04/16/2008
Tax Woes In Gordon Heights FD Continue
By:Karen Forman, Suffolk Life
In the past, when people have complained about the Gordon Heights Fire District and its high fire taxes, some in the fire department, which is predominantly comprised of black volunteers, have called it a racial issue, saying that it was mainly a small percentage of whites who were complaining.
Not so, claims Mel Robinson, a black resident of Gordon Heights who has lived in the area since 1942. "They pull the race card out, but it's not about race. It's about money. When we signed that petition to have the fire district dissolved, most of the people who signed that petition were black. It's not a black and white issue. The town knows it, the fire district knows it, and we know it."
As previously reported in Suffolk Life, because Gordon Heights has virtually no commercial property their fire taxes are the highest in the town of Brookhaven. "And," Robinson added, "we have halfway houses [and] churches, which are all tax exempt, so the burden falls on us, the 800 homes, paying for a budget that's well over $1 million. The burden is too big; many of us are senior citizens. People are walking away from their homes." Robinson said that the "people running [the fire district] have no concern for us whatsoever. They just spend, spend, spend and do you think they have any remorse about it? No. I just saw them riding around in their brand new fire truck, tooting their horn for all to hear. They have a 20-vehicle fleet and we're all ambulance calls, no fires. It's not fair and it's not right."
"We have no new fire engine," countered Fire Chief Erton Rudder. "I don't know what he's talking about. We're in the process of purchasing one, but we don't have it yet. We just got a new fire police vehicle, which replaced an older vehicle that required a lot of maintenance. It was more cost effective to do that [because it] costs less to maintain. It has an extendable warranty, which is an additional savings to the taxpayers."
But, besides the long-term monetary savings, Rudder pointed out that the new vehicles are necessary for the safety of the community. "What should we say when we arrive late to put out a fire? 'Oh the truck broke down. Sorry we're late.' I don't think that would fly," he stated. "You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. We need a new fire engine. We're replacing one that's 30 years old. That's a good use of taxpayer money."
"They got a new ambulance from [Assemblywoman] Pat Eddington's (WF-Medford) $100,000 grant, which is on order," stated Rosalie Hanson, a GHFD resident since 1986. "They also have on order a fire pumper. This money was coming out of the reserve fund. They're also talking about buying another fire pumper and a new district car, plus a new [sport utility vehicle] for the chief," Hanson added. Rudder confirmed that he did just get a new SUV.
At the last fire district meeting at the beginning of April, said Robinson, "they told us they are buying a new $4,000 vending machine for the fire house. What is wrong with the old one? They're buying anything they can get their hands on, throwing money away. In these economic times, they should be downsizing."
When questioned about a new vending machine, Rudder said, "I'm not going to go back and forth about this. Are these real issues? Do people have complaints about our service? Talking about these petty things is insulting. They should be thanking us for our good service ... Just last month we put out two fires in our district. No one was injured. Those people reaped the benefits of our timely arrival and our state-of-the-art equipment. I don't see that in the paper. This is beyond the tax thing now."
Not quite, according to Deputy Press Secretary Bill Reynolds of NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office. As previously reported in Suffolk Life, an audit of the fire district was released by DiNapoli's office in February, which identified several areas where the fire district could reduce spending.
Reynolds said the GHFD had 90 days to file a "corrective plan with us. They're down to the last two weeks now and we haven't received one. If we don't receive one by the deadline, they'll be made aware of it and we'll take it from there. It's all about accountability and what their weaknesses are and how they are going to be addressed. The taxpayers need to be aware of this."
Once the district submits their plan, Reynolds said the comptroller's office "will determine if it addresses our recommendations or not and then we take it from there."
When asked if the fire district had filed a corrective plan with the NYS comptroller's office, GHFD Commissioner James Kelly said, "I think it was mailed some time ago. I'm pretty sure we mailed it."
Reynolds, however, said that, as of press time, the state comptroller's office had not received anything from the GHFD.
In the meantime, a number of area residents are so burdened by the high fire taxes that they are trying to sell their homes. Joyce Bourne, 63, is a first-time homeowner who has lived in the area for six years. "I had heard of school taxes, but not fire taxes," she said. "My fire taxes are over $2,400. My friends tell me that I'm crazy, that no fire taxes are that high. But they are ... This isn't America's dream. It's America's nightmare."
She said that she wouldn't have built her home if she'd known it was in the GHFD. "And now these morons are putting in a doggone soda machine that costs thousands of dollars?" she said, adding, "It's our money and they do what they want with it. I don't know how they sleep at night. Four thousand dollars for a soda machine?" Fed up with the whole situation, Bourne demanded, "Can't the state or county give them some guidelines?"
It's not just senior citizens who are being negatively affected by the high fire taxes, according to some. Ashley Hunt and her boyfriend purchased a new townhouse last year in a newly constructed community along Granny Road.
"We are both in our mid-20s and this is our first home," Hunt explained. "When we found this development, we were very excited because it is considered workforce/affordable housing. This means that in order to live in this development, one must be under a certain income bracket."
The development plan listed the community as being in the Medford Fire District, she added. "We were extremely surprised to find out after we had moved in that our particular unit falls in the GHFD. We found this out too late. It's ironic that a workforce housing community exists in the most expensive fire district on Long Island. I really hope that our elected representatives take this matter seriously and do their part to lessen the burden that the GHFD has become on its residents."
"For the people who want to dissolve the fire district, I think it's a money issue," stated Brookhaven Town Fourth District Councilwoman Connie Kepert. "For the people who want to continue the fire district, it's racial pride in having a black fire department. What I've been trying to do all along is try to balance both viewpoints. I've been trying to find a funding stream to help reduce taxes. There is a cell tower that should be coming into the fire district. They've signed a contract. We just have to adopt that as a town board. The fire department will get $100,000 off of that and up to $6,000 a month."
However, Kepert pointed out that "the town is limited in what we can do to increase the funding stream. I've looked at moving fire district lines, we're looking at trying to create additional commercial properties in the fire district. But I can't do this alone. I need other elected officials. I've already met with [US] Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Coram), [New York State] Senator [Ken] LaValle (R-Selden). I've spoken to [US senators Chuck] Schumer (D-NY) and [Hillary] Clinton's (D-NY) offices and Assemblywoman Eddington. I'm trying to meet with Senator LaValle again.?
"The GHFD needs budgetary measures in place to reduce their budget," she added. "This problem is not going away. They have to reduce their budget. I'm trying to help in every way I can."
At the last two Brookhaven Town Board meetings, Hanson was waiting to speak out on the issue, but the board didn't allocate enough time for everyone who signed up to speak. She had wanted to say in part that "the GHFD was established by the town of Brookhaven with the stipulation that it would not be an undue burden to the residents. Yet the residents continue to be taxed to death ... The insensitive spending practices by the GHFD commissioners, at a time when many people are losing their homes, is an indication that they do not have the best interest of the residents in this community at heart."
She added that the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness has offered to "help the town of Brookhaven study our problem," and she is urging Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley and the rest of the town board to reach out on the community's behalf.
Hanson also noted that a letter recently was sent to LaValle from a GHFD resident living on Park Lane, "explaining that he is living on a fixed income and is forced to cut his medication in half to make them last until the end of the month. The $1,000 more he is paying every year for his fire taxes would go a long way to help pay for his medicine. Those ... who do not face such hardships," she continued, "need to take a closer look as to how my neighbors are living. We are not talking theory here. We are in the trenches of the lives of real people who are financially hurting due to this unnecessary fire tax burden."
