Ridgewood Property Owners Write Pols For Street Tree Funds
Civic activism took on its most basic form at the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association (RPOCA) meeting last Thursday night, Feb. 6, at the Ridgewood Older Adult Center.
Attendees participated in a letterwriting campaign to City Council Members Elizabeth Crowley and Antonio Reynoso urging the neighborhood’s two main voices in city government to request hundreds of thousands of dollars toward new street trees.
Former RPOCA President Paul Kerzner spearheaded the effort, stating a large number of handwritten letters from local residents would grab the attention of local lawmakers in a way other forms of communication cannot replicate.
“When elected officials have to decide what to fund, a large part of that depends on what the community says,” he told residents. “The elected officials respond to people. In order to get into the ‘A’ pile, we have to get 25 letters” each from residents Crowley’s and Reynoso’s districts.
“Chances are that will encourage the elected officials to pay attention,” Kerzner added.
Civic group members distributed to attendees paper, envelopes and a form letter Kerzner drafted as a guide for residents to write their respective notes to Crowley and Reynoso. The letters and marked envelopes were collected by Kerzner to be photocopied, then stamped and mailed to the lawmakers.
Similar RPOCA letter-writing campaigns in previous years proved successful, the former civic president noted, and he hoped this new effort would convince Crowley and Reynoso to secure a combined $600,000 for new street trees in Ridgewood.
Crowley-who, with Reynoso, came to the RPOCA meeting to install its executive officers and board of directors-informed residents she helped secure funds to plant 90 new trees across Ridgewood last year and hoped “to do more in the next fiscal year.”
Reynoso added new street trees was one of several community issues which he discussed with Kerzner and the civic group’s new president, Charles Ober. The new legislator- who succeeded Diana Reyna, whom he served as chief of staff-told residents he is “as committed as ever” to making sure Ridgewood “is taken care of.”
The two lawmakers then got to the business at hand, installing Ober as RPOCA’s new leader and administering the oath of office to the civic group’s other ranking members.
Ober, who last served as RPOCA president in 2010, stated the organization would “double down on our efforts to work” on street tree planting and other community issues, including historic preservation, policing and sanitation.
Is your tax bill too high?
Homeowners who feel the city overassessed their properties should act now to avoid paying higher taxes later, representatives of the Finance Department advised.
Michael Arroyo and Robin Washington urged residents to carefully examine the “Notice of Property Value” mailed to them earlier this year. The notice includes an estimated market value for the property in question and the assessed value, a percentage of the market value used by the city to determine the owner’s tax responsibilities.
“That notice will determine how your taxes will look on July 1,” the start of the city’s next fiscal year, Washington warned. “If you think the assessment is too high, the period to challenge it is now.”
Combined city and state tax rates jumped this year from 18.569 percent in the 2013 fiscal year to 19.191 percent in the 2014 fiscal year. The amount owed is determined by multiplying the tax rate by the assessed value.
Owners of Class 1 properties (one- to three-family residences) who believe their homes were overvalued by the city have until Mar. 17 to submit a formal appeal to the city’s Tax Commission. Applications can be downloaded from the commission’s website, www.nyc.gov/html/taxcomm.
Kerzner stated appealing assessments is worth the extra legwork, as corrections made by the commission could save property owners hundreds of dollars annually.
“Alittle time and a little effort can equal a big payoff,” he said.
Arroyo and Washington encouraged residents to apply for a litany of property tax exemptions available, including Basic STAR (School Tax Relief) and the Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Exemption (SCHE). For further information and applications, visit www.nyc.gov/finance.
Library memories project
Ridgewood’s public library turns 85 this year, and its official booster is working on a number of ways to celebrate the milestone throughout 2014.
Maryellen Borello, president of the Friends of the Ridgewood Library, invited residents to participate in one project, which gathers memories from those who have visited the branch through the years. She distributed forms for guests to jot down their stories, which will be put on display at the library later this year.
Those who wish to participate in the project can mail their memories to the Ridgewood Library, located at 2012 Madison St.; or drop it off in person at the branch or at the March RPOCA meeting.
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The next Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 6, at 7 p.m. at Ridgewood Older Adult Center, located on 70th Avenue off Forest Avenue.
