West Seneca
West Seneca tax receiver’s office may be axed, but 2 seek it anyway
For the first time in a dozen years, West Seneca voters will have a choice when they cast ballots Tuesday for the town’s receiver of taxes.
But something else on the ballot may overshadow Republican incumbent Ruth E. Breidenstein or Democratic challenger Mark V. Fahey. In a separate measure, residents will decide whether to merge the receiver of taxes with the town clerk’s office, effective in January 2011.
West Seneca is one of only about a half-dozen towns in Erie County that has not yet merged the two offices.
West Seneca officials have not decided how taxes would be collected if the merger is approved. Options could include collecting taxes through the town clerk’s office, through a local bank or through some combination of the two.
Depending on which option the town pursues, taxpayers could save from $100,000 to $225,000. What is clear, though, is that if voters approve the merger, then whoever wins the race for receiver of taxes will serve only one year.
Fahey has come out clearly in support of the merger, while Breidenstein has declined to take a public position on it.
Fahey, a laborer for the City of Buffalo, said he was asked to run by the town’s Democratic leaders.
“I have nothing against Mrs. Breidenstein,” he said. “I’m running because I believe it’s about time we as a party give people a choice. I want to put an emphasis on choice and reform.”
When he agreed to run, he said, it was on the condition that, if he were elected, by the end of his term, the town would put a measure on the ballot to merge the receiver of taxes with the town clerk’s office.
“I said that’s one of the reasons I’ll run,” said Fahey, 52, who is also a real estate agent.
In the meantime, the Town Board voted this summer to put the merger on the ballot in November — a move that Fahey says took away his major campaign issue.
Breidenstein said she supports putting the merger on the ballot so voters can decide the issue. But she won’t say whether she supports the merger itself.
“I am not saying anything in terms of that,” she said. “Whatever the voters decide, that will be their decision, what they want.”
Breidenstein, 64, has been West Seneca’s receiver of taxes for 16 years. She cites as one of her most significant accomplishments the fact that her office is open extended hours for a few days before tax bills are due in February and October.
Breidenstein has the Republican and Conservative nominations, while Fahey has the Democratic, Independence and Working Families nominations.
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