Pro's and Con's of becoming an Incorporated village? (Brookhaven, Smithtown: quality of life, taxes)

[longislandmike]

Originally Posted by villager-li

....The building restrictions/code enforcement procedures exist to ensure that residents are following the rules - and I see no harm in that, it is for the betterment of the community.....

Hmmmmmmm..."procedures exist to ensure that residents are following the rules"...

Lake Grove, NY Crime Rate Statistics - CLRSearch.com

[villager-li]

Originally Posted by longislandmike

Hmmmmmmm..."procedures exist to ensure that residents are following the rules"...

Lake Grove, NY Crime Rate Statistics - CLRSearch.com

I'm talking about building code...not general crime. We don't have our own police department here so I make no claims that it is better here than other areas in that respect. And remember, we have the Smithhaven Mall and a lot of businesses here, so I am not surprised that the Larceny category is worse than average across NYS. All the other categories are better or similar to average across NYS.

[LINative]

Originally Posted by longislandmike

It's like enhancing a turd with sprinkles, AND A FLOWER !

The surrounding locality should "counter" their extra services, with a sur charge, that would make up for "what" the special villages are "getting" or "saving" on, by not being part of the general population.

It's not like ALL of these, wouldn't be able to afford it, either. ALL of them, are usually affluent "snobs", that should be taxed out of existence !at a higher rate for the essential Life services, that they, basically, "steal" from other governmental entities.

If they want to be better than everyone else, LET EM SUFFER MORE AND PAY FOR IT ! People like wouldn't mind paying more...it would just make them feel MORE SPECIAL !

SO SLAM 'EM MORE !

Some of your anti village comments are interesting but I do not think you understand how a village funds itself.

The village of Amityville for instance has its own police force. The people living in Amityville pay extra taxes - its their decision.

People outside the village, in Copiague, North Amityville or East Massapequa etc do not pay for the Amityville village police.

In any cases people living in many older villages such as Hempstead, Amityville, Farmingdale, Lindenhurst, Babylon, Patchogue, Mineola, Westbury etc are hardly "affluent snobs".

What makes these villages interesting is that all of them try to mantain a downtown area that contrasts with many of the unincorporated hamlets, many of which are classic suburban sprawl.

[LINative]

Not all hamlets are suburban sprawl of course and you find some nice downtown or business districts in some of them. Sayville, Smithtown, Huntington, Merrick, Bellmore and the improving Bayshore come to mind.

But I noticed a long time ago most of the nice old fashioned towns seem to have their own local governments - villages.

[AlexisT]

I think that's for historical reasons, rather than any advantage of village government. Places that were developed in the era where real town centers developed were more likely to incorporate as villages because towns had so little power then. It made a lot more sense. Newer-build areas were farmland back when towns did nothing, so had no reason to incorporate. When they did build there, they built in the style of the time. It's all about when the area was built rather than the type of government it has now.

Many newer villages, especially along the North Shore (Muttontown, the Brookvilles, etc) exist mainly for zoning purposes--they have no downtowns either.

[longislandmike]

Originally Posted by villager-li

I'm talking about building code...not general crime. We don't have our own police department here so I make no claims that it is better here than other areas in that respect. And remember, we have the Smithhaven Mall and a lot of businesses here, so I am not surprised that the Larceny category is worse than average across NYS. All the other categories are better or similar to average across NYS.

Get out that yellow measuring ribbon, Minnie !

[satr]

Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean

So I guess Middle Village and Queens Village were the Huntington Village of the gilded age, in name at least? I'd love to score a pre-NYC Queens map somewhere. How about Brooklyn? I know Williamsburg and "Brooklyn" (area centered around Brooklyn Heights/Downtown Brooklyn) were cities, pre-merger....how about the villages of Kings County?

How about the other boroughs, does that book have that info?

I thought Green Acres Mall was in Valley Stream, but when I looked it up just now it appears that the village boundary actually runs through the parking lot, right behind Target.....however, the main property - the actual "mall" part of it, despite not falling within the boundaries of the village is listed as paying taxes to the village...but only a very small amount....never seen anything like that.

So I'd say, in conclusion, that an extremely tiny part of Green Acres Mall's parking lot is within the Village of Valley Stream however the majority of the building is in South Valley Stream, which is news to me.

i recently was speaking to one of the village officials about this subject. I was told that the only part of the "Green Acres Mall" that pays taxes to the village are the stores that are ON sunrise highway, for ie: sleepys, red lobster, and formerly circuit city. Every other store including everything in the mall pays taxes to the town of Hempstead, which when you think about it sucks for the incorporated village. We are known for being the home of Green Acres and yet we really arent. We dont even get the millions of tax dollars from these institutions.

satr

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by satr

i recently was speaking to one of the village officials about this subject. I was told that the only part of the "Green Acres Mall" that pays taxes to the village are the stores that are ON sunrise highway, for ie: sleepys, red lobster, and formerly circuit city. Every other store including everything in the mall pays taxes to the town of Hempstead, which when you think about it sucks for the incorporated village. We are known for being the home of Green Acres and yet we really arent. We dont even get the millions of tax dollars from these institutions.

The similar complaint is often heard in the Village of Garden City because the Roosevelt Field Mall, while having a "Garden City, NY 11530" mailing address is in the Hamlet of East Garden City and pays no property tax to the Village of Garden City.

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by satr

i recently was speaking to one of the village officials about this subject. I was told that the only part of the "Green Acres Mall" that pays taxes to the village are the stores that are ON sunrise highway, for ie: sleepys, red lobster, and formerly circuit city. Every other store including everything in the mall pays taxes to the town of Hempstead, which when you think about it sucks for the incorporated village. We are known for being the home of Green Acres and yet we really arent. We dont even get the millions of tax dollars from these institutions.

satr

does the village predate the construction of the mall?

[villager-li]

Originally Posted by Walter Greenspan

The similar complaint is often heard in the Village of Garden City because the Roosevelt Field Mall, while having a "Garden City, NY 11530" mailing address is in the Hamlet of East Garden City and pays no property tax to the Village of Garden City.

Lake Grove has a similar issue; the village boundary runs right through the middle of the mall. Everything on the western side of this boundary is actually in the hamlet of Nesconset with a Lake Grove zip code. So the village does not get any of the property tax revenue from all the new stores that opened recently: Cheesecake Factory, Dick's, CPK, Barnes & Noble, etc., it would all go to Town of Smithtown.