Letters

On February 20, the Southampton Village mayor and the four trustees presided over a meeting at Southampton Village Hall. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the grievances of residents who are being forced by the village to pay a disproportionate share of the village tax burden.

Because the meeting included a quorum, under New York State’s Open Meeting Law, such a gathering requires public notice to ensure transparency and accountability. Also, the board was required to produce minutes of the meeting, including deliberations and decisions made on the grievances, within two weeks of the meeting (Public Officers Law Sec. 106).

No such minutes have been posted on the village website. This lack of transparency and apparent disregard for legal obligations raises serious questions about this board.

Based on my experience from each of the last two years of filing grievances, the board will entirely ignore the information provided by the residents and make up a new value based on a bogus New York State-provided percentage of fair market value.

This rate would be acceptable if it were used to determine the assessed value of all village properties. But the administration only uses it on those who file grievances. The result is that the grievance-filers’ properties continue to be over-assessed.

Note that if the mayor and trustees used the “state” method on their own properties, their assessed value would increase. The mayor’s beachfront property would increase substantially. If this administration continues this unfair treatment of grievance-filers, it demonstrates their vindictiveness and complete lack of integrity. Fairness is treating residents as the residents’ neighbors are treated.

This administration continues to refuse to tell residents how assessed values are actually determined. It continues to lie and deceive residents on every real estate tax invoice, because the purported fair market value number is actually backed into, based on a predetermined assessed value. And it continues to destroy all computations of individual properties’ assessed value.

On Election Day, we need to find representatives who care about treating residents with respect and fairness.

I would also encourage The Press to do more to inform the public of these issues. We rely on you to hold those in positions of power accountable. With a 5-0 supermajority and no dissenting voices, the village depends on you now more than ever.

David Rung

Southampton Village