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5/28/2009 - 1:40 PM
Check back soon for more Newsroom Q & A
By a special guest

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5/28/2009 - 1:41 PM
Answered Questions
By Scott Russell
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell agreed to respond to readers' questions on the Newsroom Blog.

Mr. Russell, 45, a former town tax assessor, was elected supervisor in 2005 and re-elected -- to a newly created four-year term -- in 2007. A Republican, he pledged to govern from the center and says he looks to build consensus across party lines. He lives in Cutchogue with his wife and two children.

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FIRST I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB IN MANY AREAS, HOWEVER OF COURSE LIKE SO MANY WAYS OUR TAXES ARE INCREASED WHICH WE ARE NOT HAPPY ABOUT. HOWEVER THINGS ARE IMPROVING.

AS A SENIOR I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NORMAL STAR PROGRAM WHICH EVERY ONE GETS, THEN THE ENHANCED STAR PREDICATED UPON A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF INCOME AND THEN THE SENIOR, WHAT EVER THAT ONE IS CALLED. ALSO WHO DICTATES WHAT NON REIMBURSED MEDICAL EXPENSE WHICH CAN BE DEDUCTED FROM YOUR GROSS TAXABLE INCOME.?

THIS WAY OF COMMUNICATION IS WONDERFUL, IT TAKES COURAGE TO DO IT.

THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE

DERITH SUTHERLAND

Hello.

The Basic Star Exemption is an exemption available to anyone who owns their house and declares it their “primary” residence. It is that simple. The Enhanced version is for those people who meet the above criteria AND who are over the age of 65 (at least one spouse) And who have a household income of under 73,000 dollars. These two additional criteria, once met, entitles the homeowner to an annual fixed savings above what the basic exemption allows for.

Each of these exemptions is a fixed savings and everyone who receives either of these in each school district saves the same amount. The amount to be saved gets calculated each year by the State of New York and depends on a formula outlined in the Real Property Tax Law. It is a difficult formula to explain to laypeople but, as an example, everyone in your school district (Southold) who received a Basic exemption last year saved about 504 dollars. Everyone in your district that qualified for an Enhanced exemption received about 944 dollars last year. The STAR exemption, either Basic or Enhanced, differ from all other exemptions in that any savings that are distributed to homeowners gets reimbursed by New York State directly to the school districts.

The other exemption you ask of is the Aged Exemption. This is called a permissive exemption in the New York state Law permits the taxing jurisdictions (School, County, Town) to decide for themselves whether to permit this exemption or not. It also allows for options on how much of an exemption a taxing district may allow for provided certain general criteria are adhered to. This is for people who own homes and are at least 65 years old. Currently to qualify for this the income can be no greater then 36,400. That does get recalculated each year so, you should use the number I just stated as a guide. Further this exemption is typically a “sliding scale” so, the lower your income below that ceiling, the more you save. To qualify for full savings under this exemption (50% of taxes paid to each of the tax districts referred to) your income would need to be under approx. 27,999. Remember that the ceiling is under 36,400 so, depending on your income and the sliding scale opted into by each tax district, you could save anywhere from 5 to 50 %. This exemption is traditional in that, anything that is saved by a qualified homeowner need to be made up at the local level with no reimbursement from the state. For example, if someone saves 1000 a year from this, the rest of the taxpayers in that tax district need to pay a little more to make up for that savings. That is how most exemptions work.

The State of New York has an office called “The Office of Real Property Tax Services” which has a legal department that determines, based on the law, how to calculate income and what is allowable to deduct for calculation purposes at the Assessors office locally. You should contact your Assessors office here in Southold if you have any specific questions regarding these exemptions. Thank you for taking time to ask me these questions.

Regards,

Scott Russell

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Speeding is one issue I receive most complaints on. The key is enforcement and presense. I have worked with the Police Chief to actually add a patrolman to the existing sector coverage and to move his duty around different parts of this community. His primary role is to enforce motor vehicle laws. This is in addition to, not instead of, the regular presense of our sector officers. Along with the Town Board, I am examining reorganizational options to deploy officers for a better presense and more enforcement of our laws without running up costly overtime bills. We are examining reassignment of officers from current duties such as DARE to work sector patrol. The Chief has been supportive in our effort to reduce speeding and has regularly deployed officers to run rader traps, etc.. Most of the problems with speeding actually exists on our back roads and side streets not as much with the Main Road or Sound Ave. While these two do present regular problems, the bigger challange is to reduce speeding and reckless driving on the winding, back roads whether it is Cutchogue, Bayview in Southold or East Marion. These roads are not straight, are lined with houses and people and offer very little visability. They are dangerous. We cover as best we can but please feel free to contact me if there is a specific area you think needs better patroling. Thank you for taking the time to ask a question.

Regards, Scott Russell

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Dear Mr. Russell-

I am pleased that the end of Pine Neck Rd was dredged for the boaters in the area. Now, I would like to ask you when the ramps at the end of the same road would be resurfaced and repaired. They are very rough and difficult to maneuver.

Thank you for your time-

Rosemary McKinley

Hi Rosemary.

This has been a question I have received in the past. The original problem was getting the permit to dredge so that the ramp would be usable to boaters. Now that dredging is resolved we have a few minor issues to address. Namely, the ramp had originally been constructed (partially) on property that is not the Towns. The Director of Public Works assures me that he is going out there at low tide shortly with the Highway superintendent to reconfigure the plan and then, to get the work done. I will contact you with a specific date as soon as I get one from him. If you forward your email link to my office or if you call me at 765-1889, I will be sure to keep you informed of the timetable.

Thank you, Scott

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This is a three part question:

1. Who is paying for the plastic walkway being constructed on the causeway?
2. Why is there a need for the plastic walkway and wooden guard rail?
3. Why doesn't the town pick up the large piles of garbage being deposited on the causeway?

- it's been there for months and it's growing.

Anonymous

Hello.

The Causeway in Cutchogue is actually a beach owned and maintained by the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Park District. Any improvements being made or questions/requests regarding maintaining that property should be directed to your park commissioners.

These people are elected to oversee these holdings. I do not know who currently holds these seats however, you should be able to find that answer by calling the Town clerk.

Thank you for taking time to ask a question.

Scott

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Supervisor Russell,

According to New York State Law:

"The participation of citizens in an open, responsible and flexible planning process is essential to the designing of the optimum town comprehensive plan."

and "The town board, or by resolution of such town board, the planning board or a special board, may prepare a proposed town comprehensive plan and amendments thereto."

and "the board preparing the plan shall hold one or more public hearings and such other meetings as it deems necessary to assure full opportunity for citizen participation in the preparation of such proposed plan or amendment."

Thus if Southold Town prepares a comprehensive plan a full opportunity for citizens to participate in the preparation (not only in the review) must be provided.

When will citizens have an opportunity to participate in the preparation of the proposed Southold Town Comprehensive Plan?

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benja schwartz

I am aware of State law and agree that the most important part of a Master Plan is the public component. I tried in a small way to honor that when I expanded the original stakeholders.

You may remember that the original hamlet stakeholder initiative was created by the former Town Board who had hand selected the participants. They made a good effort at picking a well-rounded and experienced group, however, I thought that the process should be opened up to anyone who wanted to participate. That is exactly what we did and included everyone who came forward.

As we set up a schedule for work on the plan we will be sure to include a far-reaching effort to include the public in every way possible. Currently, the Planning Board and staff are finishing up previous projects like the TDR program and as these get completed. Heather Lanza assured me that the next focus will be on developing a structure and timetable to begin work on updating the Master Plan.

I look forward to your input and that of the public's as well when we start work on this document.

Thank you Benja, your thoughts and insight are always welcome.

Scott

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