Roosevelt Island residents are shackled by a hidden RIOC tax, the highest in the nation, funding a bloated bureaucracy without consent or transparency. The betrayal runs deep.
By David Stone
The Roosevelt Island RIOC Tax…? You may never have heard of it. It’s real. And effectively hidden. All residents cough up a share, every year. That’s on top of federal, state and city taxes, making the community the nation’s most taxed.
Uncovering the Secret RIOC Tax!
As demands swirl through the changes at RIOC, one factor often escapes notice. Roosevelt Island pays for nearly all of RIOC’s expenses. This happens without any consent. It’s about as un-American as apple pie is.
Everyone in New York City is saddled with three income tax assessments: federal, state, and city. Roosevelt Island gets a fourth tax. Uniquely local, the RIOC tax is hidden and made more painful by the absence of accountability and transparency.
Legislation traps Roosevelt Islanders. They get less return on their tax investments than anyone intended in the beginning. None of the guardrails worked. City and state officials abandoned their dream child. Nothing unusual in that. When the cameras stop flashing, the politicians move on. Leaving orphans behind.
Information Is Scarce
Few Roosevelt Islanders in any of the seven complexes realize that their rents and coop fees primarily support RIOC. None of that is expressly singled out in leases or rent bills. But it’s a necessity. Although bound within New York governance, RIOC does not get a dime for operations from the state.
That doesn’t lessen the constant meddling and manipulation running downstream from the Governor’s office. The Executive Chamber – “the second floor” – communicates daily with RIOC. RIOC seeks for approval from the Governor’s surrogates before making any serious move.
Living in the City
Living in New York City, Roosevelt Islanders already pay federal, state and local income taxes. Per person, the city is the highest taxed in the United States, and second place isn’t close.
If you live on this narrow slip of East River rock, you pay all of that and more. You also pay an extra tax that goes into RIOC‘s bank account.
Many, especially newcomers, assume the state funds its own agency, but New York doesn’t contribute a dime. Almost all operating expenses come straight out of community pockets.
Without consent and without accountability.
The Roosevelt Island RIOC Tax now stands at just under $40 million. That amounts to roughly $3,400* for every man, woman and child annually – without any say in how it’s spent.
*Figure based on 12,000 residents. Most recent data shows about 11,700 residents. However, 350 plus in Coler do not contribute to the RIOC Tax. Several hundred more living at Cornell Tech also do not contribute.
What Is The Roosevelt Island RIOC Tax?
RIOC’s budget collects taxes in three ways, none of which include the word “tax…”
- Residential Fees
- Ground Rent
- Public Safety Reimbursement
Don’t be fooled by alternative names for taxes because that’s exactly what they are. They serve exactly the same function as all the others. They fund the government.
The State of New York taxes Roosevelt Islanders just like anyone else. Yet, it does not send back a dime for RIOC operations.
Roosevelt Islanders pay for RIOC out of local assessments. Our New York taxes go to the rest of the state, from Montauk to Buffalo. Similarly, our city taxes go mostly to other neighborhoods.
It is secret and hidden, but it hides in plain sight. It never comes up when apartment leases are negotiated.
RIOC does not consult with residents. Instead, it makes a deal with landlords and takes the cash. This is done without a hint of accountability or transparency. RIOC neither informs nor asks residents about it.
Does the Roosevelt Island RIOC Tax Support Bloated Bureaucracy?
Why does RIOC need 24 people earning six-figure incomes on its payroll for this little village? The president/CEO pulls down over $243K, plus benefits beyond the wildest dreams of most of us.
In the last budget’s final version, 24 people earned over $100,000 per year. Three of them earned over $200,000. Plus generous benefits and a pension plan better than anything most of us will ever see.
There’s even a “warehouse manager” topping the six-figure threshold. What warehouse? you might wonder.
How many of them live here and pay the RIOC Tax? None that we’re aware of. Never have.
Public Safety Reimbursement
I ran into a friend a few weeks ago. Her immediate reaction was to throw her head back. She then said, “Fifty?” In next year’s proposed budget, it hops up to 53.
Yes, that’s how many Public Safety Department employees are in the budget. However, for unexplained reasons, ten positions are often vacant.
What do they do? Where are they?
Although RIOC claims that PSD enforces state and local laws, that’s not true. As has been shown repeatedly, they aren’t even up to dealing with the daily flood of bikes. The bikes are both peddle and electric. They run stop signs, speed, and scatter pedestrians in crosswalks.
And although notified, they look the other way when restaurants open without Dept. of Health licenses, and they blatantly allow construction without Dept. of Buildings permits.
A hefty $4 million is taken from the community. It goes to a Public Safety Department. Their main job seems to be keeping each other company.
In perspective
This is not to say RIOC doesn’t play a useful role on Roosevelt Island. It does, and we benefit in ways other communities don’t. Generous green space and free transportation come to mind right away.
But after already paying a fair share of state and local taxes, should every Roosevelt Islander, young or old, also pay $3,400 for what amounts to basic services? Many of these services are already covered in state and local income taxes.
A primary question: Why doesn’t New York fully fund the state agency it controls?
And if residents are forced to pay for it, why are they never consulted? On how much or how it’s spent?
And here’s the real kicker… Residents pay for the bulk of operations. So, why does RIOC act without consensus on issues like reinventing Southpoint Park?
Who gave them the green light for a war against, of all things, animal sanctuaries?
Residents don’t get a vote in who runs RIOC, its board or its administration. Why then is every man woman and child tapped for $3,400 every year?
Is this the American way?
As the Dust Settles
The way the wind cuts across the river this time of year. The way older buildings hold heat but never quite hold air. I told myself that was why my chest felt tight again on certain mornings. Age, perhaps.
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