Negative feedback overwhelms public hearing about making tax receiver position appointed
May 30, 2024 at 12:14 a.m.
In back-to-back meetings, a controversial question has continued to consume the Rye Town Council: should the receiver of taxes position, elected every four years in November, be an appointed job?
And at the council’s monthly meeting on Thursday, May 16, several members of the community weighed in.
The proposition, technically referred to as Local Law No. 3, drew comments from the people that night when the public hearing officially opened, including some from those who were unable to attend physically. Drawing attention to the otherwise often unnoticed municipality, the proposal is to change the receiver of taxes position into an appointed one.
The position, which doesn’t create policy, is largely responsible for collecting taxes from residents and distributing the funds to municipalities. The receiver also handles various administrative duties, such as printing out bills and writing reports, and is a key collaborator within the Town offices as well as the other agencies under Rye Town’s umbrella.
Should the council approve the law, it would have to go to the voters for approval.
Two other legislative proposals that have not been controversial were also discussed that night. Local Law No. 1 amends the language used in a law passed in 2023 relating to the creation of deputy clerks, done at the recommendation of the Westchester County Human Resources department. And Local Law No. 2 proposes a second deputy receiver of taxes be employed to assist current Receiver Nick Mecca in performing his duties.
While the public hearings for Local Laws No. 1 and 2 were opened, closed and unanimously approved without any remarks from the public, the third controversial notion will remain open until the next council meeting.
It’s a proposal some in the community may be familiar with as a similar one was presented in 2014. But when it made it to the November election that year, it failed at the polls—55% of voters opposed it.
A community voicing aversion
Every one of the five statements presented about shifting the status of the receiver of taxes position was against the proposition.
“I just want to note my opposition to what you’re trying to do,” Aldo Vitagliano, the first to speak, said. “I believe the position should remain an elected position as it has been.”
“This change could create an opportunity for such an appointment to be a product of cronyism and nepotism depending on the majority of the presiding town board at any such time this appointment should be made.”
—Port Chester Village Trustee Phil Dorazio
A Port Chester resident who also serves as the first vice chairman of the Rye Town GOP and chairman of the Port Chester Republican Party, he also expressed disapproval of the removal of the residency requirement.
“I think there should be one for such an important position,” Vitagliano said. “I’m sure there are plenty of qualified of people within our community that could serve in any of these positions.”
Others, like Port Chester Village Trustee Phil Dorazio, were concerned about the implications that come with removing an elected office.
“By modifying this position into an appointed one, I believe this action will silence the voices of our residents and eliminate their right to elect a local representative,” Dorazio wrote in an email to the council, which was read aloud during the public hearing. “This change could create an opportunity for such an appointment to be a product of cronyism and nepotism depending on the majority of the presiding town board at any such time this appointment should be made.”
Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman, the most vocal proponent for the shift on the board, has continuously stated the law isn’t politically, or personally, motivated.
He cited Mecca’s impending retirement as the primary reasons for bringing forth the idea to the council.
Mecca, 81, won another four-year term as tax receiver in an uncontested election in November 2023 and has since expressed interest in potentially retiring in the near future.
The supervisor voiced concerns regarding the future of the position should Mecca step down before the end of his term in 2028 and believes an appointed position would ensure a qualified individual succeeds him.
Rick Buzin, an active community member who has previously served on the Rye Brook Board of Trustees and Blind Brook Board of Education over the years, wrote a message to the council arguing against that point.
“Everything points to a much simpler and less controversial way to solve the perceived problem that exists,” his letter read. “Pass the resolution making the deputy receiver a new appointed position and leave the receiver of taxes elected.”
Zuckerman said the voters should have the final say in the matter.
“I think we should give it a chance and let the people decide the direction they go,” the supervisor said.
He followed by electing to keep the public hearing open until the next meeting, originally scheduled for June 20. But that date is expected to change.
“I really want to be able to vote on this,” Councilperson Tom Nardi announced that night. “It’s a very important decision, and for two council people not to be able to show, I really think we should move the date.”
Because he would be away that day, and Councilperson Pamela Jaffee will be attending the Blind Brook High School graduation scheduled for the same time, they pressed Zuckerman to change the date of the June meeting.
Nardi is the only member of the current board who also served in 2014 when the tax receiver proposal was initially introduced, and he was the sole dissenter. During an interview in April, he said his opinion hadn’t changed in the last 10 years.
According to the Town of Rye website, the meeting has been rescheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, at the Crawford Mansion Community Center.
Anyone interested in making their comments known to the council can do so by emailing Town Clerk Hope Vespia at [email protected]
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