report that only 10 houses in Edgemont have been sold this year as opposed to 13 at this time in 2010. In Scarsdale, home sales have gone up from 37 homes sold at this time in 2010 to 42 in 2011. With more houses on the market in Edgemont this year and fewer sales, some are looking for an explanation for the dip in home sales. A recent letter to the Scarsdale Inquirer from Robert Bernstein, past President of the Edgemont Community Council, lays the blame squarely on Edgemont real estate taxes which he shows are significantly higher than taxes in Scarsdale for homes of comparable value. Edgemont’s residential assessment ratio (RAR) is 2.81 in comparison to Scarsdale’s, RAR of 1.71.

Others disagree that Edgemont’s taxes or their association with Greenburgh are the reasons behind the dip in sales. In fact, the sample size is so small that the sales data may be a blip in the market rather than a long term trend. A local realtor who sells in both areas says that the decision to purchase a home goes beyond the tax rate. Since Edgemont does not have bus service to and from school or the quality daycare program provided by KidsBase in Scarsdale, it may be a tougher sell for couples with two working parents.

Edgemont has a population of around 8,500 people in 2,900 households, making it about half the size of Scarsdale. Residents in Edgemont pay their municipal taxes to Greenburgh though they fund their own school system. Municipal taxes make up about 18% of resident’s tax bills, with the lion’s share of property taxes going toward school financing. Edgemont’s school district has an excellent reputation and from the numbers it appears to be run efficiently. In 2010-11, spending per pupil in Edgemont was $25,546 in contrast to $28,632 in Scarsdale. Edgemont already has its own fire department but relies on Greenburgh for police and other services.

The conversation about Edgemont’s status is lively. Last week former Scarsdale Mayor Carolyn Stevens was invited to be a guest speaker at a meeting of the Edgemont Community Council where she reviewed Scarsdale’s non-partisan system and Village management in a talk entitled, “Municipal Government, Controlling Your Own Destiny.” Some have even suggested that if Edgemont were to become independent they could contract with Scarsdale to handle some aspects of their municipal services.

Scarsdale Village Manager Al Gatta, believes that a consolidation would help both Scarsdale and Edgemont. He said, “I have not looked at the benefits that would be achieved, but certainly any analysis would have to show benefits for both communities. I am a bit chagrined, although grateful, that the Governor’s effort and promotion for consolidations and dissolutions has not worked its way to a policy level and into the State’s operations and funding programs. The State possesses awesome financial resources and authority to reward those local governments that come together, to the detriment of the others. The others would be burdened by having to rely solely on local revenues to remain independent and with a 2% tax levy cap it will be difficult.”

Those in Edgemont who are happy with the status quo question why Bernstein would publish an article that could potentially damage Edgemont’s reputation and hurt area home sales. Many are content with the small school system and the services they receive from Greenburgh and feel that the issue of incorporation was thoroughly explored in 2005. They fear that incorporation will lead to higher taxes and decreased services and are also afraid that a cloud of uncertainty could impact the demand for homes in Edgemont.

However Bernstein says he only wants what’s best for Edgemont. “My goal is to come up with a plan which shows that, if the people of Edgemont want to do so, we can obtain the municipal services Edgemont needs at less of a cost than we're currently paying the Town of Greenburgh for those services plus the ones we don't need, use or want. In addition to controlling our own municipal taxing and spending, incorporation will also allow us to control our own zoning and planning which is essential for our school district to continue to be first-rate and financially affordable for all Edgemont residents. The Town of Greenburgh simply doesn't share our priorities in that regard and if we don't exercise control, we'll have to live with decisions made for us by Greenburgh politicians who don't live in Edgemont and don't really know or understand what works best for us."

Comments (14)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by paul is clueless, May 16, 2011

at long last the supervisor for life has exposed himself and he has no clothes. the career politician who governs by press release has now suggested that edgemont issue its own press releases to extol its virtues while the vices of a town government addicted to spending keeps plugging the needle in deeper year after year to feed its tax fix. where is the "edgemont spring" to free itself from hosni feiner?

• 
• +1
• 
• 

...
written by 21-year Edgemont resident, May 15, 2011

Bernstein's thesis was that Edgemont home sales have virtually dried up, while Scarsdale's sales during the same period have done very well and that one explanation for this may be the huge disparity between the amount of property taxes on comparably priced Edgemont and Scarsdale homes. In the past, when Edgemont's taxes were higher, buyers tended to get more of a house in Edgemont than in Scarsdale, which is just common sense. Elsewhere on this site, there are comparably priced Edgemont and Scarsdale houses for $1.24 million where in Edgemont the taxes are $41,000 and in Scarsdale only $22,000. That's far more of a difference than even Bernstein was talking about. I suspect when the difference in taxes is now as huge as it is, the reason Edgemont's homes may not be selling is that when buyers see these figures, they conclude that Edgemont's houses are just priced too high for that amount of taxes and, when compared with Scarsdale, Greenburgh may not be a financially stable place to purchase property. And yes, mortgage companies know that too.

So when Bernstein argues that Greenburgh's town taxes have gone up 47% in the past five years, while Edgemont's school and fire taxes have remained under control, it is not unreasonable to ask what Greenburgh's plan is to address its spending issues. It is also not unreasonable to wonder whether Edgemont residents might just want to take matters into their own hands. Waiting around for more sales and pricing data to wonder whether there's a problem might be too much of a risk to take to the equity in our homes if the Town is unwilling or unable to address its spending problems.

I just saw Feiner's letter to the ECC on the ECC's facebook page. Everyone should read it. His solution: the ECC should make a pro-Edgemont video to post on YouTube. That solution is laughable and highlights the problem we residents of Edgemont are facing right now.

• 
• +5
• 
• 

...
written by 26 Years in Edgemont , May 15, 2011

When considering the total cost of ownership (including taxes) the market most often uses price as a mechanism rather than volume.For a reference point, a few minutes with Manhattan co-op lisitngs will illustrate this concept.

A low number of sales, as opposed to lower prices, is most often the result of reluctance on the part of mortgage lenders.. Since that is not part of Bob Bernstein's thesis, I think that it's most likely that 13 homes in one period, and 10 homes in the next represent too small a sample from which to draw a meaningful conclusion. We might be best served by waiting for more data, and turning down the argumentative heat.

• 
• -3
• 
• 

...
written by paul is clueless, May 14, 2011

correction - used town resources (such as town attorney tim lewis as your personal attorney in a frivolous lawsuit)

• 
• +4
• 
• 

...
written by paul is clueless, May 14, 2011

mr supervisor - read the annual newsletter of the ecc - which gives chapter and verse as to how the town has ignored edgemont and abused its taxpayers. lets see your point by point rebuttal.
and lets add in the valhalla giveaway, the fortress bible fiasco, the stalling of the ethics matters, the hppd lawsuit where you sued town resources to represent yourself, and your unequivocal stalling of a revaluation and your attempt to raise the taxes of those served by the greenville fire district by 21 per cent with your consolidation committee run by a felon who also faked that he was a veteran,

• 
• +4
• 
• 

...
written by PAUL FEINER, May 13, 2011

I would be happy to sit down with any of the anonymous bloggers to correct inaccurate information about the town that is being spread by anonymous and to discuss ways to make Greenburgh/Edgemont better. The town wants to be responsive to the concerns of our Edgemont constituents. Please feel free to call me at home: 478-1219...on my cell: 438-1343 or at the office: 993-1545. We live in a great town--that can be better if we work together.
PAUL FEINER

• 
• -4
• 
• 

...
written by huh?, May 13, 2011

mr krain's comments make no sense, the villages have excellent public services but there is one key difference - they all have professional managers. what does greenburgh have ? professional politicians, all of whom are second raters with no business or financial experience. they are the real amateurs and unknowns he is concerned about. and what have they accomplished for edgemont outside of raising its taxes, opposing revaluation, hatching schemes to overpopulate central avenue and saddled it with paying for services and programs that primarily benefit others and not the edgemont community and threatened to raise its fire district taxes by 21 percent with a consolidation effort overseen by a convicted felon. edgemont needs a declaration of independence.

• 
• +4
• 
• 

...
written by Richard Krain, May 12, 2011

To idolfanatic: Who do you think repairs the roads, picks up the leaves in the fall, plows and sands the streets in winter to remove the snow? When a bad wind storm causes trees to come down on the power lines, who do you think is there to remove the debris and use the clout of a large town population to put pressure on Con Edison to get the power restored? In addition to the police and sanitation services that you dismiss, who do you think will provide these services, and at what cost, if Edgemont becomes a village? Have you never heard of the principle of economies of scale? Look around, all over the state and the country, small independent villages are moving to disincorporate in order to take advantage of the economies of larger governmental units such as towns.
Keep in mind that the town only accounts for 18% of our taxes. If Mr. Bernstein and his ECC cronies really have a problem with Paul Feiner, let them campaign against him in the next election. Forcing our Edgemont community to shop for services which we now take for granted at the risk of higher costs and uncertain quality is not the answer.
Read the EVEC report on the ECC website (you'll have to dig for it under 2005 documents) and you will understand why people who were involved in this issue six years ago can't understand why it keeps coming up --- like a bad penny. The next time you call the highway department about a bad pothole on your street and see it repaired the next day, think about whether you really want to put your civic services in the hands of amateurs and unknowns.

• 
• -5
• 
• 

...
written by term limits, May 12, 2011

the whole town including the villages are suffering under feiner's reign of error and mismanagement - from the tree case where the town was grossly underinsured to the fortress bible case where the town conspired to destroy evidence and violate the religious rights of a church- both of which have and will cost all town taxpayers millions to the corrupt and illegal giveaway of millions to the valhalla school district of A budget funds (which are paid by all town taxpayers including the villages) to feiner's opposition to revaluation (the failure of which is destroying great school districts in edgemont and the villages) to the eyesore of a wall feiner shoved down the throats of town residents on central avenue (one could go on and on) - suffice to say edgemonters should join forces with the existing villages and push for either term limits or at least representation on the town board by having town board members elected by district and not by the whole town. feiner is hurting the town by his remaining in office long past his sale date.
ironically feiner originally ran on a term limits platform. now if term limits doesnt work and edgemont doesnt get district elections and a seat at the table, then the case for incorporation is that much stronger.

• 
• +3
• 
• 

...
written by Diana, May 12, 2011

Edgemont will never get representation on the Town Board. They have figured out they can continually get re-elected by providing services to the rest of Greenburgh, as long as they dont charge to the Villages. And term limits would not make a difference, becuase the next candidates would know the same formulae. Paul Feiner and the Feinettes have spent down millions of reserves for operating expenses, and they will be out of funds to play with soon. They will crush the school district with excessive development on Central Avenue.

• 
• +3
• 
• 

...
written by facts not attacks, May 12, 2011

Bob bernstein is not the issue. Its a documented fact that feiner has tried to hurt the e'mont school district and its fire dept and is harming edgemont even more with his tax and spend policies that are relentless both for edgemont and all other taxpayers in all parts of greenburgh. While taxes, pool and parking access and the quality of services are legitimate issues for discussion, whether bernstein is in favor of incorporation is an illogical basis to oppose it on that ground alone.

• 
• +6
• 
• 

..., Low-rated comment [Show]

...
written by term limits etc, May 12, 2011

incorporation has been discussed in e'mont since the 1920s. there was a vote on the issue in 1967 - incorporation was defeated 3 to 1. of course, e'mont has changed since then and the move for incorporation back then had some racial aspects that are no longer present. that being said, e'mont is a victim of the dysfunctional town government run by its own supervisor for life - hosni feiner and his sidekick diana the sphinx juettner. as bob bernstein has aptly noted, none of the town board members live in edgemont and they are really clueless about the community. despite the fact that e'mont provides approx 25% of the town's taxes to fund all sorts of waste like two recreation departments that folks in e'mont barely use, edgemont alone is politically powerless within the town. the fiasco of the town's allowing new rochelle water to install a dome without any community notice despite its requirement under the town code is one of many examples of the town ignoring and disrespecting edgemont. one could add the recent attack on the efficient greenville fire district by a commission appointed by feiner and headed by a convicted felon.

short of incorporation, edgemont might want to try to push for either district representation on the town board (as opposed to the voting at large system in place) so perhaps edgemont might get a voice in town affairs. term limits are desperately needed in greenburgh and elsewhere and they are in place in neighboring scarsdale. another option, albeit difficult because only the school district boundaries touch, is a merger of e'mont with another existing village such as ardsley which has a lean municipal government and all the existing boards and buildings in place as well as a host of parks and recreational facilities (and a new library) that edgemont lacks. further, if you read the comprehensive plan, its a potential disaster for the edgemont school district. edgemont is wise to seek a divorce from town government but to get there it might have to employ alternative strategies to insure its survival.

• 
• +4
• 
• 

...
written by idolfanatic, May 10, 2011

"They fear that incorporation will lead to higher taxes and decreased services and are also afraid that a cloud of uncertainty could impact the demand for homes in Edgemont"

Are they for real? What services, other than garbage/recycle and the police do we have? Our taxes are the highest and continue to increase.

• 
• +6
• 
• 

Name

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment