Homeowner living in 2 towns wants twice the vote -
Posted in the Newsday Forum
My comments on Channel 12 News may have had a material effect on defeating this proposal
So my voice was heard. See how powerful the VOTE WEAPON is
Brookhaven Prop 3 -- 294 of 294 precincts reporting (100%) Community Preservation Fund
No 40,251 61% (X)=winner
Yes 25,719 39% loser
TO GET HERE TYPE INTO GOOGLE
NEWSDAY LI LLOYD ABRAHAMS
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RECOPY OF THE ARTICLE
Newsday.com
Homeowner living in 2 towns wants twice the vote
BY STACEY ALTHERR
mailto:stacey.altherr@newsday.com?subject=Newsday.com
9:38 PM EST, November 6, 2007
More than 240 years after American colonists employed the slogan, a Lake Grove man has resurrected the famous rallying cry: Taxation without representation is just plain wrong.Lloyd Abrahams pays town taxes in both Smithtown and Brookhaven because his land is divided by town lines. But he is allowed to vote only in Smithtown and he says that's not fair. Especially this year, Abrahams said, because he would have liked to have voted Tuesday against the land preservation proposition in Brookhaven.Abrahams, who bought the house on Seawanhaka Avenue two years ago, said his 479-square-foot bungalow is situated in Smithtown, but "once I step out my back door I'm in Brookhaven."The situation is "very unusual," according to an official at the Suffolk County Board of Elections, who said the election district in Smithtown would have been chosen for Abrahams because that's where his house lies.Election officials cited the one-person, one-vote rule as the reason for not allowing Abrahams to vote in Brookhaven as well. They noted the issue also affects Manhattan residents who own homes on the East End or on Fire Island and have to choose one as a primary residence because a citizen can have only one voting district.Boundary lines are determined by townships and usually follow along streets, making it easier to define the townships, a board of elections official said. Election districts are drawn using the same criteria, so that a person living in Brookhaven would not be eligible to vote in a Smithtown town board election, for example.But in Abrahams' situation, the town line was not drawn along the streets. His neighbors on either side also have their property split between the two townships."I guess the guy who drew the town lines was drunk," Abrahams quipped.Nassau Board of Elections official Vincent Grasso agreed that such cases are unusual. But when they have occurred in Nassau in the past, he said, a person's voting jurisdiction is determined by "where the bed is."Smithtown Assessor Gregory Hild said Abrahams is hardly alone. Hild said he knows of properties in Commack, for example, where the line between Smithtown and Huntington goes right through homes."Remember that town lines go back hundreds of years when it was still farmland," Hild said.The location of the town line means that Abrahams' tax bills are complicated. He pays about $796 to Smithtown, $234 to Brookhaven and $371 to the Village of Lake Grove, the municipality that picks up the garbage for his 50-by-100-foot property. His school district is Sachem, which covers parts of three towns: Brookhaven, Islip and Smithtown. "My tax bills are a hodgepodge," he said.Still, he wishes he could vote in both towns. "I spoke to the Board of Elections, and they tell me, 'One man, one vote,'" said Abrahams. "But I want to be like King Solomon, and divide the baby."
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
