Politics on the Hudson

Yonkers Councilwoman Sandy Annabi, D-2nd District, is proposing a county tax break for Yonkers residents who live near the county’s waste treatment plant in southwest Yonkers.

The proposal is made as part of her race against incumbent county Legislator Jose Alvarado, D-Yonkers, who she will challenge in the Nov. 3 election from minor party lines.

Here is her proposal:Westchester County Legislative Candidate Sandy Annabi Calls for Tax Break for Residents Adjacent to Joint Sewage Treatment Plant;
Says that incumbent has not gone to bat for residents.

YONKERS, NY — Sandy Annabi, candidate for Westchester County Legislative District 17, is calling for the creation of a special sewage tax district for owners of property near a sewage treatment plant so they will be able to receive a tax break or incentive for their compromised quality of life. Annabi is seeking to start the process by integrating studies and professional input from Sanitation Engineers, Plant Managers, and health professionals, including reps from the County Department of Health.

Westchester County has several sewage treatment plants throughout the county and Yonkers houses one in the Ludlow Park area. Annabi says, “Millions of gallons of sewage are treated at this plant and those who live in the area suffer as a result. It is time to restore some equity to those property owners most affected by the treatment plants – the ones who must put up with the odors intruding on their quiet enjoyment, sometimes to the extent of experiencing elevated risk factors for health complications such as asthma, so that the rest of the county’s residents can have the sewage treated without suffering from being in such close proximity. Our children and our seniors are the residents most vulnerable to these perils, with existing asthma and decreased overall health making them even more susceptible.”

“I envision that the professional input will allow the legislature, the administration, and the health department to establish a sewer district that would include those most likely to experience exposure to the emissions. Those who live within that radius should be given some form of property tax relief or “a capping of their current taxes.” Annabi stated.

“As the county legislator of the district, I would like to work with the Administration, the health department and all pertinent party’s to devise this plan and implement it as soon as possible,” Annabi concluded.