Friday, December 5, 2008

Looking At Tilcon's School Tax Payments for 2008

Tilcon owns a lot of land in the Nyack School District and I was wondering if the taxes they pay to Nyack's School District really represent the value of their holdings. Here is a partial list of the properties Tilcon owns, some information about it and the school tax paid in 2008.
  1. 400 Casper Hill - Single Family on .58 acres - $1,788.26
  2. 403 Casper Hill - Multi-Family on 1.1 acres - $2,855.06
  3. 404 Casper Hill - Single Family on .44 acres - $5,808.78
  4. 405 Casper Hill - Residential Vacant Land - 10.04 acres - $4,774.34
  5. 406 Casper Hill - Single Family on .43 acres - $2,312.41
  6. 407 Casper Hill - Single Family on .51 acres - $2,343.41
  7. 408 Casper Hill - Single Family on .33 acres - $1,384.44
  8. 409 Casper Hill - Single Family on .51 acres - $2,528.23
  9. 410 Casper Hill - Vacant Land - 1 acres - $897.46
  10. 425 Casper Hill - Single Family on 6.9 acres - $4,500.80
  11. 407 Storms Road - Single Family on 1.6 acres - $5,377.12
  12. 421 Storms Road - Single Family on 1.84 acres - $1,742.63
  13. 423 Storms Road - Residential Vacant Land - 5.6 acres - $945.93
  14. 425 Storms Road - Single Family on 1.1 acres - $2,004.09
  15. 498-500 Mountainview Avenue - Residential Vacant Land - 8.4 acres - $1,328.25

Comparatively, many of these taxes seem low. Some seem right. As they are corporate-owned there is no STAR exemption applied, so these amounts represents taxes based on full valuation. Many of these valuations are substantially below market. This seems a bit unfair to other School District taxpayers who pay more to make up for the low taxes paid by Tilcon.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Tilcon West Nyack Quarry - Journal News Community View

The Journal News recently reported that the Tilcon mine has cut down slightly on noise and dust. Readers should look more carefully at the facts. The noise conclusions are clear -- the quarry continues to be a daily nuisance and continues to violate county noise levels at every test location. The dust issues are more troubling. The H2M report measures Tilcon's particulate matter emissions by 20-year old standards set during the Reagan administration. I don’t know why New York is so behind the times but California's daily particulate exposure standards are three times stricter than New York’s, and its annual tolerances are 7.5 times stricter. Tilcon's report card would be much gloomier under more modern and informed standards.

H2M did not isolate or report on the much more insidious and much smaller particulate emission known as PM2.5. These smaller particles easily penetrate deep into the lungs, and scientists have reported harmful health effects based on both short- and long-term exposure to this type of pollution. Scientists have observed higher rates of hospitalizations, emergency room visits and doctor's visits for respiratory illnesses or heart disease during times of high PM concentrations. Scientists also observed the worsening of both asthma symptoms and acute and chronic bronchitis. A relationship exists between high PM levels and reductions in various aspects of the healthy functioning of people's lungs.

Nearly 7000 children in Rockland County suffer from asthma, according to the Hudson Valley Asthma Coalition. Tilcon, which has a huge budget for advertising and PR, reports that it is reducing its impact when in fact there is little perceptible change to what Rocklanders are subjected to. Maybe it’s time for town, county, state and federal officials to hold Tilcon to more meaningful standards. Or maybe it’s time to reconsider whether a 167-acre open-pit mining operation in the middle of suburbia makes sense.