The Village has issued the 2012-2012 tax statement to all properties in the Village. On the tax statement, there is a box entitled “% of change from last Year.” The box appears next to the Total Tax Levy. The value in the box states 0.00%.

A reasonable person would assume it to mean the tax increase year-to-year is 0%. But that is not the case. The actual increase in the Village tax levy is $78,000 or 1.69%

At the June 11, 2012 Village Board meeting, the admnistration was questioned about this discrepancy. They stated the “0% of change” is based on no change in assessed values of properties in the Village. They didn’t believe printing “0% increase” on the tax statements(when there was an almost a 2% increase) was misleading to residents.

NEWSDAY – Tax activist running for Sea Cliff trustee

Published: March 4, 2012 9:18 PM

By CARL MACGOWAN carl.macgowan@newsday.com

A tax activist who has filed a $1-million lawsuit against Sea Cliff over a building inspection at his home is running for one of two open seats on the village’s board of trustees.

Anthony Losquadro, 47, who faces $2,750 in village fines for allegedly building a shed and dog run without a permit, is seeking to unseat either trustee Thomas Powell or fellow incumbent Peter Hayes.

Losquadro, who owns a security services company, said he decided to run after the village board held a public hearing on overriding the state’s 2 percent cap on property tax levy increases. About 100 people attended after Losquadro sent postcards encouraging residents to participate. The board has not voted on the override.

“I believe the village should abide by the 2 percent cap. I think we need to keep our expenses down,” said Losquadro, who is running under the Property Owners Party banner. “The cap enforces financial discipline on local villages . . . [I] don’t think it should be unceremoniously tossed out.”

Powell and Hayes, both 62, who are running together on the Civil Progress Party line, said the board must keep its options open in case it must raise taxes more than 2 percent. But they said they hope to avoid exceeding the cap.

“We’re trying to keep it flat,” said Powell, who co-owns an environmental testing lab. “We’ve been cutting costs and finding efficiencies, pretty much maintaining services as they’ve been . . . but it’s difficult because the state increases mandated costs without reimbursing us.”

Added Hayes, a consultant for a Manhattan accounting firm: “We’re more than willing to live with the tax cap.”

Losquadro said Hayes missed at least 10 of the board’s 24 meetings in the past year, which Hayes does not dispute. Hayes said he was out of town for three months last year because of a work assignment.

“I was in contact regularly” with village officials while away, Hayes said. “A lot of work gets done behind the scenes. I was totally informed and up to speed about what was going on.”

Losquadro responded, “That’s not the way government is supposed to be run, over the telephone . . . This guy doesn’t show up for the meetings, I don’t know why he’s running.”

Losquadro said he sued the village last year because a building inspection at his home was “unconstitutional.” The inspection led to charges that Losquadro’s shed and dog run violated the building code. He said he has appealed his conviction on those charges and has not paid the $2,750 in fines.

Mayor Bruce Kennedy, who supports Hayes and Powell, said the lawsuit was “frivolous.”

Watch this short video to listen to the Board members state their positions.

SCPOC candidate for Village Trustee Anthony Losquadro is slated to run against Civic Progress incumbent Peter Hayes. SCPOC raises the issue that Hayes, a long time incumbent Trustee, has missed 10 Board meetings in the last 12 months.*  Says Anthony Losquadro, ” A prerequisite for re-election should be a satisfactory attendance record for the past term. Being absent from the Board means that Hayes has been unable to represent the voters who elected him.”

Hayes absences from scheduled Village Board meetings: 1/18/2011,2/7/2011,3/14/2011,3/28/2011,5/2/2011,5/9/2011,6/13/2011,7/5/2011,12/5/2011,1/9/2012

* Source: Incorporated Village of Sea Cliff Board Minutes and Roll Call.

The Sea Cliff Village Board of Trustees discussed various issues at the Monday night conference meeting. While such meetings are open to the public, these meetings are not open to public comment.

Sea Cliff Mayor Kennedy waited until 10:30 PM to discuss the issue of the tax cap – the last item on the agenda.

Despite widespread public opposition to overriding the cap, the Mayor plainly stated he is in favor of breaking the cap. Trustees Voght and Murphy also agreed with the Mayor by stating they strongly support a vote to override the cap. Trustees Hayes and Powell had no comment.

The Board tabled the issue until the next meeting.

This is still an active issue, and SCPOC will be closely watching the Village Board. We cannot afford to let our guard down!

On February 4, 2012 with the help of an unseasonably warm winter day, the Property Owners Party continued to gather signatures for our ballot access petition. Positioned near the Sea Cliff Post Office, voters had the opportunity to discuss issues about the Village that were important to them. Issues such as maintaining the 2% tax cap, eliminating code enforcement patrols, and building department reform were hot items for discussion.

Anthony Losquadro - Property Owners Party Village Trustee candidate

Anthony Losquadro hands ballot petition to Phil Huntington for signature

Residents discuss the issues.

We spoke to a few people today who wish to vote in the Village Election on March 20, but are not yet registered to vote.

Please visit the NYS Board of Elections website at http://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html for more information about voter registration.

If you never registered to vote, or if you have changed your address to Sea Cliff, you must register with the Board of Elections. Villagers must register at least 20 days prior to the March 20th 2012 Village election. You can mail or drop off your Voter Registration form at the Nassau County Board of Elections.

Nassau County Board of Elections
240 Old Country Road – 5th Floor
Mineola, NY 11501
Phone: 516-571-2411

On Friday February 3rd, from 9am to 1pm, the Property Owners Party (POP) will be collecting signatures for a nominating petition in front of the Sea Cliff Post Office (200 Sea Cliff Ave). The petition is to add our candidate to the March 20 election ballot for Village Trustee. Please stop by to sign our petition and say hello.

Property Owners Party Ballot Logo

The Village policy of patrols by code enforcement in “tinted window Suburbans” continues unabated. Despite widespread public opposition, the Village administration appears to have no intention of backing down. Residents feel these patrols are a waste of resources, in so much as Villagers already pay for the services of the Nassau County Police Department to patrol the Village. Residents also feel these patrols are intrusive into their privacy.