No. 79. IN ASSEMBLY, March 20, 1877. MINORITY REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CIVIL DIVISIONS, ON ASSEMBLY BILL ENTITLED "AN ACT TO ERECT A NEW COUNTY FROM THE TOWNS OF OYSTER BAY, HEMPSTEAD AND NORTH HEMPSTEAD, OF QUEENS COUNTY, AND THE TOWNS OF HUNTINGTON AND BABYLON, OF SUFFOLK COUNTY, TO BE CALLED AND KNOWN BY THE NAME OF NASSAU COUNTY." To the Assembly: The undersigned, members of the Committee on Civil Divisions of the Assembly, to which was referred the bill introduced by Mr. Floyd-Jones, entitled "An act to erect a new county from the towns of Oyster Bay, Hempstead and North Hempstead, of Queens county, and the towns of Huntington and Babylon, of Suffolk county, to be called and known by the name of Nassau county," beg leave to submit the following: So far as the three eastern towns of Queens county are concerned, the principal reasons advanced before the committee în support of the bill were: 1. That said eastern towns bear an undue proportion of the general taxes. 2. That the four western towns create a large criminal business, the expense of which falls largely upon the eastern towns. 3. That Queens county is not economically managed. That the western towns, in the year 1875, were assessed at.. ...... And the eastern towns at Western over eastern towns.. $15,752, 583 00 10,824,615 00 $4,927,968 00 Now, the State taxes are unavoidable. Each town controls its own expenses. Complaint must, therefore, be confined to the county expenses. .... $130,188 94 89,461 47 Western towns paid, of county expenses, for 1875 Western more than eastern... $40,727 47 Each town, therefore, pays in proportion to its assessment roll as made out by the respective town assessors, and no injustice can be shown. Long Island City has its own city court for the trial of its criminal business, while paying its full share of county expenses. And while it is admitted that more criminals were committed from the western than the eastern towns, yet the town of Jamaica, which shows more commitments than all the others together, is really charged with much of the criminal business of Hempstead, for, from Rockaway Beach, whence in summer arise many offenses against the law, the prisoners are brought to Jamaica, because of convenience of access and the large and strong jail there; and the prisoners so committed are charged as coming from Jamaica. Also, two justices of the peace of Jamaica who made a great many unnecessary commitments, for the sake of the fees, have recently been removed from office. The largest part of the county expenses are for the principal and interest of the war debt, payments on account of the new courthouse, salaries of county officials, new poor farm, support of county poor, and contingent fund. Deducting these, it leaves, say $58,000, as the expense for 1875, of running a county of 85,000 inhabitants and large territory, of which the three eastern towns with a valuation of, say $11,000,000, pays but two fifths, or say $23,000. The rate of taxation in the three eastern towns for 1876, for all purposes is as follows: North Hempstead.. Hempstead This certainly does not look like oppressive taxation. 1.71 1.58 1.64 If the western towns create more expense, they also pay much the largest share of the taxes, and will in the future pay still more, as they appreciate in value far more rapidly than the eastern towns, owing to their proximity to the city. In the year 1872, when the taxes were just as heavy as they now are through the efforts of the eastern towns now seeking division, a bill was passed for the erection of a new court-house, for the whole county, against the wishes of the western towns Court-house has cost so far.......... Additional cost will be.. this new $268,000 15,000 $283,000 |