Village To Opt Out Of State Real Estate Tax Plan

Massapequa Park is planning on opting out of the New York State-mandated two percent real estate tax cap this year, according to Village Mayor James Altadonna.

The mandatory tax cap, introduced by the State about six months ago, contains provisions that allow local Municipalities to opt out if 60 percent of their Board votes to do so, which is something Massapequa Park plans on doing for the time being.

At this week's Massapequa Park Village Board meeting, a vote passed to schedule a public hearing to discuss the possibility of opting out of the State's two percent tax cap.  Altadonna explained the reasoning behind the Board's decision regarding the move.

"The way you have to compile the numbers is not an exact science," he said. "If we choose to opt in and go for the two percent tax cap and we're wrong in the numbers, even though we would expend the money that year, we would still be liable to give the money back to the State."

"It's just too complicated a procedure right now," Altadonna continued. "We're hoping they can simplify it down the road so that we can adopt it, but at this point it puts the Village in too much jeopardy to do it."

The date of the public hearing will be announced once it has been scheduled.

Mayor Altadonna also gave an update on the ongoing efforts to establish a local medical center in Massapequa Park, confirming that he has had talks with several interested hospitals since the last Board meeting.

"We've had talks with Long Island Jewish and some Catholic hospitals, and they're all very interested," he said. "They're digesting what we've given them, in terms of properties we've given them to look at, and they're going to come back in the month of January with proposals."

Altadonna said that multiple Massapequa Park locations were presented to the interested hospitals. Once the interested parties present their preferences to the Village, a public hearing will be held to keep residents up-to-date on plans for the proposed medical facility.

Meanwhile, the memory of Hurricane Irene is still making its presence felt...at least to resident Kerriann Konstantinakos, whose picnic plans on Brady Park were dashed on those fateful days in late August earlier this year. However, the Village finally got around to refunding Konstantinakos the $50 fee she had laid out for use of the park's picnic area.

The next regularly-scheduled meeting of the Massapequa Park Village Board is on Monday, January 9, at 8 p.m.