By Mary C. Marvin

Apr. 29, 2015:  The upcoming joint village/school district FEMA flood mitigation project brings to the fore the relationship of schools to their home municipality(ies). 

Bronxville is only one of two New York State communities whose school district boundaries and governmental boundaries are coterminous--i.e., the school district boundaries are exact with the governmental boundaries. The other community is the small Hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel in Orange County.

We are also the only municipality that administers tax bills for its school district. In recent years, you have noticed that the village made the decision, based on economy and efficiency, to combine the two taxing entities on one bill. 

Since by law a school district's fiscal year is July 1 to June 30, whilst a village fiscal year is June 1 to May 31, our June tax bill must be computed at the eleventh hour, only after the school budget vote is approved.

The village assessment role is completed in February and the village board passed this year's municipal budget on April 13, but tax dollar amounts cannot be computed until after the May 20 school budget vote.

Last year's tax allocation funded village government with $8.3 million and the school district with $38.7 million, or 18% and 82%, respectively, of the local tax pie.

Most communities collect taxes once a year. Many years ago, the village trustees passed a resolution to have the tax obligation split in two to alleviate the financial burden of one large payment. Beyond a decision such as this, which was discretionary, New York State tax law takes over on all other aspects of collection. It sets payment deadlines and any attached interest rates for failure to pay on a timely basis. 

As example, upcoming tax payments must be either postmarked or delivered to village hall by June 30. (Our police department will accept bills on that last day until midnight so residents aren't penalized if they can't make it to village hall during the regular 9-to-4 business day.)

By New York State statute, a 5% late fee is attached if the bill is late/unpaid in July. Thereafter, an additional 1% late fee is added monthly on the base bill with interest not compounded. No matter how dire or worthy the circumstances, we cannot legally waiver on this, nor offer any kind of installment plan. Court cases on the subject have upheld the state's statutory authority citing fairness and equal treatment as the overriding factors, even so far as to state that not getting a tax bill is no excuse for non-payment!

Even tax-exempt properties have an assessed value. As example, the NewYork-Presbyterian/Lawrence Hospital complex is valued at almost $150,000,000 on our roll.

To lower the tax burden on taxable property owners, communities are going the way of user fees and special improvement districts to have all entities in their municipalities share in such services as lighting, paving, and infrastructure maintenance.

The village also administers the school's STAR exemption program and shoulders 100% of the cost and time to fight assessment challenges. An interesting factoid in law, there is a built-in presumption that an assessor's determination of value is correct until proven wrong. School districts and municipalities can enter into joint agreements, the FEMA project a prime example.  Another area of permissible overlap is for the purchasing of goods such as office supplies, blacktop, and gasoline, something we honestly should pursue in greater earnest.

On the flip side, capital projects promulgated by the separate boards are not joint undertakings and neither institution takes a position on the other's initiatives, thereby respecting the jurisdictional boundaries. Hence, the village board's public support for the joint FEMA project vs our appropriate silence on the field project.

As point of interest, capital projects such as the above are exempt from the New York State property tax cap legislation for school districts but not for municipalities. However, municipal capital projects--even those requiring bonding--are not subject to public vote. In addition, it is much easier to override the tax cap by a governmental board. Two-thirds of the board can override by public resolution. In contrast, a public vote of 60% of the electorate is required for a school district to surpass the cap.

School districts are governed by New York State education law and as such are not subject to any local zoning, planning, design review, or building code laws, nor do they have to incur the costs for building permits.

Under the same autonomous umbrella, a school district is responsible for monitoring/patrolling its property to ensure campus security. School grounds are analogous to one's private backyard.

We are fortunate to have a long history of cooperation between the village board and the school board producing a very symbiotic relationship.  I believe the key to this success is the respect each board has for the other's decision-making process and jurisdiction in the functioning of our village.