Scarsdale Mayor Gives State Of The Village

Scarsdale Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser spoke to village residents on Thursday at the Scarsdale Forum's general meeting.

Flisser addressed the crowd with a State of the Village overview, and covered several topics, including: the 2012-2013 budget, stormwater projects, assessment and revaluation, bridge construction, the pump station, historic preservation and leaf mulching.

Forum President Dan Hochvert introduced the mayor who has been serving on the Village Board of Trustees for the past five and a half years and "hasn't stopped pursuing the things that she believes will help us...she loves our village."

Like us on Facebook  |  Follow us on Twitter  |  Sign up for our newsletter

Flisser gave a recap of the $48,445,129 village budget, stating it was a 3.17 percent increase over the previous year's budget. The increase, she noted, was mainly due to NY State Mandates on health insurance and pensions.

The tax rate is $238.42 on assessed value in Scarsdale, she said, and there was a 4.07 percent tax rate increase from the previous fiscal year's.

This year, "Scarsdale lost real estate value for the first time since the Great Depression," the mayor said.

Mayor Flisser reviewed stormwater projects in the village, including the South Fox Meadow Drainage Improvements, and the reassessment of village property.

The revaluation project is a $1.1 million project and the new assessments will be finalized for 2014, she said. The last time the village did an assessment was in 1968.

"At the beginning, I was opposed to this, but it had enormous community support, so I supported myself as well," Flisser said.

The reassessment "doesn't raise taxes," she said. "It redistributes the total taxe burden."

The mayor said the Popham Road Bridge Project, 14 months behind schedule is expected to be open to traffic by Dec. 31.

The Crane Road Bridge, a Westchester County project, is underway and the first stage of the four-stage project kicked off in June.

In her Historic Preservation update, she noted there are 12 potential historic districts in Scarsdale; 13 potential landmarks; and 68 potential, additional, individual landmarks.

The mayor also noted that leaf mulching on site, as opposed to leaf collection in town, has been a noteworthy Scarsdale sustainable project and is saving the village money. 

"Scarsdale really is a leader in this," Flisser said.