Scarsdale trustees are weighing whether to set up special tax districts that would shift much of the tab for major stormwater repairs onto homeowners in the village’s most flood-prone pockets. The idea is to pair local borrowing with a Westchester County matching program that could cover roughly half of nearly $20 million in proposed work across four areas. Village officials say there is a tight clock on the county money, so any decision has to come fast.
As reported by Scarsdale10583, the village has identified four priority projects - Brite Avenue, Cushman Road, George Field and Griffin Avenue - with a combined price tag of about $19.9 million. Westchester County is offering matching funds that would cover nearly half of that total. A Village Manager memo outlines a possible financing plan that uses an assigned fund balance of $1.8 million and proposes debt issuances of roughly $4.14 million in each of FY27 and FY28. According to the paper, trustees would need to approve debt authorization by June 19 and vote on that authorization at the Board's June 9 meeting in order to lock in the county contribution.
Engineers from H2M Architects + Engineers and Mott McDonald walked through modeling and design options at a Board work session on May 28, where Village Engineer David Goessl briefed trustees on the proposals, as noted on the village village calendar and in a village message about the presentations. The consultants recommended upsizing culverts, adding supplemental drainage and replacing undersized pipes to boost conveyance capacity in several watersheds and cut down on the street and basement flooding residents have been dealing with.
The plans get into the weeds quickly. On Cushman Road, the proposal calls for roughly 2,040 feet of new drainage, replacing seven catch basins and adding eight more, plus targeted upsizing of multiple pipe runs. That includes swapping an 18-inch pipe for a 24-inch pipe at the Cushman/Willow/Sheldrake intersection. In Fox Meadow/Brite Avenue, the work would use 42- to 60-inch pipes aimed at providing roughly 100-year storm capacity. The Griffin Avenue culvert project is estimated at $747,500 and would be split with the Town of Mamaroneck, with Scarsdale’s share after county matching pegged at roughly $175,000. Goessl cautioned that larger installations could affect buried utilities and increase flows into the Bronx River, and Mayor Justin Arest told Scarsdale10583, "We have a responsibility to help residents. This is clearly a priority for us overall. I can't imagine I won't support moving these projects forward in the best way we can."
Trustees also kicked around alternatives to special district assessments, including stormwater user-fee models that bill properties based on runoff or impervious area rather than property value. As outlined by the City of Ithaca, a stormwater user fee can spread costs more evenly by charging large impervious commercial and tax-exempt properties according to the stormwater they generate.
What Happens Next
The board is staring down a compact timeline. To keep the Westchester County match alive, trustees must decide whether to authorize the village’s share of the borrowing at the June 9 meeting and then approve debt authorization by June 19, according to staff materials. If they go the special taxing district route, the move will trigger legal review and may require state-level sign-offs before any assessments can be levied. Village officials say they plan to ask the village attorney to clarify whether taking the county matching funds would limit the village’s financing options or affect when any districts could be formed.
