Pataki May Amend It: Say Sanit Residency Law Went Too Far

Pataki May Amend It

Say Sanit Residency Law Went Too Far

Governor Pataki is seeking to amend a bill he recently signed relaxing residency requirements for veteran Sanitation Workers so that it won't include Orange and Dutchess counties.

GOVERNOR PATAKI: An unfair disparity. The Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association had spent years lobbying for the legislation to broaden the residency rules to include the same areas open to other city uniformed workers.

Bill Opens Up Dutchess

But those employees are not allowed to live in Dutchess County, an area included in the just-signed Sanitation legislation, which specifically applies to employees with at least five years on the job. "The Governor didn't want to extend us beyond other similarly-situated work groups," said Bob Bishop, the USA's lobbyist.

The city's correction officers, cops, and firefighters must live within the five boroughs or in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Nassau or Suffolk counties. Sanitation Workers had been restricted to living in the city or Nassau or Westchester counties.

Mr. Bishop noted that the USA was working to keep Orange County as part of the final measure because the other uniformed workers have separate bills allowing them to live in that county. The proposed amended bill, A.09284, excludes Orange County and would be retroactively effective to Dec. 20, 2005.

"I'm telling members who call me that they move to Dutchess and Orange counties at their own peril," Mr. Bishop said.

Tough Commute in Storm

A justification memo attached to the proposed bill argued that allowing Sanitation Workers to live that far away from the city may create work problems during snowstorms or an emergency situation.

"Concerns were raised that the new residency requirements would enable employees to live so far away from the municipality they serve as to hamper the response time and manpower necessary for trash removal and other sanitation service such as clearing and salting the streets after a snowstorm," the memo stated.

The Bloomberg administration opposed the original measure for a myriad of reasons, citing potential economic and operational problems. The city also noted a possible technical flaw in the legislation that could allow Sanitation Workers to reside in three additional counties - Dutchess, Sullivan, and Ulster.

'Unwise Public Policy'

In August, Mayor Bloomberg's Legislative Representative, Anthony P. Piscitelli, detailed the city's objections in a letter to Governor Pataki. "To legislatively expand or create residency exemptions on a piecemeal basis without a compelling need to do so is simply unwise public policy," the letter contended.

Mr. Piscitelli pointed out that there are approximately 4,200 Sanitation Workers eligible to move under the bill. "What consequences would be realized by the city if up to two-thirds of its Sanitation employees lived miles away from the city where their commute to work would be anything but expedient?" he asked.

Expanding the residency requirement, the letter further contended, would also have a negative fiscal impact on the city "as the city's tax base flees further into the suburbs."

But the USA maintained that the city would not be financially affected by the legislation because Sanitation Workers who move out would still be required to pay taxes on their income earned in the city.

Housing Squeeze

The residency rule was signed into law in 1986, during the Koch administration, and was designed to add employment opportunities for local residents, bolster the city economy, and increase accountability for city workers.

Since that time, the union argued, the cost of real estate has made it practically impossible for its members to purchase houses in the required areas. "It's very important for people to have free choice in where they can live," Mr. Bishop said.

The city's residency rules are different for every title. Exemptions to the rule have been made for 175 "hard-to-recruit" titles, including many high-tech and engineering positions.

But Mr. Piscitelli noted that the civil service list for Sanitation Workers "is in the tens of thousands, which could certainly rebut the traditional rationale for expanding the residency exemption."

The rule is also difficult to enforce. Proving that employees are violating the requirement, city officials have said, would likely involve secretly tailing suspected abusers. Workers living outside the city sometimes maintain two residences or list their parents' home as their primary address.