Pataki provides relief for Mohegan taxpayers by Martin Wilbur Taxpayers in four Mohegan Lake sewer districts dodged a bullet last week after Governor George Pataki signed legislation to allow Yorktown officials to repay sewer improvement funds borrowed from other town sources over an extended period of time Pataki signed the bill into law last Wednesday in Albany that permitted the town to send out its tax bills by Monday with the originally scheduled sewer tax payments. Without the special law, sewer taxes would have skyrocketed between 200 and 400 percent depending on the district. The law affects about 500 homeowners. Chalet Sewer District property owners have their rates based on usage.
All prices are for a typically assessed property.
Following last year's audit, town officials learned they were in violation of state municipal law if they continued borrowing money from the Yorktown Consolidated Water District and not repaying the water district before the end of the fiscal year. There is about a three-month lag between the end of the year and the time the town sends out its tax bills. Initially, it appeared a majority of the Town Board was in favor of staying in violation rather than expose residents to financially crippling taxes. Councilman Nicholas Bianco, who pressed his colleagues to seek special legislation so the town would not be liable, said he was pleased with the final results. The legislation allows the Town Board to reimburse the borrowed funds on a payment schedule that runs through 2005 for the Chalet district and through 2009 for the other three districts.