Dear neighbor, Here is the 594th installment of Decoding Village Agendas to keep Croton residents informed of the actions of the Village Board at their meetings.  I continue to add recipients to this email update on agendas so you may be receiving it for the first time. I enjoy getting your feedback and hope to continue to hear from you.  If you do not wish to receive these periodic email updates from me, please reply to this email and your name will be removed from the email list.

Ann Gallelli

Decoding Village Agendas – September 12,  2022

Work Session of the Village Board

7:30 pm

Georgianna Grant Room

Municipal Building

NOTE:  This meeting starts at 7:30 pm.

1.   First Quarter Financial Update   Treasurer Tucker presents the first quarter update showing an increase in budgeted revenue of $430,309 and First Quarter expenses of $5,488,943.30.

2.      Discussion on Updated Senior Tax Exemption   NYS recently passed legislation that increases the eligibility for Senior Property Tax Exemptions from an annual income of $29,000 to $50,000.  Each taxing authority can decide whether to opt-in to this or not. Manager Healy provided the following information regarding Senior property exemptions in Croton as background for this discussion:

“ The Village currently maintains a senior tax exemption at the maximum level of 50% for those senior citizens earning $29,000/year or less. There is also a downward sliding scale for those earning more than $29,000/year, but less than $37,400/year. As of this year, a total of 35 properties have applied for and received the senior tax exemption. Unlike other tax exemptions (firefighter and veteran), seniors must apply annually for this exemption to ensure their income remains within the eligible range. In trying to determine how many residents would be eligible under this new legislation, I reviewed the income data contained in the 2013-2017 American Community Survey for the Village. There are approximately 350 households that earn less than $30,000, meaning that 10% of those households are eligible for and have applied for the senior tax exemption. An additional 250 households make between $30,000 and $50,000. If we were to extrapolate this data based on the preceding numbers, we could reasonably expect another 25 households to be eligible for a new senior tax exemption. I also reviewed the number of households currently receiving the Enhanced STAR exemption in the Village. The number of households receiving this exemption is 162 (data provided by the Town of Cortlandt). The Enhanced STAR income level ($93,200) is approximately double that of the new senior property tax exemption level. Based on this information, we could reasonably expect another 46 households to be eligible for a new senior tax exemption.”

3.   Harmon Parking Survey Results  The Village recently sent a survey to residents of the Benedict Blvd, Hastings and Young Avenues area of the Village in regard to complaints about the consistency of regulations in this area and a possible change in regulations as follows: a proposal to implement a four-hour maximum street parking rule, effective weekdays between 7 AM and 7 PM on Benedict Boulevard, Hastings Avenue, and Young Avenue outside of the Residential Parking Permit Area. .  Of 83 surveys sent out, 29 were returned.  With 16 saying parking was still an issue on their street, 15 support a change in regulations and 12 oppose.