Letters

At the February 25 Southampton Village Board meeting, in a 4-1 vote, the board enacted a village real estate tax exemption on historical property improvements [“Southampton Village Board Adopts Historic Home Rehabilitation Tax Exemption, 4-1,” 27east.com, February 26].

When one segment of village residents receives a tax exemption, all the rest of the residents are forced to pay higher taxes. This is an absolute truth.

The village mayor, Bill Manger, and his cohorts deny this truth. When Village Trustee Ed Simioni expressed concerns about the tax impact, the mayor, disrespectfully, demeaned Trustee Simioni. The mayor said that he has a MBA to support his view. The institution that provided the MBA should consider revoking it.

In another display of ignorance, the mayor and Trustee Roy Stevenson insisted that the exemption is “actually a deferment.” A deferment would mean that the tax savings from the exemption are paid back after a period of time. This is not the case; it is not how annual real estate taxes work. The 10 years of tax savings for the exemption will be annually forced upon all of the rest of the residents.

Trustee Len Zinnati said he did not understand the basic numerical computation provided by Trustee Simioni in a letter to the editor. The computation demonstrated the shift of the tax burden to the nonexemption residents. Maybe we can get a fifth-grader to explain the computation to Zinnati.

Then Zinnati compounded his ignorance by saying, “I don’t think this is a high budget hit.” It is a zero hit to the village budget. The village always gets its full pound of flesh. This is about who pays the village tax burden, not about the amount of the budget.

The mayor told resident Elizabeth Yastrzemski, “Your taxes will not increase.” Unfortunately, Mrs. Yastrzemski, your village taxes will be higher in 2026 and forever after because of the vote of the four incumbent board members.

Robert Devinney wrote an excellent Letter to the Editor, truthfully explaining the tax impact of the new law [“Shifting Burden,” Letters, February 27]. Hopefully, Mr. Devinney did not allow the mayor to bully him into doubting his position.

All village residents should have concern about board members voting on issues when they are ignorant of the consequences.

At noon on March 13, there will be an open meeting of the full Village Board to hear the residents’ grievances of their village assessed values. This will be a chance for the Village Board members to demonstrate that they are willing to treat grievance filers with fairness and respect.

David Rung

Southampton Village