Port Chester board challenges Rye Town budget, tax spikes

Letter exchange between municipal leaders shows tensions among elected officials

September 5, 2024 at 12:46 a.m.

Last month, the Port Chester Board of Trustees got the cold shoulder.

Mayor Luis Marino, on behalf of the board, formally invitedRye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman as well as his administration’s comptroller to attend the Village trustees’ Aug. 5 meeting to “participate in a discussion” regarding the Town’s budget and initiatives.

“The Village trustees and I have been engaging with our constituents on inquiries related to town initiatives, assessment, budgeting and taxation,” Marino’s invitation wrote. “Although anyone can attend a Town of Rye meeting, we believe that providing our residents with the opportunity to pose questions on matters under the Town’s purview during one of our meetings would encourage better public participation.”

“The Port Chester trustees are interested in learning more about the town’s operations, initiatives and understanding how tax dollars are being reinvested into our community,” the letter continued to read. “Our curiosity stems from a sense that the public struggles to see how the increased rate of taxation benefits our residents and how the operational revenue stream provides value to the Village.”

Though the Board of Trustees had scheduled Zuckerman’s appearance on their agenda that night, it was a symbolic effort as no one from the Town showed up. In writing, Zuckerman’s response to the board “respectfully declined” their invitation.

The letter exchange, which the Westmore News received through Freedom of Information Law requests, speaks to tensions heating among elected officials governing the two municipalities. And follow-up conversations illuminated their different philosophies.

“I was surprised,” Zuckerman said of receiving the initial invitation. “I had no indication that they’d be sending that kind of letter. It was not preceded by any phone call requesting information.”

“I did not view the letter as a usual municipal to municipal type of correspondence, but as a demand that the Town of Rye answer questions posed by the trustees of the Village of Port Chester,” he continued. “I think it’s both inappropriate and disrespectful.”

The Town of Rye, in budget and function, has expanded generously over the last few years. Therefore, the taxation rate has seen similar spikes. In 2017, the $3.1 million budget saw the average Port Chester property owner paying around $15 in town taxes. This year, the $7.48 million spending plan implied a $255 average.

Marino, during a phone call this week, said he sent the letter on behalf of the trustees because, collectively, they felt a conversation about soaring growth must be had. Taxes continue to increase, he said, and board members want to hear more about why.

“Where is the money going?” questioned Deputy Mayor Phil Dorazio. “They don’t have police, fire, public works, anything like that. Where is our money going? What are they doing?”

The Town of Rye umbrellas over several municipalities in its boundary, providing resources for those entities while overseeing properties of its own. Port Chester, Rye Brook and Rye Neck are in the Town of Rye, as well as the school districts in those communities.

Largely, the Town plays a key role in the taxation process—responsible for assessing property values, collecting levies and redistributing those funds to the municipalities. It’s also tasked with defending their property valuations in court, when necessary, and guaranteeing tax revenues to the entities in the event property owners don’t pay.

Rye Town has always provided justice court services for the Village of Rye Brook and more recently was forced to absorb Port Chester’s court functions when the Village opted to dissolve its own court for financial savings in 2021—a roughly $1 million cost for the town.

Additionally, an element that’s been bolstered in the last few years, the Town oversees the management and activities of two parks. Crawford Park is located in Rye Brook and saw the historic mansion on the property undergo large, bond-funded renovations in 2019 to become a community center. Rye Town Park is located in Rye City.

Of both spaces, Town officials have proudly lauded their efforts to host more community events, repair infrastructure and make them ADA compliant.

Primary functions of the Town were laid out in Zuckerman’s written response, also on behalf of the Rye Town Council, to the Board of Trustees, as well as a hint of skepticism over their request. He specifically noted that it’s “surprising” to hear they’re unaware of the Town’s purpose, given one of the trustees is a former supervisor.

“To which ‘public’ do you refer? Possibly those members of your board who unsuccessfully raised this issue last November (during the last Rye Town election) and wish to keep raising it for their own partisan political purposes?” he wrote. “Members who believe that the Town provides no useful benefits to Port Chester and should be dissolved? That was a failed policy of the prior Town Administration after the expenditure of considerable resources, which the then Port Chester Board of Trustees declined to endorse.”

“This is not political,” said Port Chester Trustee Joe Carvin, the former Rye Town supervisor Zuckerman referred to, during a phone call this week. “This is insanity.”

Carvin has been vocal about his views on the Town. His administration, an era lasting from 2008 to 2016, was driven by the goal—his “first, second, third, fourth and fifth” priority—of dissolving the municipality.

Outrage is no overstatement to describe Carvin’s thoughts on the Rye Town tax increases seen in recent years. “It’s 1,200%. That’s got to be the largest tax increase in history,” he claimed.

Both Carvin and Dorazio were understanding of unavoidable budget increases, such as the forced acquisition of Port Chester’s court activities. But for the rest, they opined, it’s unclear how it benefits the people of Port Chester.

The parks are beautiful, the deputy mayor said, yet implied they’re not truly intended for his constituents. “I think they try to price Port Chester people out,” he said of Rye Town Park, and “Crawford Park serves Rye Brook.”

“There has been a tax increase, and I’m curious to know where the money is going and what it’s doing,” said Dorazio. “I understand they collect the taxes and that such, but my bigger concern is the amount of money that’s paid to Gary himself and some others.”

The salaries of Rye Town elected officials have been a point of contention because there were several consecutive years where the council granted themselves regular pay increases, making them the highest paid board members in town. The largest spike came in 2021, when the supervisor’s salary was doubled from $17,000 to $30,000, while the council members saw a bump from $4,000 to $6,000.

Concern was also expressed regarding the pay of Rye Town’s high-ranking employees.

“I think they’re stealing from the taxpayers,” Dorazio said. “To overpay the supervisor and his cronies.”

On salaries, Zuckerman argued that employees’ pay-rate is determined by looking at comparable municipalities in the region. And as for the elected officials, “if they have a problem with that, they can run for the office and cut the salaries,” he said.

“Gary Zuckerman and his team did a fantastic job in their first term in office,” Carvin said, referring to a period where the budget was relatively stable. But the second term, he continued, was disappointing. “They’re ultimately stealing money from Port Chester taxpayers. It’s an unconscionable increase.”

“This is legal corruption; it’s unethical,” he added. “They know better; they know what they’re doing.”

To put matters into perspective, Zuckerman reminded that the average town tax for Port Chester residents is currently $255, while the Village garners $4,325. This year’s budget in Port Chester implied a $287 tax increase, he continued, “so the increase in Port Chester is larger, year to year, than the entire town tax.”

“Any fool can look at percentages, and it’s a fool’s errand,” the supervisor said. “How much do you pay, and what do you get? That’s the question. If my tax is a dollar and the tax goes up to $25, that’s a huge percentage increase. But it’s still $25.”

“The entire town tax, for the year, is less than it would cost for a family to go to a Yankees baseball game.”

In essence, Carvin and Dorazio echoed similar sentiments about principle—suggesting the Town of Rye is taking advantage of their low profile. Because it’s a small in scope municipality, no one pays attention, allowing the council to get away with unchecked spending, they said.

“The whole reason for dissolving the Town of Rye is because it lends itself to this,” Carvin said. “If no one is paying attention, the town supervisor can double the budget, pay himself anything. That’s problematic. It’s not good government.”

“This is bad government; acts of legal corruption,” Carvin repeated. “In my view, this warrants restudying the elimination of the Town of Rye, because this was what we were trying to avoid.”

Dissolving the town was a topic Carvin doubled down on. His efforts as supervisor to remove the additional layer of government were lengthy yet unsuccessful—involving several years of getting a study commissioned and hosting town halls with the various municipalities at stake. But it’s a matter he’s interested in pushing to reconsider.

Asked to respond to the Port Chester trustees’ claims of unethical government, Zuckerman refused to give it much attention. “Do you know how much weight I give their opinions? What they’re worth, which is nothing.”

Ultimately, Dorazio was not satisfied by the supervisor’s response to their invitation.

“They don’t have police, fire, public works, anything like that. Where is our money going? What are they doing?” he questioned. “We asked Gary (Zuckerman) to come in front of us to explain where the money is going, and he declined. He didn’t want to take the heat.”

“You have people on the Board of Trustees claim they know what’s going on in the village, and because the Village is part of the Town, you’d assume they know what’s going on. And you have one member who used to be the town supervisor,” Zuckerman reasoned. “To write a letter asking the supervisor to explain what the town does because they’re interested in learning more about the town’s operations, I just wonder about if they’re even aware of what’s going on in doing their duty as elected officials.”

Zuckerman said he declined the invitation because he felt the intention was impure. There was no reason, he said, to subject himself to persecution.

Mayor Marino said he wrote the letter to open the doors of communication. The Board of Trustees, he added, will be extending another invitation to the Zuckerman administration soon—as of Wednesday, Sept. 4, he said the correspondence would likely occur “within the next couple of days.”

“We try to work together as a community. I’m not here to take people down,” Marino said. “We’re not going to do anything bad; we just want him to show up.”

Neighboring municipalities should have healthy, collaborative relationships, the mayor said, pointing to their connections and shared services with Rye Brook and the City of Rye. “This is all about communities working together.”