Last year, as a result of public outcry at rising rents and evictions in Beacon, the City of Beacon entered into an agreement with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley in order to in provide increased access to assistance for Beacon tenants facing eviction.

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley encourage all to not self-evict. Meaning, if a landlord tells the tenant to leave, the tenant may have rights that they are not aware of. There are times when some people opt not to pursue outside help when faced with a landlord telling them they need to leave, preferring instead to deal with matters on their own.

A phone call to Legal Services of the Hudson Valley would be worth it, just to see what happens and what strategies are available. Call the paralegal, Steven Mihalik at 845-253-6953 to inquire.

On the double-twos Tuesday 2/22/2022, the agenda for the City Council Meeting is packed. You can read the full agenda here, and when the video of the public meeting is posted the following day, the video is published with the agenda as well. You can find original and official agendas on the City of Beacon website.

Highlights include 2 Public Meetings where the public is invited to voice their opinion on a specific topic. This week, those are:

Good Cause Eviction Law for Beacon: While laws do exist in New York State that can protect the tenant, communities throughout New York State have been pursuing an additional protection and requirement of the landlord to show “good cause” for evicting a tenant when the landlord brings the tenant to court. Tenants should be reminded that they should not self-evict. There is a process the landlord must pursue. The outcry from the public to support this law resulted in the City of Beacon entering into an agreement with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV). While Legal Services of the Hudson Valley helps all in the Hudson Valley via their Housing Unit page, the agreement with Beacon gave Beaconties access to a paralegal. Regardless of if you have the phone number or not, contact the Legal Services of the Hudson Valley to get help if you are threatened with eviction. They can provide assistance. This Public Comment portion is on if Beacon should adopt Good Cause Eviction legislation crafted for Beacon or not. Please do read the 16 page proposed legislation before commenting. There are many details included in it that go beyond assumptions of what is fair for people from a philosophical level. It is 16 pages and you can read the latest draft here.
Residency Requirements for Career Firefighters and the Fire Chief: The City Council is pursuing enlarging the sphere of residency for Career Firefighters from 15 miles to 30 miles. For the Fire Chief, it is proposed that the Fire Chief live at a distance at the digression of the Mayor. The thought process is that the Fire Chief is not on as many active calls, and can live farther away. In 2022, the City of Beacon hired 3 Lieutenants, giving them a comfortable amount of leadership. As Beacon’s current Fire Chief approaches retirement, the City of Beacon is preparing for recruitment. Read the proposal here.

Other notable items are on the agenda, which you can read in full here.
Sales Tax Agreement With Dutchess County Up For Renewal
One long term item on the Agenda is the Sales Tax for the City of Beacon. For the last few decades, Dutchess County has collected and kept the sales tax for Beacon and other municipalities, and paid back to Beacon and other municipalities in a negotiated guaranteed flat rate over a number of years. However, the total number of dollars acquired through Beacon’s Sales Tax has not been revealed to Beacon officials in the previous administration by Dutchess County nor by New York State. According to Beacon’s previous Mayor Randy Casale, Dutchess County Marcus Molinaro claimed to also not know knew the total Sales Tax number. Hard to believe? Seems like those numbers live somewhere. ALBB did extensive research to find it, but came up empty handed. The City of Beacon is about to enter a new agreement with Dutchess County to continue collecting Beacon’s Sales Tax in return for a flat rate of money paid on a regular basis. While this may be a good arrangement, how would one know, if one doesn’t have the Sales Tax number to consider when presented with a proposed flat rate? ALBB did a Deep Dive on this issue a few years back. Brush up on your Sales Tax knowledge here as Beacon enters into this negotiation.