Harrison REVIEW THE
February 10, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 6 | www.harrisonreview.com
Town mulls Secondhand Dealers Law rewrite By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer
WELCOME TO
THE CLUB
Harrison junior Avery LaBarbera celebrates her 1,000th career point with head coach Louis Kail, left, and Harrison athletic director Chris Galano on Feb. 3. LaBarbera is only the second female player in school history to reach the milestone. For story, see page 15. Photo/Mike Smith
Apawamis Club to see $900K in tax challenge refund By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer The Apawamis Club has been granted a considerable reduction in its property tax assessment as a result of a recent settlement with the city of Rye and the town/village of Harrison. On Jan. 4, the state Supreme Court approved the reduction of The Apawamis Club’s assessed property value, which will ultimately cut the country club’s taxes in half—to approximately $200,000 a year. The club’s tax assessment is shared between Rye and Harrison as a result of the 4-acre, 18hole club being partially located in both communities. Rye is responsible for assessing 75 percent of the club’s taxable value,
and Harrison is responsible for the remaining 25 percent. “We thought it would be best to negotiate a settlement with The Apawamis Club,” said Rye City Attorney Kristen Wilson. “They were willing to have a seat at the table and discuss various years of compensation, and, at the end of the day, we agreed upon a value that is favorable for both of the municipalities involved.” The private club, which is located at 2 Club Road in Rye, will be refunded approximately $900,000 as a result of a change in the tax assessments for the years 2011 through 2016. The club is expected to receive just under $600,000 from Rye, and just over $300,000 from Harrison. The tax assessment case is one
of the biggest in Rye since the Miriam Osborn Memorial Home Association case, in which the city assessor revoked Osborn’s tax exempt status in 1997. According to Wilson, the Apawamis settlement is similar to several other current cases in the state regarding the tax assessments of private country clubs. There are four country clubs in Rye and nine in Harrison. In 2013, Harrison settled a similar case with Westchester Country Club; it also settled a tax case with Willow Ridge Country Club last year. Wilson said that, ultimately, golf course memberships have been on the decline and their assessed values have been plummeting. Further, country clubs’ income streams throughout the
state have also decreased drastically. For that reason, the Supreme Court has routinely challenged the taxable value of private country clubs, Wilson said, including The Apawamis Club, which reported gross receipts of $15 million in 2014. Gross receipts are the total amounts an organization receives from all sources during its annual accounting period, without subtracting any costs or expenses. The state Supreme Court’s ruling could pave the way for successful determinations for several other private country clubs located in Westchester, including an ongoing assessment challenge by Trump National Golf Club Westchester, which is owned by REFUND continued on page 7
Harrison is considering rewriting a law that requires vendors of certain used goods to obtain a town license. But the discussion has also reignited debate over a controversial gun shop whose owner has sought such a license. Town Attorney Frank Allegretti said the Law Department proposed the revision to fix major holes in the existing Secondhand Dealers Law which made it unspecific and unenforceable. “It was deficient in many respects,” Allegretti said during a recent public hearing on the matter. “We couldn’t even figure out when it was initially drafted. It seems it may have been drafted 80 [or] 90 years ago. It didn’t address a lot of things.” In its current form, the law does not specify who is responsible for issuing the licenses and does not detail any application process, an expiration date, the required posting of the license, or the application fee. According to a Freedom of Information Law, FOIL, request submitted by the Review in January, the town has never received an application for a license to deal secondhand goods. However, town officials said that’s because the law does not explicitly detail an application process. Allegretti said that Harrison had received inquiries from multiple local merchants looking to apply for a license since November 2016, but the town did not have an application form on file. During the Jan. 26 public hearing, resident Frank Gordon asked the town to postpone their consideration of the law, asking whether it was a prudent use of the town’s resources, as only a few individuals have requested an application for a license. “It’s
a little bit perplexing as to the motivation behind the town looking into this particular law at this particular time,” he told the Review following the hearing. One of those individuals seeking an application was Louis Zacchio, a Harrison resident who owns L&L Sports, a gun store on Halstead Avenue which has been the subject of protest from thousands of Harrison residents, including Gordon. The Secondhand Dealers Law namely applies to businesses which sell precious metals and stones, guns, cameras, musical instruments and electronics, and gives exception to thrift shops, antique dealers, used car dealers and businesses which sell books, rugs, pianos and works of art. The proposed revision of the law would require applicants to list names, ages and addresses of all employees who would operate under the license and whether any of them have been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in New York state. It would further require the police chief to conduct an investigation to ensure that the applicant’s business complies with all other laws which it is subject to. In December, Westchester County legislators Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat, and Ben Boykin, a White Plains Democrat, sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF, requesting the agency conduct an audit into Zacchio’s compliance with state, local and federal laws, including Harrison’s Secondhand Dealers Law. Matthew Myerson, a spokesman for the ATF, said that the ATF had received the letter and is reviewing it, but declined to comment on whether the agency was conducting an investigation. CONTACT: corey@hometwn.com