Bethpage-Tribune_1987-10-15

              BEtHP/GE
Island Trees Plainedge
also serving
Seaford Old Bethpage Plainview
VOL. 32 NO. 24 October 15,1987 to October 21,1987 20 cents per copy
Town Tax Rate Holds The Line
Oyster Bay Town Super­visor
Joseph Colby announced
that the 1988 Preliminary
Budget will hold the general
Town tax rate at 87c per
$100 for the sixth consecu­tive
year.
The Town Board set a day
and night public hearing on
the Preliminary Budget for
Tuesday, October 20, 1987.
The hearing is scheduled for
10 AM and 8 PM in the
Town Hall East hearing
room in Oyster Bay.
Colby said, "The conti­nuation
of this stable tax
rate has been achieved
through the hard work of all
Town Departments. Depart­ment
head have submitted
their yearly budgetary
requirements keeping in
miiid that only the most
necessary expenditures
would be considered and
that departments would be
expected to maintain quality
service to residents."
The Preliminary Part-
Town (planning, building
and zoning) Budget, which
is not paid by property
owners in villages, also held
the line at 22 ."^/lOths cents
per $100 of assessed
valuation.
The proposed general
Town budget—for all Town
of Oyster Bay residents-totals
$40,132,177. The 1987
budget was $37,096,428.
Under State Law allowing
Nassau Coujnty to establish
four categories of property
assessment, each with its
own tax rate, allowable
adjustments have been made
to benefit residents of one,
two and three family homes
and, as of this year, residents
of condominium units in
developments jf three sto­ries
or less. The rates for the
proposed 1988 general
Town budget would be set as
follows (all 1987 rates are in
brackets): Class 1. 87 cents
('87 rate: 87 cents); Class 11
(apartments) 87 and Vi cents
('87 rate: 98'/^ cents); Class
111 (utilities) 95 and 8/lOths
cents ('87 rate: 95 and
3/ lOths cents); and Class IV
(all others) 83 and 8/ lOths
cents ('87 rate: 87 and
9/ lOths cents.)
The Preliminary Budget
for Part-Town totals
$3,577,598. The 1987 total
was $3,360,479. Under this
proposed budget the rates
would be as follows: Class I,
22 and 3/lOths cents ('87
rate: 22 and 3/ lOths cents);
Class 11, 24 7/lOths cents
('87 rate: 26 and 6/!0ths
cents); Class 111, 24 and
8/lOths cents ('87 rate: 24
and 7/ lOths cents); Class IV,
23 and 1 /10th cents ('87 rate:
22 and 8/lOths cents).
The 1988 Preliminary
Budget for Highway totals
$15,033,542. Last year's
total was- $15,030,492. This
tax is not included in a
homeowners bill if the prop­erty
is located in a village.
Under this proposed budget
the rates for each class
would be set as follows:
Class I, $1.65 and 9/lOths
cents ('87 rate: $1.57 and
7/lOths cents); Class II,
$1.83 and 8/lOths cents);
('87 rate $1.87 and 8/lOths
cents); Class III, $1.84 and
2/lOths cents ('87 rate: $1.74
and 1/10th cents); Class IV,
$1.71 and 3/10th cents ('87
rate: $1.61 ahd 2/lOths
cents).
The 1988 Preliminary
Budget also includes the
S.T.A.T.E. (Sanitation
' Transport and Transfer
Expense) tax which covers
the cost of shipping garbage
out of state. For the coming
year the rate will be $3.44
and '/T cents per $100 of
assessed valuation ('87 rate:
$1.54 and 1/10 cents). The
1987 rate was a reduction
from the previous year's rate
because the Town had
(Continued on Page 8)
40 Years of Service
Hempstead Town Presid­ing
Supervisor Joseph N.
Mondello (right). Honorary
Chairman of the Levittown
40th Anniversary Commit­tee
presents an award from
the Anniversary Committee
to the members of the Levit­town
Fire Department to
commend their 40 years of
dedicated service to their
community. Accepting is
Chief Tim Courtney.
Home Improvement Advisory Board Named
The first seven members of the newly created Nassau
County Home Improvement Advisory Board have been
appointed. The Board was created as part of a comprehen­sive
overhaul of the County's home improvement regula­tory
powers proposed earlier this year by County Executive
Gulotta and latter ratified by the Nassau County Board of
Supervisors.
"With the ever increasing amount of residents utilizing the
services of home improvement contractors to enlarge
and/or improve their homes, it is incumbent that Nassau
maintains the framework for an effective regulatory proce­dure,"
Gulotta said. "While the vast majority of the home
improvement contractors operating in Nassau are highly
honest, reputable individuals, this board, combined with
other changes recently adopted, will insure that the Office of
Consumer Affairs will have the tools to properly monitor
and regulate the home improvement industry."
The Board will be comprised of seven non-paid individu­als
from the home improvement industry, who will recom-
King Recovers $$ From
The State
As the result of an investi­gation
conducted by Nassau
County Comptroller -Peter.
T. King, the New York State
office of Court Administra­tion
(OCA) has repaid
$1,870,618 to Nassau
County for health insurance
premiums improperly
charged to the County for
the past 10 years.
King explained that,
"when OCA took over the
system in 1977, it was
required by state law to pay
the health insurance premi­ums
of all court employees
in Nassau County who
elected to maintain their
health insurance coverage
through the county. OCA
was also obligated to con­tinue
to pay the premiums
for those employees when
they retired."
King stated, however,
that in 1986 his office dis­covered
that OCA was not
paying the premiums for the
retired court employees and
that Nassau County was
being billed for them
instead.
Under the direction of
Benefits Coordinator Marie
Pacacha, King's office com­piled
the documentation on
all the retirees in question
which it then submitted to
the OCA with a demand for
repayment.
After approximately a
year of discussions, the
OCA conceded that King
was correct and sent King
checks payable to Nassau
County totaling $1,870,618.
"1 am delighted to be able
to recover this money for the
t a x p a y e r s of Nassau
County," King said. "It was
their money all along and
they were entitled to
repayment."
King also stated. "1 must
sincerely commend Benefits
Administrator Marie Paca­cha
for the outstanding job
which she did in uncovering
this irregularity and provid­ing
the OCA with the neces­sary
documentation. Be­cause
of her persistance and
dedication, the County re­covered
this money and all
the residents of Nassau
County should be grateful to
her."
mend standards for licenses, terms, fees and other regulatory
requirements.
"The leaders of the industry are concerned about main­taining
their reputation for honesty and reability. They are
just as interested as we are in getting rid of the few bad
apples. Having industry representatives work together with
us on the Advisory Board will be very helpful," Gulotta
noted.
Named to the Board are:
*Ms. Millie Amsterdan of MAF Mechanical Services,
Oceanside
*Monte Berkoff of Herbert P. Bisulk, Inc., Garden City
*Jerry Bieder of Jarro Building Industries, East Meadow
*Joel Blatt, General Contractor, East Meadow
*Ms. Chris Herrick, Exec. Director, NARI, Bayshore
•Frank Norberto of Pool Doctor, East Northport
*Dave Rosehill of Colonial Dormer Corp., Massapequa.
The other changes adopted by the County reading home
improvement contractors were as follows:
..Gave the Office of Consumer Affairs the right to arrange
for redress of injuries or damage to a consumer either by the
contractor's correcting the problems or by compensating the
consumer for costs of work improperly performed.
..Tightened the requirements for getting a license, stipula-tingthat
applicants be fingerprinted by the police and also
carry a minimum of $100,00() in liability insurance.
..Requires that a license applicant show his permanent
address and prove that he resides there.
..Requires a statement that a telephone answering service
does not replace a bona-fide business establishment.
..Authorization for the commissioner to issue a tempor­ary
license while an application or an investigation is pend­ing,
with the right to rescind that license at any time.
..Any contractor who fails to appear at a hearing on
license suspension or revocation will automatically have his
license revoked.
Newest Bethpage Panthers Prowl
Bethpage's newest flag football team made their debut in September.
They have fought three tough battles against local teams and have five
more to go. The squad has been practicing since August under the guidance
of coaches Mike Romano, Ed Anderson and Larry Doheny. The team
members are: back row, left to right - David Botrowsky, Mike Lampasona,
Jesse Doheny, Matthew Romano, Steven Mello, front row, left to right ~
Sean Haxrofolis, Matthew Odwazny, Chuck Menzer, Brian Botrowsky,
Joey Anderson and Ryan Houck. Also on the team are: Sean Anderson
Anthony Riccardi and John Dexter.