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Maintenance Increase or Special Assessment?
© Copyright 2015 Co-op City Times
Vol. 50 No. 16
BY JEFFREY BUSS
The Riverbay Board of Directors determined that a maintenance increase, rather than a special assessment, would be the fairest way for the Corporation to raise revenue. This decision was made after lengthy discussion at multiple Board meetings. In reaching this conclusion, the Board considered the fact that shareholders who currently receive a benefit under the SCRIE or DRIE programs would not be entitled to assistance under either program for a special assessment. Legally, only a maintenance increase, which is the equivalent of an increase in the base rent, qualifies for assistance under SCRIE and DRIE. A special assessment does not. This legal opinion was provided to the Board by General Counsel. In addition, our legal opinion was confirmed in high level discussions with New York State Homes and Community Renewal. The Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption Program (“SCRIE”) and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption Program (“DRIE”), were
Saturday, April 18, 2015
established by the Legislature to protect eligible households on fixed incomes from increases in their rent or carrying charges. The program effectively “freezes” rent for eligible households. Under the program, Riverbay, as the property owner, receives a tax credit equal to the amount of the maintenance increase that it would otherwise have collected from the eligible household. So, for example, a $400 a year increase in maintenance would result in a $400 property tax credit for Riverbay, effectively lowering Riverbay’s operating costs in the same amount that it would have received as income. In order to qualify for SCRIE, the head of the household, whose name must appear on the occupancy agreement, must be at least 62 years old, have a combined household income that is $50,000 or less per year, and spend more than one-third of their monthly household income on maintenance. (Continued on page 4)
Home Improvement Fair to be held next weekend in Dreiser Auditorium (See article on page 4)
Lobby attendants to view security cameras in buildings through new program BY JIM ROBERTS
A modest investment should produce a big payback in improved security for residences of the high-rise buildings when lobby attendants are able to view all the security cameras in their buildings and report any suspicious activity they see to Public Safety instantly. A pilot program in two buildings will mount a monitor in the building lobby where the attendants can see all the camera shots without leaving their post. Cameras now viewable include the basement elevator bank, laundry room, lobby elevator bank, front door, and rear door in addition
to all the elevators. In the future, other cameras can be added to be viewed such as the roof tops. Each building lobby would view the elevators within that building section. The Public Safety Department can’t possibly view the more than 750 cameras that now operate throughout Co-op City. Those camera views are recorded in case they are needed to analyze a situation after the fact, but having the lobby attendants respond immediately to any problem they see will make the maximum use (Continued on page 14)
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9 candidates officially certified to run in 2015 Riverbay Board election BY ROZAAN BOONE
At the Candidates’ Meeting on Tuesday night, April 14, the 2015 Election Committee officially certified 9 of the 11 candidates who turned in their qualifying petitions to compete in the 2015 Riverbay Board of Directors election. After the candidates submitted their qualifying petitions on Monday, April 6, the end of the petition period, the signatures on the petitions were checked for their validity. The Election Committee also worked with the Riverbay Finance Department to verify that none of the potential candidates were indebted to the Riverbay Corporation. The nine certified candidates for this year’s Board election, in the order that their names will appear on the ballot on election day, Wednesday, May 20, are Rod Saunders, Deborah Jenkins, Sonia Feliciano, Katrina Asanta, Junius
Williams, Evelyn M. Turner, Francine Reva Jones, Peggy S. Diaz and Gail Sharbaan. The official candidates include two of the five incumbent Directors whose terms are up this year— Directors Khalil Abdul-Wahhab, Francine Reva Jones, Othelia Jones, Al Shapiro and Evelyn Turner. Directors Khalil Abdul-Wahhab, Othelia Jones and Al Shapiro are not seeking re-election. At Tuesday’s Candidates Meeting, the qualified candidates received their instructions for running their campaigns according to the Riverbay election rules from Riverbay’s General Counsel Jeffrey Buss on behalf of the 2015 Riverbay Election Committee. The candidates also received the Co-op City Times guidelines and deadlines for the submission of their
Riverbay Board meeting to be televised this Thursday and Friday (Continued on page 2)
This week’s meeting of the Riverbay Board of Directors, scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, will be highlighted by an opinion from Riverbay’s General Counsel on SCRIE/DRIE and the proposed 4½% carrying charge increase, as well as Board committee reports and the management interview preparedness workshop. The meeting will be broadcast on Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m. on Channel 12 for those on the Master Antenna and on Channel 591 for Cablevision subscribers. The program will be rebroadcast on Friday, April 24 also at 7 p.m. Be an informed cooperator – tune in at 7 p.m. on Thursday and/or Friday!
Public Safety promotes two female patrol officers to Sergeant BY BILL STUTTIG
Breaking from the perceived and sometimes real notion that police departments and law enforcement agencies are often ruled by an underlying attitude of male chauvinism leading to more opportunities for advancement for men as
opposed to women, the Co-op City Public Safety promoted two of its most experienced and well-regarded female patrol officers to Sergeant this past week. (Continued on page 3)
Chief Frank Apollo (L) and Captain James Keappock (R) congratulate Public Safety’s two newest patrol sergeants, Colette Mills (second, left) and Elizabeth Del Valle. Photo by Bill Stuttig