Venditto: Debt Not A Worry

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Venditto: Debt Not A Worry

Written by Ron Scaglia Friday, 08 March 2013 00:00

Supervisor speaks about bonding, taxes and town debt

Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto believes that the town is a great place to live and he emphatically said so at a recent board meeting.

He also forcefully defended the decision to incur debt, which he said protects the quality of life of the town’s residents.

“I made a decision a long time ago, that while I would never spend unreasonably, I would spend appropriately to advance legitimate town purposes,” he said. “And I don’t think there is any higher town purpose than to protect the quality of life that we enjoy in the Town of Oyster Bay– the suburban quality of life that we enjoy here in the Town of Oyster Bay.”

Both Supervisor John Venditto and Councilman Chris Coschignano said that town taxes are a small portion of real property taxes.

Venditto said that quality of life in the town is evidenced, among other things, by the town’s response to Hurricane Sandy as well as the recent blizzard. The supervisor said that it costs money to provide these services, and as long as it is reasonable, he is willing to spend the money to protect the services that residents expect and deserve.

At the meeting, additional bonding of $5.42 million was approved to pay the cost of public parking improvements, park district improvements and solid waste district improvements. The board also approved a law which would enable the town to override the tax cap. Many municipalities take this action without planning on overriding the cap, but do so as a precaution in case it is deemed necessary to pierce the cap. Venditto commented that if it’s necessary to do so, he would have “no problem with it,” if “it’s the right thing to do in order to protect the Town of Oyster Bay.”

Councilman Chris Coschignano joined in the discussion. He agreed with the supervisor’s statement that town taxes are actually a small portion of real property taxes.

“We have to make people understand, we’re 10 or 11 cents on the dollar,” he said. “That’s it for us.”

However, Venditto also made a point of saying that although town taxes are a small portion of property tax bills when compared to school taxes, he does not have a problem with school taxes, either. He said that he benefited from the Massapequa schools and his children have benefited from Farmingdale schools.

“I have no problem paying school district taxes,” he said. “What I do have a problem with though is when people come up and act as if the Town of Oyster Bay is somehow responsible. I’m happy with my school taxes. I pay them with a smile.”

He also added that the town has helped school districts with their financial burdens by building parks and athletic centers when school districts were constrained in doing so. He and the board spoke of partnering with all town school districts, specifically mentioning Plainedge, Bethpage, Farmingdale, Massapequa, Plainview and North Shore.

The supervisor made a point of saying that by protecting the quality of life in the town, home values have also been protected. He said that town real estate prices increased by a larger percentage than other towns in the northeast region and have declined less dramatically than other areas when the recession hit.

Critics have charged that the town has amassed too much in debt. Currently, the town owes more than $800 million, but Venditto said the town would easily repay this.

“Even our worst detractors acknowledge that while the Town of Oyster Bay’s debt is higher than everybody else’s, we certainly have the ability to repay,” he said.

“Let’s discuss the quality of our infrastructure [and] what we have as assets,” added Coschignano. Both he and Venditto said that while the town incurred debt rebuilding the town’s infrastructure, this has been taken care of, and now the town is better off than other municipalities who must now make repairs in a tough economy.

In order to reduce costs, the town will be offering a retirement incentive for the third time in three years. The incentive will be eligible to employees who are 55 years of age or older who have five years of service to the town. Each retiree would receive $1,000 for each year of service in the New York State Retirement System. Retirees would also receive lifetime health benefits, payment for unused sick and vacation days. According to town officials, about 200 employees have taken the last two incentives, with the last incentive saving the town about $10 million.

Prior to the meeting a moment of silence was held for former Town Supervisor John Burke who recently passed away. Burke served as supervisor from 1970-1976.

News

Rebuilding Together Long Island

Thursday, 16 May 2013 00:00

After Massapequa resident Sol Goldstein and several friends helped finish building a house for a family 20 years ago for Habitat for Humanity, they had a question: “What do we do now?” They were all retired, had enjoyed working together and accomplishing something for a family in need, and wanted to do more.

“I was looking for something [to do] hands-on,” said Joe Botkin, of Williston Park, a retired principal, who had worked with Goldstein in building the home.

Soon, Goldstein, a retired technician and technical manager for ABC television, learned of a national volunteer organization based in Washington, D.C., that offered free home repairs for low-income seniors, persons with physical handicaps, veterans, and families with small children.

After sending $12 for a handbook, Goldstein and his friends began “Rebuilding Together Long Island,” now one of the 189 affiliates of “Rebuilding Together” around the country.

“It exploded,” Botkin said, attracting both people who needed home repairs and volunteers eager to do the work — everything from fixing a faucet to installing wheelchair access ramps to undertaking major repairs on homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

The group, based in Massapequa, is working on opening an office in Farmingdale. They will celebrate their 21st anniversary at their annual dinner, May 22, at Stuart Thomas Manor, Farmingdale. For information, call 516-541-7322.

“There has been a greater demand for our services since Superstorm Sandy,” noted Bob Ellis, director of Rebuilding Together Long Island, their only paid staff member. The organization has made major repairs on seven houses devastated by the hurricane, including three in Massapequa.

“We average about 100 homes a year,” Goldstein, president of Rebuilding Together Long Island, said. “We have about 300 volunteers” working on houses around Long Island, especially in Western Suffolk and Nassau.

“The experience of helping people is fantastic,” said Botkin. “We’ve all had good lives and we’re happy to give back. Besides, it beats sitting inside the house and watching the boob tube.”

“Our volunteers are mostly retired and they get a lot of joy in the good they do and in working with each other,” Ellis said.

Rebuilding Together relies on financial donations as well as donations of materials, supplies, equipment, and time from contractors and craftsmen, and others.

“We wish we could do more,” Botkin said.

Organizations like The Long Island Board of Realtors and the Nassau County Bar Association work with Rebuilding Together, offering donations as well as recruiting volunteers to work alongside them.

Rebuilding Together receives referrals from social services agencies, churches and other houses of worship, and veterans’ organizations.

Their projects vary. The organization does light carpentry, plumbing and some electrical work, but for any new electrical work, they hire an electrician. “We also do sheet rock and spackling. We paint only what we repair.”

Their biggest projects have been hurricane repairs. “That might take us two weeks,” Goldstein said. “On one of those homes, we had to put in 50 sheets of sheet rock.”

Others have noted the organization’s accomplishments.

“We are engaged in a joint endeavor with them to help people who can’t afford home repairs,” said Elaine Leventhal, director of We Care, the charitable arm of the Nassau County Bar Association. “Our members, especially our Young Lawyers Committee, receive a lot of satisfaction working with them.”

Rebuilding Together also receives appreciation from those they have helped.

Cindy Johnson noted that Rebuilding Together built a ramp for her 93-year-old mother’s Massapequa Park home.

“It is a fantastic organization,” said Johnson.

Having the ramp has helped immensely for them to get their mother in and out of the house for medical treatment and even socially and recreationally.

“We took her outside for Mother’s Day and she said: ‘How wonderful it is to be in the sun,’” Johnson said.

“We also receive a lot of letters,” Goldstein said. “Many of them are heartwarming.”

“I’m very grateful for those wonderful people coming into my home and giving me the help that I needed very badly,” one Levittown woman wrote.

“Without your help, sometimes I think I would go under,” an Old Bethpage resident noted.

An 89-year-old Massapequa resident and her 92-year-old husband appreciated the work on their home, including a wheelchair ramp, which has helped her get safely in and out of their home for a doctor’s appointment, and also the installation of pull bars, which have helped him take showers without assistance.

“They did a magnificent job,” she wrote. “I cannot say enough to express my gratitude.”