Village Investigates Possible Cause of Missing Tax Bills
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After alerts from surprised residents the Village Board and Village Treasurer are now investigating why there were so many late tax payments resulting in high penalties this year. The problem stems from the school tax portion of the tax bill, issued on August 31, 2023. Residents have the option to pay in one installment or split their payment into two, with the first due September 31, 2023 and the second due January 31, 2024. For those who split their payments, the onus is on the taxpayer to make the second payment. No second invoices are mailed.
Village records show that 216 residents failed to make either the first or second payment and another 284 failed to remit the second payment.
Some residents are reporting that they did not receive the original tax bills in the mail or emails from the Village notifying them that taxes were due.
At the February 27, 2024 meeting of the Village Board, Mayor Justin Arest reported what he has learned so far about the issue and what will be done.
Here are his remarks followed by public comments from concerned residents:
Comment From Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest
I would like to start this meeting speaking about the tax delinquencies from the 2023 School Collection and the timeline of events. My fellow Trustees, staff and I all recognize the distress of receiving notification of late payment and having to pay penalties and interest. We have listened to your comments and concerns and spent considerable time researching what has happened and if additional measures can be taken to mitigate this from occurring again. The following information is from the documentation we have been able to collect thus far, detailing the four communications sent by the Village to remind residents about paying the school tax bill. School Bills were mailed August 30, 2023 at 3:40pm in White Plains by the Village’s vendor, Ross Mailing Service. We have verified that Ross Mailing Service received the correct number of bills from the Village, and that the post office received that same number of bills from Ross. In other words, all 4,055 School tax bills were created as pdfs by the Village and both printed and provided to the post office by the vendor for delivery to the taxpayers. The remaining tax bills are escrowed by residents and paid by their mortgage lenders.
Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest says the tax bills were mailed.
On August 25, 2023, all residents who registered to receive a reminder message from the Village’s tax notification and payment system, were sent an e-mail from the Village about the School tax bills.
The Village mailed School Tax Second Installment Reminders (not a tax bill) from Village Hall in mid-January.
The Village sent email reminders to residents of the second payment date on January 11, 2024.
As you know, we began splitting village and school tax payments in 2020. In the first year of a split school tax, 72.54% of total school taxes levied were collected as of October 31, 2020. We have seen a downward trend in this collection number since that time. That total percentage collected after the first payment was due declined in 2021 to 64.9%, 62.11% in 2022 and 55.64% in 2023. Between October 31, 2023 and December 31, 2023 (before the second installments became due), the Town collected $9,833,187 so that the percent collected grew from 55.64% to 61.94%.
As of January 31, 2024 (after the second payment was due), the Village had collected 91.245% of School Tax Levies. This percentage was 98.12% in 2022, 98.18% in 2021 and 94.11% in 2020. Late notices were mailed out by Ross Mailing Service on 2/12/2024 from White Plains at 3:45pm and emailed from Village Hall on February 7, 2024. Residents were also sent annual property tax statements for 2023 County, Village and School taxes printed on February 7, 2024 and mailed from Ross Mailing on February 14, 2024 from White Plains at 3:37pm. The Treasurer also notified me, and the Board that she had concerns about a low collection rate.
Ross Mailing Service has done the printing and mailing of tax bills for Yonkers and Greenburgh for over 30 years. They also do the mailing for many printing houses that handle other Westchester municipality tax bills.
The Treasurer’s office has been verifying that emails were sent using the office’s user interface for that system. Because of complaints from residents that they did not receive the e-mails this year, the Treasurer requested back-end access into the vendor’s system to reverify that those emails went out and garner additional details. Looking at the back-end system and comparing it to the information normally available in the system to its users has shown some discrepancies. That is currently being investigated with the vendor. To be clear, this is for the emails only as the hard copies are not handled by this system. I should also state that this initial review has confirmed that nothing in the process undertaken by the Treasurer’s Office for tax collection has changed this year. The same systems have been used as in prior years. When the split payment system was implemented in 2020, taxpayers only received the initial bill. There were no e-mails or reminders. The additional steps that exist today were implemented by the current Treasurer, Scaglione, once she began her tenure with us for the 2021 tax collection period.
We are continuing to work with the United States Postal Service to learn more about what took place. One possible theory is that the first mailing took place only about four weeks after a car drove into the Golden Horseshoe post office. Their operations had to make substantial changes until that location could be reopened. I did not include this in the facts previously because while the accident and closure of that branch is a fact, I cannot say with any certainty that the change in operations led to any impact on deliveries.
We did not start this investigation, nor do we continue it with any preconceived notions. This is not about blame. It is about determining what needs to be addressed, where potential failures occurred, and how we can do better. Even before the 2023 tax collection period began, the village began working on improvements. This includes the tax collection program, the user interface, and reminders. While I hope this is reassuring to many of you, it does not change anything for what has recently taken place.
When the Village initially discussed allowing split tax payments, former Manager Pappalardo was concerned that the end result would actually be deleterious for many residents due to the likelihood of an increase in missed payments. I shared this concern and while I voted yes, I noted that my preference would have been to do the split for a year or two and collect the data and revisit the issue. The data is clear that penalties have gone up dramatically since payments were allowed to be split beginning in 2020. I think we may want to revisit this in the coming weeks at least for the Village tax payment and decide with the community if bringing that back to one payment might be a wise option. Just looking at the raw numbers, the average annual penalties collected for tax delinquencies from the 2014-2015 fiscal year through 2019-2020 was $496,639. Over the last four years, which includes an approximate for what is expected for the current fiscal year, that average is $1,781,876. Again, the split was done with the hope of helping taxpayers during the pandemic. No-one in village hall or on this dais benefits from penalties. We go through an intensive budget review every year before this board votes on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and work to match the needs of our community with our financial resources. We would much prefer not to have this money as a revenue source.
The laws regarding the collection of property taxes are governed by the NYS Real Property Tax Law, which is applied uniformly across the State, and the Westchester County Administrative Code, which applies to all municipalities in Westchester. There is no Scarsdale Village law governing the collection of taxes.
This investigation continues. We are working with our counsel as well as elected representatives to determine the universe of options available to us. When there is more information to share, I will do so. We appreciate your patience.
Public Comments
Some residents came to Village Hall to speak and others commented via Zoom.
Howard Berk of 9 Reimer Road said, “Our money was inadvertently taken by the village. These were unintentional delinquencies. I am not sure why a flag wasn’t raised earlier in the process. What can be done? Are there ways you can pay us back? Are there workarounds? Will you go to the mat to get our money back? I want to hear the vigor of the board in how we are going to get the money back.”
Chaowei Huang of 38 Lawrence Road said he paid a $1,000 property tax penalty at beginning of February. He said, “Prior to that I never received any mail to remind me about the tax. In December I called Village and asked if I owed taxes and told no tax was due. How much was received in penalties and how was it utilized?”
Wanma Ling of 12 Cooper Road said, “I moved from Hong Kong 5 years ago. All my friends rely on the paper notification. We always receive it – never miss it. We always pay on time. This year we did not receive a bill. We all love this community. If you found out the payments were lower than previous years did you do anything to warn the community? Instead of sending a penalty, why not send a warning letter? What went wrong?
Quansheng Tang of 64 Mamaroneck Road said, “We moved here last year in March. We received all the bills last year on time and paid. We were invited to register online – but we did not know that by registering online we would no longer receive a bill in the mail.”
Robert Berg of 19 Carriage House Lane said, “I am troubled by what happened here. This is not the first time we had this problem. It happened in 2020 and people missed the payments. Can you tell us how much in penalties has accrued as of today? There were red flags – and no one took any action. There was no reason not to send letters. We’re talking big money here. It’s not fair to people. Given that they can’t get refunds it is not right that this took place – given that this is the second time.”
Nicole Lemrod of 3 Murray Hill Road said, “I have lived here 12 years and consistently paid my bills on time. I was notified 0 times. I didn’t receive either mailing or any emails. Someone needs to be held accountable. I hope the board fights for its residents and finds a way to refund the money to us.”
Gerald Silk of 17 Burgess Road said “I have lived here for 15 years and paid every bill in a timely fashion. We live in a community and want what is best. What happened is unfortunate. It was an error on the part for the office. If the state law prohibits a refund, we should get creative and give a credit on future tax bills. For the good of the community, the trust in the process, we need this to be rectified.”
Andrew Ward of 29 Cooper Road said, “I lived here since 2002 and paid my taxes on a regular basis. A deep investigation needs to be undertaken. We never received the bills, emails or any delinquency notices. I never signed up for email delivery. The board needs to take a deep dive into how we are collecting taxes. It seems there is miscommunication going on. I never seem to have any trouble receiving any other bills. It is troubling that the Village Treasurer knew there was significant delinquencies in November and did not follow up. Are we relying on these fees to pay other bills? Who is accountable and how will it be rectified in the future?”
Elizabeth Ward of 29 Cooper Road said, “What steps are you going to take to get us our money back? We are out a lot of money. And we got no mailings. We lived here for 22 years and we have always paid on time.”
Keely Mann of 23 Cooper Road said, “I am the third person on my block who did not get the bills. I have lived here for 10 years and always pay my bills. How will I get back the fees and penalties?”
Junaid Chida of 187 Fox Meadow Road said, “I got the first notice but I did not get the second notice.”
Sheeta Mehta of 74 Drake Road said, “We moved here in 2014 and this is the first time we did not receive the bill. It was quite a shock when we got the notice of failed payment. Why is the penalty 10%. It seems like a punishment for all of us who have don’t nothing wrong. What is the accountability of the Village for these penalties? The law is all against the residents? Why is this a one-sided occurrence? Why did the Village not reach out earlier? We all love this community, we are proud to be here and appreciate what all of you do for the community.”
The Mayor responded to the commenters saying, “The penalties are not determined by us. The funds have not been used. Any surplus funds will go to our fund balance.”
About the two-part payment system he said, “In 2020 the decision was made hastily. At the time the Treasurer made clear that we could only send out one bill with two stubs.”
He continued, “We are not happy about this. We don’t want your money and we don’t want this to happen to anyone. We are going to do a thorough investigation. No one is happy about this. We have receipts from the post office of the mailing of 4,055 tax bills. (He later added the balance of the bills were sent to banks/institutions who escrow residents’ taxes.) There are some discrepancies in the emails and we are looking into it. The trends in other municipalities are the same as our trends – similar to the Village tax. She did send an alarm after January 31, 2024. More and more people are paying in 2 installments. There was no alarm because this is following a trend.”
Village Treasurer Ann Scaglione added, “Most people wait until the last few days of the month to make payments so it wasn’t until January 31 that we saw that payments were lower.”
During the second public comments session a few more residents spoke:
Howard Berk returned to the mic and said, “It should not be us against you. You have our backs.
There is a crack in the public trust. No one wants to sue the Village. That is not our goal. It is more about assuring us you will do whatever is possible to get our money back. Just knowing that we are all rowing in the same direction to make us whole again. Mistakes happen. I just want to make that clear.
Mayor Arest replied, “We are committed to looking into this, what happened and what our options are. We do have the communities back and we will look into this to the greatest extent that we can.”
Dennis Ziman of 5 Reimer Road said, “I have lived here for 15 years. I did not get any notifications and then received the delinquency notice. This is money that affects people’s everyday lives. I think the Village should appoint an independent investigator.”
The Mayor answered, “I don’t think we intend to spend tax payer dollars on an independent investigation.”
New Law Requires Sellers to Disclose Credit Card Surcharges
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Westchester County Executive George Latimer, New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and County Director of Consumer Protection Jim Maisano worked together to ensure that residents are well-informed about a new law aimed at promoting transparency in credit card transactions. Effective February 11, 2024, this new state law mandates that merchants in New York State must provide clear and conspicuous disclosure of credit card surcharges to consumers.
On February 16, lawmakers held a press conference to announce the passage of new legislation. Latimer said “Transparent pricing is essential for consumers to make informed decisions. This new law will empower Westchester residents by ensuring they have clear visibility into any credit card surcharges they may incur and I thank my colleague in government Assemblywoman Paulin for her efforts on its passage and Governor Hochul for signing it into law.”
Paulin added: “This new law protects New Yorkers from hidden surcharges by requiring sellers to clearly post the price of a credit card surcharge. Credit card surcharges now have to be disclosed clearly so that customers are fully aware of them upfront and not just when they go to pay. The new law also prevents businesses from charging a higher fee than what they are charged by the credit card companies. This legislation is ultimately about transparency, fairness and preventing consumers from being misled when making purchases using credits cards. I thank Jim Maisano, Director of the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection, for bringing this important issue to my attention. His idea is now a law which will protect New Yorker consumers.”
The new law limits credit card surcharges to the amount charged to the business by the credit card company and requires businesses to clearly display the total price inclusive of any surcharges before checkout. It aims to prevent consumers from being surprised by hidden fees and ensures that they have a clear understanding of the costs associated with credit card transactions.
Maisano said: “This law reinforces the principles of fairness and transparency in commercial transactions. We are committed to ensuring that consumers are protected from deceptive practices, and this legislation is a significant step forward in achieving that goal.”
Neighbors Fear a Subdivision Will Cause Additional Flooding In Heathcote
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Though the Scarsdale Trustees imposed a moratorium on some land use applications earlier this month, several projects that were already in the works are still under consideration as the applications were filed before the moratorium was imposed.
At a lengthy meeting on January 31, the Planning Board held a hearing on a proposal for a
subdivision at 46 Lincoln Road and 101 Carthage Road that would covert two lots into three. The Board spent two hours questioning an engineer and the developer’s attorney about plans to relocate an underground watercourse, remove 44 trees and build a third house in an open lot between the two existing lots.
The hearing had been rescheduled as insufficient notice of the meeting date was given when the Village newspaper suddenly ceased publication.
Representing Developer Raj Krishnan, attorney Lucia Chiocchio of Cuddy and Feder explained that the house at 101 Carthage Road would be removed and two new homes would be built. There is an application pending with the Committee for Historic Preservation to take down 46 Lincoln Road and if passed, a new home will be built there as well. All three lots meet the minimum lot size requirements. The three new homes would face Carthage Road and retention basins would be buried in the front yards.
In order to regrade the properties and improve drainage, the developer is seeking approval for “land disturbance within the adjoining property buffer.”
The plan includes the relocation of an underground water pipe that gathers water from surrounding properties and catch basins on 46 Lincoln Road. According to the attorney, the watercourse was original an open stream but was buried at some point between 1954 and 1976.
Applicants are proposing to relocate an underground stream that runs through the property (the dark black line) to the Village Right of Way along Lincoln and Carthage RoadsThe engineer explained plans to move the water course into the Village right of way along Carthage and Lincoln Roads and to make it a part of the Village’s drainage infrastructure. The new pipe would be 42 inches in diameter and Senor said it would reduce the velocity of water coming off the property by 35%. Senor said, “The new stream would be wider and rougher and slow down the water velocity.”
According to Village Engineer David Goessl, “The Village Board would need to approve a resolution to put the watercourse in the Village right of way.”
Questioned as to why the property appears to be very wet and “ponds” during rainstorms, Senor claimed that a series of catch basins on the property were not maintained and that the existing pipe was corroded. The new home would be built on the site of these catch basins so he claimed there would no longer be an issue.
The engineer fielded additional questions about the plan. Since there would be very little distance between the driveways of the two new homes would there be a median for planting? Given the 8 foot difference in elevation between the proposed new homes, Senor explained that a retaining wall that rises to a height of four and a half feet would be built between the two. Goessl asked if the driveway would be wide enough for a car to turn around and get into the garage bays. About the disturbance of the buffer, Senor pointed out that since the properties are adjacent, some of the disturbance would be between the two new properties, but pointed to other areas abutting existing neighbors where regrading would need to be done in the buffer area.
Landscape Architect Walter G. Nestler explained that the property includes 98 trees and they plan to remove 44 trees and retain 54 trees. Some trees are coming out due to the rerouting of the stormwater pipe. They will replace the 44 trees with 67 trees. About the canopy trees he said, we will replace some of them with natives, but they will not grow to the height of the current ones “in my lifetime.” He said some of the trees that will be removed are invasive or dead.
Residents waited over two hours to comment and some left before they had the chance to do so. They questioned the engineer’s plans to redirect the water and presented a different picture of the current water issues that already plague their streets and homes.
Jay Cannell of 121 Carthage Road read a letter from Eric Tepper of 26 Lincoln Road, which is five houses upstream from 46 Lincoln Road. Tepper said he has lived on Lincoln Road for 21 years but there has been considerable flooding only in the past five years. He said he experienced $40,000 in damage to his basement and his gravel driveway was washed away. He said, “This was despite assurances that subdivisions would not affect my house.” Referring to the current proposal he said, “I see no evidence that we will not have incremental water damage. The property is below street level and has its own water issues. I do not see any benefit to the community. The only benefit is the monetary value to the developer.”
A preliminary rendering of the three proposed homes on Lincoln Road.Canell said he has been on Carthage Road since 2006 and spent $700,000 addressing his water issues. About the proposed development he said, “The three houses are going to look ridiculous – look at the house on Carthage Road -I am amazed that it is legal to have a house that close to the road….. What is going to happen to the houses downstream that they are tapping into? I am the second house in from the left from Mamaroneck Road (121 Carthage Road). All the water comes downhill. Now you are taking more water and putting it into the current system. You are allowing too many houses to be built. The problem in Scarsdale is there is too much water overflowing into the existing houses. We didn’t have floods when I was growing up here. If you add new developments – what about the damage you will do to other peoples’ houses?”
About 46 Lincoln Road he said, “That area was a lake – they built it over water. Is the builder willing to cover future losses? Is the town going to take responsibility. Why are we building three houses? Money. … We are going to proceed with legal action if we have adverse effects. I love the term 100-year storm – we have had 9 of them. This should not be approved. The water can’t go anywhere.”
Diana Hurwitz lives on Fayette Road behind 46 Lincoln Road. She said, “I object to any work being done in the property buffer behind my house. The water has become a bigger issue for us and our neighbors. Does not make sense to take land where there is ponding and build on it? There have been two homes there separated by a damp, area. Building there will compromise the neighbors’ properties. There has been no improvement to our stormwater system and we continue to build. If the Village foolishly agrees to this – is the Village going to be responsible for the increased flooding? Senor worked on a subdivision across the street and both homeowners have had 100’s of thousands of flooding in their homes. If greed wins and this is approved I believe there should be an independent civil engineer, and a bond to reimburse neighbors.”
Jason Yellin of 104 Carthage Road said I lived here since 2012 on a subdivision. The home was constructed in 2008. I would be across the street from the relocated pipe – we will be above it.
But what’s going to happen downstream? The water is getting higher and higher.
I am worried about Lincoln and the bottom of Carthage. Focus on the downstream impacts.”
Nelson Soares of 49 Lincoln Road said, “The stream goes underneath Lincoln and between 47 and 49 Lincoln Roads where it overflows. We have had sewage issues. In the last few years this has happened many times. We have had more problems in the last 5-10 years.”
Samuel Blakely of 47 Fayette Road said, “Every time it rains the storm drains flood. The water collects in the open lot on Lincoln Road – and releases over time. If they build a house there, there won’t be a place for the water to collect. This would cause the rain to go right into my yard – there would be more water storage to catch and release. My basement is flooded because of new construction.”
Marcia Helbling of 42 Fayette Road spoke about neighborhood character. She said, the charge of this board is to “Impose design conditions to ensure that buildings are built in harmony with the community. I live next door to 44 Fayette Road – it is in size and color non-conforming. It is very upsetting to live next door to that. This builder has lost all credibility that he will build something that conforms.”
Jack Miller of 45 Fayette Road said, “I didn’t see the notice until Thursday.” He showed a series of historic village maps that included a pond at the present site of the Heathcote School and an open watercourse that ran from Lincoln Road to Crossway Field. He said, “there is a rare opportunity to restore an historic waterway … There is a stream that goes from 50 Lincoln Road to the firehouse.” In a letter to the Planning Board he said, “The thought of re-routing a watercourse off its long-time course could be catastrophic. To people who live in the area.”
Discussing the house he said, “46 Lincoln is a Usonian style house modelled after Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water. The open stream was a feature of the house. The stream is still there but sometime in the 1970’s it was covered over. Relocating this stream makes this a tricky site. I know how I would vote on this if I was in your shoes. Three houses here would be detrimental to the neighbors.”
Jessica Bandel said she lives “adjacent to 101 Carthage Road.” She said, “We all have to live with the flooding. I do not consent to any work in the property buffer. She urged the Planning Board to “make the ethical decision.”
Developer Granted Approval to Raze Mid-Century Modern Home at 46 Lincoln Road
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Though members of the Committee for Historic Preservation seemed to have the will to save a Mid-century modern home at 46 Lincoln Road that were unable to find a way to do it at their meeting on Tuesday February 13, 2024.
Armed with new information about the man who designed the house, those who wished to save it were hopeful that his unique history might help the house to meet one of the criteria for preservation, that “That the building is associated with the life of a person or persons of historical significance;” or “That the building is the work of a master.”
The committee had held over a decision on the house at a previous meeting until they could get the opinion of architectural historian Andrew Dolkart. However, Dolkart’s letter fell short of fully endorsing the preservation of the house. In his opinion he says, “the most interesting feature of the house is that it was designed by an engineer rather than an architect and that Francis Holbrooke was a Black mechanical engineer. He calls 46 Lincoln Road “a very good Modern house” but says that Holbrook cannot be considered a master. He concludes by saying, “the fact that a Black engineer designed a very fine Modern house in Scarsdale makes this a special, and probably unique house in the village.”
The application to take down the house was filed by Raj Krishnan a local developer who was represented by Lucia Chiocchio and Joshua Kimerling from Cuddy and Feder. They also relied on evidence from Emily Cooperman and Kyle Toth who are both architectural historians and maintained that the home did not meet the Village’s criteria for preservation.
After weighing the evidence the committee members felt that the Black engineer, Francis Holbrook could not be judged historically significant or a master architect, as he was primarily an engineer who only designed one home. Furthermore since the home had been approved for demolition in 2008 and 2021 some committee members felt that they needed to uphold precedent and not reverse a prior decision, despite the fact that Holbrook’s history was unknown at the time of the prior votes. The vote was 6-1 in favor of approving the application. Casting her vote to approve the application, committee member Amy Lawrence expressed her frustration with the dilemma. She said, “We are eliminating our examples of mid-century modern homes in Scarsdale. We are un-diversifying the architecture of Scarsdale. This is an underrepresented home style in Scarsdale and a significant example of Mid-century modern architecture.”
However, the committee was fully convinced that Francis Holbrook’s story was one to be chronicled in Scarsdale history.
The house was designed by Black engineer Francis Holbrook, a rennaissance man with many talents. Leslie Chang from the Scarsdale Historical Society uncovered previously unknown facts about Holbrook demonstrating that he was indeed remarkable. She found that Holbrook was a mechanical engineer rather than an architect and a member of the Black professional elite of his day. He was a draftsman under Lewis Latimer, who was the only black member of “Edison’s Pioneers” who helped to bring electricity to the masses. Holbrook also worked for Alexander Graham Bell.
Holbrooke had connections to the family of Lena Horne, he authored several published articles about mechanical engineering and was involved in professional organizations. He was well aware of the challenges that faced Black professionals and even published an article in a Harlem-based magazine called Opportunity, The Journal of Negro Life, about the difficulties of getting jobs or internships for Black engineers.
Arguing that the home should be taken down, applicant Krishnan spoke of its condition, which is not a criteria considered by the Committee for Historic Preservation. He said, “The topography is not conducive to living. With climate change the stream that runs through the property drains 35 acres of Heathcote – and the water goes into that basement. The topography is not practical. To ask us to renovate this goes against my integrity as a physician. There is malignant mold in this house. We are asking for special dispensation.”
Krishnan is proposing to build a third house on the land between 101 Carthage and 46 Lincoln Roads.
Ironically, water woes are not stopping Krishnan’s quest to develop the property. He currently has an application before the Planning Board to subdivide two lots at 101 Carthage Road and 46 Lincoln Road into three and build the third house between the two existing houses. The area he plans to build on is a recessed depression between the two homes that includes a watercourse. He has proposed to divert this watercourse into the Village right of way and build on an area that now serves as a collection basin for run-off.
A stream runs through the property.The application was reviewed at the January 31, 2024 meeting of the Planning Board where many neighbors expressed their fears that the development would further exacerbate flooding in their East Heathcote homes and streets. The application will be considered again at the Planning Board’s next meeting on February 28, 2024. The notice for the 2-28 meeting says the Planning Board will consider the application for a three-lot subdivision and site plan approval related to disturbance in the adjoining property buffer in order to legalize an existing piped watercourse and for a wetland permit approve for regulated activities with the wetland control area.
CNC Announces Candidate Slate for Election on March 19
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The Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) announced January 18 the candidates it selected for the Scarsdale Citizens Non-Partisan Party slate for the following offices:
Ken Mazer is running for a second term for Village TrusteeTrustees: Ken Mazer of 47 Church Lane, a Scarsdale resident for 27 years; Jeremy Gans, of 45 Harvest Drive, a 16-year resident; and Jeremy Wise of 14 Boulder Brook Road, a 33-year resident.
Michael Curti of 70 Brown Road, Scarsdale, was nominated to run for Village Justice. Judge Curti became Acting Village Justice in November 2023 when Cynthia Dunne resigned. He was then appointed Village Justice in December 2023 to fill the vacancy and finish the term through March 2024. Prior to this Judge Curti served as assistant village justice under Justice Dunne.
The general election will take place Tuesday, March 19, at the Scarsdale Public Library, 54 Olmsted Road in the Scott Room. Voting hours will be from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Jeremy Wise was nominated to run for Village Trustee.Jared Stern served as chair and Mary Pat Jones served as vice chair of the CNC. In addition to candidates for village office, the CNC elected Raju Sitaula as chair and Scott Harris as vice chair for next year’s CNC. The CNC also elected Ralph Geer to serve as vice chair of the Procedure Committee.
Starting in late November 2023, the CNC searched for potential candidates and then conducted extensive diligence. While deliberations and reference 
Jeremy Gans is running for a second term for Village Trustee.conversations are not shared publicly, the CNC considered and carefully researched the background, experience, and qualifications of each candidate and engaged in significant deliberation. We thank the CNC members for their hard work and diligence in selecting this strong slate of candidates.
Village Justice Michael Curti
