Fed up Fairview Residents Protest (Hyde Park Townsman 5/29/08)

Fed up Fairview residents protest
By: Matthew Renda, Staff Reporter
05/29/2008 - Hyde Park Townsman

While students at Dutchess Community College and Marist College were flinging their caps into the air in a jubilant celebration of graduation, protestors from Fairness for Fairview were attempting to spread the word about the unfair taxes being levied against residents who make their homes inside the Fairview Fire District.
Fairness for Fairview is comprised of disaffected residents living within the Fairview Fire District who have organized in an attempt to disseminate their message regarding what they see as an unfair tax situation afflicting the area.
The Fairview Fire District, which straddles the border of Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park, is home to Marist College, Dutchess Community College, the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie and St. Francis Hospital, all of which are afforded tax-exempt status according to the constitution of the state of New York.

Thus, homeowners, who only constitute approximately 20 percent of the district, are responsible for paying 100 percent of the cost associated with operating a fire district.

To make matters even worse for taxpayers, all of the tax-exempt institutions within the district create a serious need for the services. Firefighters are required by law to respond to every alarm that sounds on a college campus, which includes a large number of false alarms in the dormitories, where a college student might burn popcorn in a microwave and set off alarms, for example.

Residents are furious that despite being a large burden on the fire services, these institutions have not financially contributed to the district operation.

The situation was recently exacerbated by the Dutchess County government's decision to sell a parcel of land to Dutchess Community College for the express purpose of constructing a dormitory.

Residents met at Violent Avenue Elementary last month in order to express their fury and demand that elected officials find a resolution to the tax problem.

"I have a quarter-acre parcel of land and my fire taxes were $1,100 this year," said Karin Hanson, one of the principal organizers of Fairness for Fairview. "I live in Poughkeepsie and I have been told by Hyde Park residents living in the district that their taxes have gone up by more than 30 percent."


Hanson said the Fairness for Fairview organization wanted to protest the graduations in order to spread the word about the unfair plight that she and her fellow residents have been saddled with.


"We are not anti-education," she said. "We just believe that Marist and Dutchess (Community College) are not paying their fair share of taxes. We hope that getting the word out will put pressure on government officials to respond to the situation."

During the recent meeting at Violet Avenue Elementary, representatives from the state government were lustily booed by hundreds of residents who had gathered for the event.

State Assemblyman Joel Miller (R,C,I-Poughkeepsie) promised he would contact County Executive William Steinhaus, who he identified as the primary culprit in the ongoing tax debacle.

State Sen. Steve Saland (R,C-Poughkeepsie) made a similar pledge.

According to Hanson, she had not heard of any progress from the government.

"We are still waiting to hear from Mr. Steinhaus," she said.

Until progress is made, Hanson said that she and her cohorts would continue to exploit every opportunity to spread the message regarding the unfair situation in the Fairview Fire District.


©Hyde Park Townsman 2008