Endorsements: No on Sleepy Hollow property tax increase
Mike Tennis is a member of the village finance committee.
Sorry, we're having a tough time figuring out what has changed in Sleepy Hollow since last fall when voters slam dunked - by a 3-to-1 ratio - plans for a massive property tax increase. Just a few months after that vote, the village is back with an April 7 ballot question asking for a roughly 82 percent increase, a proposal very close to the last one.
This time, though, the village has vowed to do a better job of educating voters by outlining its financial needs with a public meeting and in its March newsletter. One little oversight, though: the village bypassed the village finance committee, says member Mike Tennis, who says the village again failed to sharpen its pencils finely enough. The village, he says, could get by with about half the additional $428,571 it wants to collect from taxpayers.
True, the additional money wouldn't be levied for frivolous things. Road repairs, new police squad cars, building maintenance are among the cited needs. Nor is the bottom line tax increase - $316 for the owner of a $200,000 home - exorbitant. But we're troubled the village doesn't seem to be fully cognizant of the plight of overstressed taxpayers and hasn't come back with a tax increase request that meets them halfway. We recommend a "no" vote.