Is Edgemont financially viable as a self-governing village? Yes. In 2017, the EIC’s expert consulting team of Zions Municipal Finance and Novak Consulting/Raftelis released a financial feasibility report for the Village of Edgemont. The complete report is available here.

Click here for the consultants’ 1-page conclusion, which stated: “We believe the assumptions are conservative and reasonable, and should the residents of this area of the Town of Greenburgh wish to incorporate, you would be able to provide a high level of service with the existing revenues that will credit to the Village.”

Click here for a 1-page budget summary.

The slide deck from the consultants’ January 2017 presentation to the Edgemont community is here.

Source data supporting the feasibility study is here.

Is the feasibility study a plan of governance? No. The study was undertaken for the sole purpose of determining whether Edgemont would have sufficient revenues at current Town tax rates to operate a village with a high level of services via its own departments should it choose to do so. Ultimately, any plan of governance—including the level/source of services and associated taxation—shall be established by the Village of Edgemont’s governing body upon incorporation.

Where do our taxes currently go? The table below shows how our current property tax bill is broken down. The yellow piece is the only component potentially affected by incorporation. That portion of your tax bill is currently paid to the Town of Greenburgh unincorporated “B” budget and primarily funds police/EMS, public works, planning and zoning, building inspections, and parks and recreation.

What happens to my taxes if Edgemont incorporates? As a village, Edgemont residents would no longer pay the Town for “B” budget (unincorporated area) municipal services. Instead, that 16% of the overall Edgemont tax bill would become the new village’s primary revenue source.

In turn, the Village of Edgemont’s Mayor and Board of Trustees, rather than the Greenburgh Town Board, would set the community’s budget and municipal tax rate.

Incorporation would have no impact on 84% of our tax bills, including the 61% for the Edgemont School District (which by law operates independent of any other municipality and is not affected in any manner by incorporation).

From the approximately $14.5 million of property taxes that would flow to Edgemont Village, our governing body could choose to contract back with the Town for some or all of the above-mentioned “B” budget services.

How does Edgemont compare to Greenburgh’s existing villages? Edgemont would be Greenburgh’s 4th-largest village in terms of population but largest as measured by total assessed value (i.e. property subject to taxation) and amount of revenue raised by a fixed tax rate:

Which existing Greenburgh village is most comparable to Edgemont? The population, land area, and property values of the Village of Hastings are very similar to Edgemont’s. Hastings is a self-governing municipality with a property tax levy of $12 million. Edgemont, if it were incorporated as a village in 2022 and imposed the same tax rate currently payable by Edgemont residents to the Town of Greenburgh, would be credited approximately $14.5 million of property taxes, a significant amount for a community of Edgemont’s size.

What’s the difference between Greenburgh’s “A” and “B” budgets? The Town of Greenburgh maintains two budgets for general municipal services. The Town‐wide, or “A” budget, with about $29 million of appropriations in 2022, funds Town-wide services such as property assessment, tax collection, justice court, animal control, and paramedics. All taxpayers (including village residents) pay “A” budget taxes; therefore, if Edgemont were to incorporate as Greenburgh’s seventh village, Edgemont residents would continue to pay these (relatively small) taxes to the Town and in turn continue to receive “A” budget services.

The “B” budget (over $90 million in 2022) funds services provided only to the unincorporated area. Residents of Greenburgh’s six villages do not pay taxes to support the Town’s “B” budget, which—as shown in the table above—accounts for about 16% of the total tax bill for unincorporated area residents, including Edgemont.

Could Edgemont’s taxes stay flat or even go down if Edgemont incorporates? Yes. In fact, a respected consulting firm hired by an anti-incorporation group suggested as such. Click here for that consultant’s preliminary view on incorporation's potential property tax impact to the residents of Edgemont.

Would an incorporated Village of Edgemont have to duplicate the Town’s services and infrastructure? No. Edgemont is situated in an area with highly developed infrastructure and well-established services that do not need to be duplicated.

In fact, some major Town services would simply continue post-incorporation, as-is, even without any cooperation between Edgemont and Greenburgh:

  • Water/sewer, which will continue to be provided by Town special districts that are unaffected by incorporation, as discussed here;

  • Justice court, assessment, animal control, paramedics, certain parks and recreation facilities and programs, and the TDY Community Center, all of which are available Town-wide (including the existing villages); and

  • The Greenburgh Public Library, which would still serve and be partially funded by Edgemont, as discussed here.

Other major Town services could continue post-incorporation, as-is, assuming cooperation in the form of intermunicipal, or “shared services,” agreements between Edgemont and Greenburgh (and in the case of parking, the Hartsdale Public Parking District):

  • Police;

  • Public works;

  • Sanitation;

  • Ambulance; and

  • Parking.

We note that state law provides for a transition period for services generally and ensures specifically, via Town Law 150, that towns must provide police services, indefinitely, to a village that does not have its own police force or has not secured police protection through some other means.

Edgemont residents currently pay taxes to the Greenville Fire District (a special district) which in turn provides fire and local response (non-transport) EMS services to our community. As an incorporated village, Edgemont would have the authority under state law to either provide those services itself (i.e. establish its own department) or negotiate with the Greenville Fire District for the continuing provision of such services.

State law also provides that special districts, like the Greenville Fire District, may only operate in villages with their consent. Since nearly all of the Greenville Fire District taxable property valuation resides within the proposed borders of Edgemont, the fire district will require Edgemont tax revenues—and therefore the cooperation of Edgemont’s governing body—to maintain its operations and very existence.

Ultimately, whether the fire district merges into the village (and becomes our fire department) or continues as an independent special district in service to Edgemont itself would have no effect on resident taxation or service levels.

How can I review the budgets of peer villages? For the 2021-22 budgets of Greenburgh's existing 6 villages and other area villages of similar size:

  • Click here for the Village of Ardsley (population 4,452).

  • Click here for the Village of Elmsford (population 4,664).

  • Click here for the Village of Pelham Manor (population 5,486).

  • Click here for the Village of Larchmont (population 5,864).

  • Click here for the Village of Bronxville (population 6,323).

  • Click here for the Village of Irvington (population 6,420).

  • Click here for the Village of Tuckahoe (population 6,486).

  • Click here for the Village of Pelham (population 6,910).

  • Click here for the Village of Hastings (population 7,849).

  • Click here for the Village of Briarcliff Manor (population 7,867).

  • Click here for the Village of Croton (population 8,070).

  • Click here for the Village of Rye Brook (population 9,347).

  • Click here for the Village of Sleepy Hollow (population 9,870).

  • Click here for the Village of Dobbs Ferry (population 10,875).

  • Click here for the Village/Town of Mt. Kisco (population 10,877).

  • Click here for the Village of Tarrytown (population 11,277).

The 6 villages shown in bold are part of the Town of Greenburgh. Edgemont, population ~8,000, would be Greenburgh's 7th village.