This is so incredibly absolutely disgusting and obscene.

First of all it is a shame that you never truly own your property. You have to pay property taxes for ever. It seems that eventually property taxes should be greatly reduced if not waived altogether.


Second of all and more importantly offering the seniors to work off their tax bill for $7 per hour is horrible and I believe illegal. Someone please correct me, but isn't New Yorks minimum wage something like $7.25 per hour? Maybe that is what they meant and they just rounded it off.

Even if that is true it is still beyond obscene. They want grandma and grandpa to work at a job that would normally pay much more than minimum wage, but only pay them minimum wage since the seniors are so desperate. This should be criminal. The town sets up taxes the seniors can't pay, then lets them work it off by paying them thousands of dollars less a year than the job normally gets?

As an example, they mentioned receptionist.

A quick glance shows receptionists getting paid $10-$15 per hour or more. Yeah, the city is really show how much heart they have by paying the seniors HALF what someone else would get paid. Since the seniors don't want to lose their homes they are quick to sign up.

IF they must work it off, then at the very least they should get paid what someone else would get paid.

This program takes advantage of the seniors and also hurts the other residents. Some 30-year old won't be able to get a job when some 70-year old is willing to work at 1/2 the rate in order not to be homeless.

NO, I can not see how this can possibly be a good thing. The article seems to be praising it.

Am I missing something here?? Is there any way this should be applauded?

Also, the median income for the town is TWICE the national, so the town has money.

100% agree...this is disgusting to the extreme.

If lived there and was in their shoes, I would probably burn the damn house to the ground and move away so that the town would have to deal with the burned out husk. Oh dear I must have fallen asleep with the burner on. You know how us old folks are...what a shame...oh well see you later.

I did live in one of the villages in Greenburgh NY for 32 years. I was paying local taxes that were outrageous so I moved to florida in 1996. No big deal, it's part of life. I would have loved to retire in the house that my family grew up in but couldn't afford to retire in NY.

However, that is what happens in small villages that have become extremely desireable due to their proximity to NY City and their general ambiance overall. The one I lived in was right on the HUdson river

The villages get occupied to maximum potential, the demand for new schools, police, services etc
outgrows the tax base. It is not unusual for the Greenburgh villages to be suported soley by residential taxes and a very little commercial tax base. The local service taxes are high but the huge part of the bill is school tax.

Much of the school costs are mandated by NY State and are the same for all schools staewide.

When folks move into a village and stay for 30, 40 or more years costs are going to rise. It's just the reality of living in a desireable and expensive area.

When Grandma and Grandpa sell their house it will have increased it's value in Greenburgh many times over. !000% is not much of an exaggeration.

You can't live in Malabu just because your an older person and expect others to pick up your tax bill. I'm afraid it's just the same in Westchester county of which Greenburgh is a part of.

It's not unusual to see houses listed at 1 million dollars with local taxes of $22,000 and higher. If you're living on social security you're in the wrong place.

I feel sorry for these folks but it's part of the reality of life.

Well you do make some valid points. I would like to see where people eventually are exempt from property taxes, but can see that for some localities that is the primary source of revenue for the town.

Okay, I can see where property taxes must be high. I can see where someone must sell their home and move to an area with lower taxes, perhaps a more diverse tax base. However, that in no way justifies offering the seniors to work for minimum wage at jobs that normally pay much higher.
Normally, the market place, the laws of supply and demand will do a perfectly fine job of dictating salaries, but here you have an artificial demand created by the very institution which wants to supply jobs at a sub-par rate. That should not be allowed. Either offer them jobs at the going rate, or let them face reality as you described.

I agree fully about the jobs for seniors bit.
It's not only demeaning, at those wages, but it's really ridiculous.

Some of the tax bills, for even a small house, that's undoubtably increased in assesed value over the years could be quite high...many thousands. The idea of wiping out a yearly tax debt of possibly $12,000 or more at $7.00 an hour is pretty foolish.

It's surprising that it came from Paul Feiner. He was one of the brighter politicians and had an open door policy...you could come into his office and speak to him almost any time. But he's way off with this one.

Here is my problem with this, as DerAlt points out, the majority of that tax bill is school tax.

Who pays the school tax, property owners. That is, you pay whether or not you have children. WHY? Why aren't people with children paying school tax, and only people with children?

Some couple with four kids living in an apartment aren't paying school tax (they're also getting a break on both federal and state tax) and seniors and people without kids who can afford to buy property are picking up the bill. WTF?

If you want kids you should have them, but you should have to pay their way from start to finish. Period.