Letters

I have long advocated for transparency in the way Southampton Village assesses taxable property. Unfortunately, the current mayor and trustees refuse to provide any information on their system or method of calculation. Worse, they refuse to listen to me or other village residents on this topic and other important village issues.

In my specific case, the new mayor, who ran on a platform of “civility,” yelled at me in a public meeting while on camera. The response on this issue of taxable assessed values mirrors other self-serving and arrogant actions that have taken place since Bill Manger took office in July.

For example, they have also ignored the requests on traffic mitigation from neighbors north and south of Hill Street. Residents at the August 10 meeting complained about incessant traffic. Instead of listening and taking any action, they provided lip service and tried to pit neighbors against neighbors.

The mayor and board now spend most of their time congratulating each other in the most self-serving fashion and attending high-priced events for free. They have never cared about the everyday people of the village.

One of this administration’s first actions epitomized this. They moved to rid the Planning Commission of anyone who has opposed them, thereby limiting participation from others and reducing the diversity and quality of thoughts and opinions.

It was also not a surprise that the new village attorney quit in one day. Any resident can see the board’s dysfunction and lack of knowledge on basic issues, whether it be understanding property taxes, assessed values or traffic.

I don’t know why the mayor insists on continuing the lie and deception expressed on every village real estate tax bill. I don’t know why the mayor refuses to tell residents how assessed values are actually calculated. Is it because his wealthy backers benefit from treating residents like fools?

I contacted the village’s “independent” auditors to inform them of the village’s practice of destroying the records that support the calculation of individual assessed values. This is a major accounting deficiency. What did the auditors do? They asked their client, the village, if it was OK to pursue these concerns. Apparently, the approach of “independent” auditors has changed since I took Auditing 101.

I hope they will change their behavior. They should take steps to put a reasonable and rational new system in place. That system would treat everyone equally, basing properties on their value and not on an archaic system that the current officials cannot even describe or articulate.

They should create a volunteer task force aimed at addressing this issue. I would be happy to lead this task force and use my skills as a former Big Four Accounting Firm partner.

David Rung

Southampton Village