Councilman and Finance Chair, Domenic M. Recchia Jr., Holds Joint Hearing to Discuss Legislation That Would Move SCRIE
Int. 731-A would switch SCRIE from the Department of Finance back to the Department for the Aging
MANHATTAN – Today a joint committee hearing between the Finance Committee, chaired by Councilman Recchia, the Aging Committee, chaired by Councilwoman Jessica Lapin, and the Senior Center sub-committee, chaired by Councilman David Greenfield was held to discuss an amendment to Int. 731 that would switch the implementation of SCRIE from the auspices of the Department of Finance (DOF) back to the Department for the Aging (DFTA).
The hearing began at 10am in the Committee Room on the 16th Floor at 250 Broadway across from City Hall.
In 2009, SCRIE was moved from the Department for the Aging (DFTA) to the Department of Finance (DOF) in hopes that senior constituents would receive better attention and more effective care through the DOF since SCRIE is a financial issue.
Since then, there have been reported instances of negligence on the part of the DOF in recertifying SCRIE status for tenants and giving the landlords their due exemptions. Because of this, legislation has been brought forth to move the SCRIE program back to DFTA.
“These are people who have worked hard their whole lives and they deserve a break. They deserve to have people available to guide them through the SCRIE process and alleviate one less hassle. Seniors are one of our city’s most vulnerable groups and it’s up to us to take care of them,” the Councilman said.
The Councilman’s opening statement is as follows:
Good morning, welcome to today’s Finance Committee Hearing. My name is Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. and I chair the Committee. Today’s Finance hearing is joint with the Aging Committee, chaired by my colleague and co-chair, Council Member Jessica Lappin, and the Subcommittee on Senior Centers, chaired by my colleague and co-chair Council Member David Greenfield.
In 2009, Mayor Bloomberg submitted legislation to the Council to transfer the administration of the SCRIE program from DFTA to DOF. According to the bill’s memo in support, the assumption of SCRIE operations by DOF was designed to:
“….Achieve a better customer service experience for seniors as well as reduce administrative burdens on the City. DOF has the technological capacity to streamline the SCRIE process by cross-checking databases to make determinations with respect to initial eligibility and renewal applications.”
This assumption, however, has not proven to be true. On September 27, 2011, the Finance Committee, jointly with the Aging Committee, held an oversight hearing to examine DOF’s implementation of the SCRIE program and to learn about the successes and failures the DOF has encountered when implementing the program. As a result of the hearing, the Committees learned that DOF’s current process of administering the program was inefficient.
Some highlights of what we learned include:
1. Seniors have experienced delays in the time it takes to process the initial SCRIE application and renewal application. Some delays have been as long as 6 months.
2. DOF only has 13 full time staff members to deal with SCRIE issues, compared to DFTA, which had 39 employees.
3. DOF does not have a public phone number that SCRIE tenants or owners with SCRIE tenants can use to contact someone directly at DOF about the SCRIE program.
4. A “computer glitch” caused errors in landlords’ property tax bills causing ALL 15,000 buildings receiving SCRIE benefits to have erroneous tax bills with the improper amount of SCRIE credits applied, or no credits applied at all.
5. The Committees also learned that the problems that existed with DOF’s administration of the SCRIE program also existed with the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (“DRIE”) program, which was also transferred in 2009, and has a similar structural and administrative model as SCRIE, but the benefit varies and is provided to disabled individuals.
As a result of that hearing, Council Members Lappin, Greenfield and myself introduced legislation to address the inefficiencies of the administration of the SCRIE and DRIE programs by DOF, and ensure that seniors and individuals with disabilities, and the landlords who rent to such individuals, are receiving the benefits and services of the SCRIE and DRIE programs correctly and in a timely manner.
A summary of the bill is provided in the briefing paper prepared by Committee Staff, who I would like to thank for all of their hard work on the bill and this hearing.
The Committees have a lot of questions today, and we also have a lot of people who want to testify, including DOF Commissioner Frankel and Aging Commissioner Barrios-Paoli. So, before we get started, I will turn the microphone over to my co-chair Council Member Jessica Lappin.
Int. 731-A would put a mandate on DFTA to have a designated person or persons (not an automated response tape) to field the calls from seniors. This would greatly improve the process for filing SCRIE applications and would be more efficient in addressing the concerns of seniors. Over the past three years, the DOF has had seniors call 311 instead of handling the calls within their department.
Furthermore, the DFTA must provide quarterly reports detailing the total and average number of initial application, portability applications, determination of applications, and renewal applications. The report must also include the average number of days for the application process to be completed as well as the number of applications that took over six months to process.
The bill will also mandate that the DFTA provide a description of the program and the rights and responsibilities of the landlords and tenants on its website and to each party directly. The application, exemption order number, and approval order number must also be available on their website and in a direct mailing. At the request of the landlord or tenant, the DFTA must provide this information in Chinese, Korean, Russian, or Spanish.
Quarterly mailings of tax abatement credits must also be sent to each SCRIE tenant.
City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia Jr. represents Council District 47, which includes Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Bensonhurst, and Gravesend. He is also the Chair of the Finance Committee.
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