Groups petition to end Long Island’s Sanitary District No. 2 [Long Island Business News (NY)]

A new campaign to dissolve a special tax district in southern Nassau County could significantly reduce garbage taxes for area residents.

Sanitary District No. 2, one of a handful of sanitation districts serving the Town of Hempstead, has come under fire from two grassroots organizations for charging the residents and businesses it services as much as double what residents serviced by the town pay. The groups, Residents for Efficient Special Districts and the Long Island Progressive Coalition, are petitioning for a referendum to dissolve Sanitary District No. 2 and shift the responsibility to the Town of Hempstead.

Laura Mallay, executive director of the Residents for Efficient Special Districts and a resident of South Hempstead, said she and LIPC have obtained more than 3,000 signatures for the referendum petition.

Under the provisions of the New York Citizens Empowerment Act, which allows for the dissolution of special tax districts, a referendum may be forced if 5,000 residents or 10 percent of the specific population sign a petition, whichever is lower. Mallay must get 5,000 signatures because the district's population is so large. If successful, this would be the first time a special district was dissolved on Long Island by means of petition under the act.

"We started back in the spring, and there's no time limit to get the signatures, but we're hopeful we'll reach 5,000 by December," Mallay said. "We have people out there asking for signatures. It's a difficult task, but we're optimistic."

A 2005 audit by then-Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman said the average property owner in Sanitary District No. 2 paid $734 per year for curbside garbage pickup and disposal - a portion of which is paid to the town for the actual disposal. Only Sanitary District No. 1, which serves the Five Towns area, was found to cost residents more for garbage collection, the 2005 audit found.

Weitzman's report said sanitation officials in Sanitary District No. 2 were making changes based on the audit, although six years later, Mallay said she still pays double that of her neighbors in Merrick and Bellmore.

"The Town of Hempstead already provides these services at half the rate [to its other residents]," Mallay said. "We'd be saving a lot of money because we wouldn't have to pay for commissioners with their benefits, the necessary attorneys and especially the insurance costs. We're paying a lot of money for the district's insurance. The town is self-insured so that would save a lot of money."

Five special sanitary districts were set up by the Town of Hempstead decades ago to handle the town's refuse. Each sanitary district varies by size and complexity. Some, like Sanitary District No. 2, retain independent offices with fully equipped staffs, while others share town administrative resources.

Mike Deery, a spokesman for the Town of Hempstead, said the municipality would be more than willing to consider taking over the duties of Sanitation District No. 2, but only if the residents made it clear that they wanted it.

"Our position has always been that we think we run an efficient and cost-effective operation here, and that we have the expertise and professionalism to do a good job," Deery said. "But we really believe the change should come from the local community as the will of the people."

Representatives from the Long Island Sanitation Officials Association did not respond to requests for comment.

As for the business community, Serena Liguori, a coordinator with the Long Island Progressive Coalition, said she has received support from local companies in private, although none were willing to make their support public.

"A lot of businesses are very much on board, especially since they pay a higher tax rate [than traditional residents]," Liguori said. "Some of the business owners have said they were nervous to speak out because of repercussions they might experience from the sanitation district. We can't say whether those fears are real or imagined, but that's what they're telling us."

Whether they support the effort may not matter. Despite there being 1,150 commercial properties within the special district, business owners may only sign the petition if they live within the district, regardless of where their business is located.

Were the town to take on the sanitation responsibilities of an additional 50,000-plus individuals, the increased work would likely bring extra costs that would need to be passed along. While Deery said there is not enough information to speculate what rate increases would be, he did note that only those residents and businesses within the district would be subject to any increases.

"Logic dictates that the tax rate would go up [if the town had to take on these services]," Liguori agreed. "Even so, the town could provide the service at a responsible rate that would still be lower than what residents are paying now."

Perhaps even more uncertain than the potential costs and savings are the fates of the 100-plus Sanitary District No. 2 workers should the dissolution occur. Liguori said her group is planning to lobby the town to hire the workers, although she has yet to reach out to Town Supervisor Kate Murray.

"We don't want the sanitation workers feeling like we're going after them," Liguori said. "They think if it's dissolved they'll be out of a job. It's not fair to them that there's mismanagement [in the district]."

While Deery said the town would be open to any discussions, he said it was too soon to comment on the fate of the sanitation workers.