severely cost burdened. One other point that becomes clear in the data, is that there is a growing gap between the median income of an owner-occupied household versus a renter-occupied household. Based on 2017 ACS data, the Westchester County Housing Needs Assessment identified the median income of a renter-occupied housing unit in Croton-on-Hudson as $52,439 whereas the median income of owner-occupied units is $149,223. The gap is not surprising given that the Needs Assessment also calculated the minimum income needed for the median home in Croton-on-Hudson as $218,000 (single-family, condo or co-op; again, based on 2017 ACS Data). All of these numbers predate the pandemic and the rapid increase in home values across the Village. Owning a home in Croton-on-Hudson, the data indicates, is increasingly impossible for those with annual incomes of less than $200,000. This means diversity is made more difficult by the lack of housing opportunities for those below the highest income levels. Anyone making less than $200,000 a year finds scarce opportunities to live in Croton. The Task Force sought out ways to verify the information presented in the snapshot from other sources. It became clear that because of privacy limitations, it would be impossible to verify completely the numbers used in the worksheet by outside sources or through existing census data. However, the sense of the Task Force was that existing overcrowded Report of the Croton Housing Taskforce Page 6 and substandard rental units might be even higher than the numbers presented on the worksheet because of apartments that are unregulated and unknown to the Village. One incredible source of information who provided great insights to the Task Force was our Village Engineer, Dan O’Conner. Mr. O’Connor spoke with us at length about the data from the snapshot as well as other questions the Task Force had regarding land use and village infrastructure. Mr. O’Connor provided us with a list of in rem and village-owned properties in the Village; however, he noted that these lots were often either already in use as recreation and park areas or were for various reasons impossible to build on. He also noted the difficulty in determining how many unused lots there are in Croton and made the astute point that changing goals and changing engineering capabilities could quickly change how usable a lot was and what the best use of the lot was. Although he had the same limitations as a local municipality in verifying the information in the snapshot, Mr. O’Conner believed that the numbers seemed accurate based on his experiences and knowledge of the Village. Mr. O’Conner noted that the Village Engineer and the Village generally, were severely restricted in their ability to determine the situation inside residential properties. Mr. O’Conner noted that properties in the Village were not subject to any annual condition review and the right of privacy generally restricted the Village from inspecting owner-occupied units. Although the number of sub-standard owner-occupied units was unfortunate, the Village’s hands were generally tied regarding enforcement and even in its abilities to offer to make repairs or provide some sort of funding as the Village could neither provide gifts nor loans to households. Although there was a greater ability to monitor rental and multi-family units, this was also fairly limited, with the exception of the units subject to the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 (ETPA), which created additional tools. There was also nothing in the Village Code requiring landlords to publicly provide information about the rental unit nor the existence of the rental itself in the current Village Code. Nor was there a large number of requirements for rental units. Finally, and worthy of further study and review but largely outside the purview of our Task Force, Mr. O’Connor mentioned that the existing assessment system and our lack of a townwide reassessment since the 60s, had the effect of creating disparities in valuation and actively incentivized homeowners to not perform work to code or seek Village approval before modification. This could also be affecting the number of unknown rental units in the Village and limiting the number of residents who have applied for Accessory Dwelling Units. We next sought out tenants in our existing multi-family buildings who were willing to discuss their relationships with their landlords and with the Village. We spoke with one Report of the Croton Housing Taskforce Page 7 tenant in Bari Manor who remained appreciative of the Village’s efforts to protect the residents of Bari Manor in 2003 by declaring a housing emergency and placing all multifamily buildings with more than 50 units under the rules set forth in New York’s ETPA. In our discussions with the tenant, he provided data indicating that the landlord was not always ideal, but the ETPA provided tenants with additional rights, particularly the right to have the building