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Towns, Villages outside police district sue county for sales tax revenues The Suffolk County legislature is expected to consider a bill this week to rescind a portion of the county charter requiring that the county's sales tax revenues be shared with the 19 Villages and Towns in the county that have their own police departments, including Amityville. The change, if passed, would leave the departments' shares of these monies at the whim of the county executive and the legislature, something that S.C. Legs. Jay Schneiderman and Ed Romaine called patently unfair. "We should not have a situation where these departments are forced to accept whatever crumbs the County Executive chooses to toss their way, and it is no way to deal responsibly with other levels of government," said Romaine, who with Schneiderman represent 10 of the 19 police departments that fall outside of the Suffolk County Police District. S.C. Leg. William Lindsay, the legislature's presiding officer, introduced a bill to amend the charter after Schneiderman moved forward with a lawsuit against the county for failing to abide by it. He and Romaine estimate that the police departments outside of the police district were shortchanged to the tune of $11 million over the past four years. Amityville has joined that suit to force the county to distribute that portion of the county's sales tax revenues set aside for public safety equally among all police departments, based on population. "We have worked very well with (S.C. Exec.) Steve Levy and the legislature and hope to continue to do so, but this is an issue of fairness," said Amityville Village Mayor Peter T. Imbert. "This represents a lot of money that Amityville taxpayers have paid to the county in sales taxes and they deserve their equal share." The monies became available in the early 1990s. As the cost of police services rose dramatically, the county asked the state to permit Suffolk to set aside one-eighth of one percent of the total sales tax revenues generated in Suffolk for public safety. In 1998, the county put all of that sales tax revenue into the Suffolk County police budget, leading legislators at the time who represented the East End to amend the charter, mandating the equal distribution, and codifying it. Over the past four years however, the county has failed to abide by the law, and while the amount each department received increased as sales tax revenues, the totals represent less than what they were due under the law. "All of the residents pay sales taxes, including those in the East End who contribute the most based on population," said Schneiderman. "So those residents living outside of the police district are entitled to have their departments receive an equal share of that money." "In effect what you have now is one portion of the county's population subsidizing the other," said Romaine. The lawsuit came about as Schneiderman unearthed the 1998 law, which had apparently been forgotten over the years. Armed with that, he pressed for compliance. Representing the towns and villages is attorney Anton Borovina of Melville. In response, the County Executive sent a letter to the Mayors and Supervisors of the municipalities outside of the police district explaining that since the charter was amended, the county has increased the portion of sales tax revenues going to public safety from one-eighth of one percent of three eighths of one percent. Since the county charter states one-eighth of one percent, the county believes it is in compliance. And, points out Levy's office, the districts outside of the county police district have received increases every year. However, Schneiderman said that the amendment provides that when changes in the percentage are made, the county is required to also make the appropriate changes in the allocations. "The issue is clear," he said. "Over the past four years, the smaller districts have received an 81 percent increase in funding from the sales tax, compared to the county police district that received a 282 percent increase."
Discussions about the lawsuit are underway and both lawmakers said they hoped that a settlement could be reached. "If you choose to ignore the charter when putting the budget together then let a judge decide the remedy," he said. "And while we are always open to negotiation, at the end of the day, no agreement can be reached that does not include an equitable and fair distribution of those sales tax revenues."
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