Wartime veterans living within the Riverhead Central School District got a step closer to enjoying a school property tax exemption in 2016 on Tuesday night, when the Riverhead Board of Education agreed to proceed with a public hearing on the idea.
After a lengthy public discussion, the board agreed to hold a hearing on a measure that would provide various levels of property tax exemptions to eligible veterans. No date was set at the meeting, but on Thursday, the district announced the hearing will be held on Tuesday, April 22 at 7 p.m., during the Board of Education’s regularly scheduled meeting that night at Riverhead High School. The board is expected to vote on the question after the hearing.
Board members indicated their desire to offer the exemption, but worried about the tax impacts on the rest of the district’s taxpayers and expressed their desire for feedback from taxpayers before acting on any exemption.
According to officials, if the exemption is implemented, RCSD school taxes on the “average” home in the Town of Riverhead would increase by $21.15 per year; the school tax bill on the “average” home in Southampton Town within the Riverhead school district would increase by $24.36 per year; district taxpayers in the Brookhaven portion of the district would see their tax bills rise by $19.28 per year for the “average” home in that township.
There could be additional impacts, Riverhead assessor Laverne Tennenberg told the board during a presentation at its March 25 meeting. Since the veterans exemption would come off the assessed valuation before the existing STAR exemption for low income seniors, upon which the state’s STAR reimbursement to the school district is based, the STAR reimbursement will be reduced, Tennenberg said. Calculation of the resulting reduction in the STAR property tax reimbursement to the school district cannot yet be completed, Tennenberg said.
“For me, it’s about acknowledging our veterans with a small token of thanks,” said trustee Amelia Lantz, a U.S. Air Force veteran. “This is a small way to say thank you, to say, ‘Hey, I’m willing to give you a break because of what you’ve done for me,'” Lantz said.
Trustee Christopher Dorr said he wished the question could be put to a referendum. A district-wide vote would be advisory in nature, board president Ann Cotten-DeGrasse told him, because the state law adopted last year authorizing the exemption places responsibility for approving it on the school board.
At the March 25 meeting, Tennenberg said the school district would lose about $4 million in assessed valuation if the exemption is approved.
“If you take the monetary situation out of this, it’s easy,” trustee Thomas Carson said.
“It’s a veteran that provided you with the right to sit on this board,” Calverton resident John Caldwell told the board. “I’ve deployed far away, missing my children’s birthdays. It’s a very small way to say thank you. You’re talking about 19 or 25 dollars a year. That’s not even half a tank of gas right now.”
Cotten-DeGrasse, describing herself as “an Army brat,” grew emotional, recalling that her father was deployed in Europe during World War II. “I didn’t see him until I was two years old,” she said.
“As a school board, we have a fiduciary duty to find out all the facts,” the president said.
Chris DiPetta of Aquebogue urged to board to vote on the measure that evening. “I’m seeing attempts to pass off responsibility to act on this. Informal polling, nonbinding referendum…You have all the information you need to vote on this right now. I think it’s time to take your positions,” he said
Assistant superintendent of finance and operations Sam Schneider said the state legislation authorizing the exemptions is “very clear” that a properly noticed, formal public hearing is required before a vote may be taken. Just having the item on the agenda for discussion is not enough, Schneider said.
A sizable number of veterans turned out on March 25 for the presentation by Riverhead and Southampton town assessors, who were invited by the school board to explain the exemption and its tax consequences. They urged the board to act, with many taking the podium to complain that the board had not moved more quickly to implement the exemption prior to the March 1 taxable status date, which would have allowed RCSD veterans to benefit from the exemption in 2015.
Schneider said his office surveyed the 29 school districts on the East End and found about half have decided to move forward with the exemption and the other half are still considering it. Only one district had decided against it so far.
Some 1,700 parcels within the town of Riverhead would be gain the exemption and about another 200 within the town of Southampton, Schneider said. That number is subject to increase if a bill now pending in Albany is passed, extending the exemption to Cold War veterans as well.
The law that went into effect Dec. 1 authorizes a school property tax exemption for veterans who served “during a period of war,” defined by the statute as: the Persian Gulf Conflict (on or after Aug. 2, 1990); the Vietnam War (Feb. 28, 1961 – May 7, 1975); the Korean War (June 27, 1950-Jan. 31, 1955); or World War II (Dec. 7, 1941-Dec. 31, 1946.) Prior to the change in the law, only counties, towns and villages could grant these exemptions.
There are different exemption levels for eligible veterans: combat veterans, noncombat veterans and disabled veterans, Tennenberg said. The measure allows the exemption from school property taxes of a certain percentage of assessed value; the percentage depends on the classification of the property owner (combat, noncombat or disabled.) Each exemption comes with a cap that limits the total exemption available. For example, the noncombat veterans exemption is 15 percent of a property’s assessed valuation, with a basic maximum exemption of $12,000; the combat veteran exemption is 25 percent of assessed value, with a basic maximum exemption of $20,000, Tennenberg said. A maximum exemption of $52,000 would be allowed for disabled veterans.
Editor’s note- This story has been revised to reflect the following corrections: The existing STAR exemption for low-income seniors was incorrectly stated as 50 percent; the basic maximum exemption for combat veterans is $20,000.
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