BKW extends tax deadline

Thursday, October 6, 2011 - 00:00

BERNE — On Sept. 30, the day school taxes were due, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board held a special meeting and voted to request a 21-day extension for payment because of the damage done to district homes by Tropical Storm Irene.

The vote was 4 to 0, said Superintendent Paul Dorward. “We sent the paperwork to the governor’s office today,” Dorward said last Friday.

The governor’s office did not respond to a query from The Enterprise on whether Andrew Cuomo had approved BKW’s request and how many other district requests had been okayed.

On Sept. 19, Cuomo had announced that he would grant a penalty-free and interest-free extension to taxpayers in affected areas for the payment of school taxes if school districts filed requests.

If approved, the new final date for tax payment without interest or penalty would be Oct. 21.

One district resident who has been forced to live in his garage with his wife because the mold in their flooded home is so bad told The Enterprise in mid-September, “We’ve got nothing. We live from check to check and taxes are due.”

“I think there was general agreement this was something we could do to support these people impacted by the storm,” said Dorward.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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