The tax woman cometh: Receiver of taxes Annmarie Seddio sends out the bills

It’s the season of giving and receiving.

Just ask Annmarie Seddio, Shelter Island’s receiver of taxes, who mailed out notices December 8 to the 3,274 owners of taxable property on Shelter Island asking — O.K. requiring — that they give.

The tax warrant this year, or debt owed by local taxpayers, is $19,411,815. Which leads us to note again at the close of 2015, that Ben Franklin’s two unavoidable occurrences in life should be partnered with another truth, that taxes will go up. That inevitability holds true, with the tax bill increasing, overall, more than $465,918 from 2014’s bill, according to Ms. Seddio.

Rates are up almost across the board, with the tax levy for the “highway part” of the town bill jumping 13 percent over last year and the “general townwide” part rising slightly over 3 percent. School taxes increased by about 2 percent, while the Fire Department’s rise was less than one percent.

According to Ms. Seddio, the biggest rate drop was for the county general fund, which was down 7 percent over 2014.

According to the tax receiver’s records, the highest Shelter Island tax bill — $148,877 — has been sent to Pandion Acquisitions, a limited liability company registered at 353 Central Park West in New York City.

Pandion Acquisitions, controlled by Richard Hogan of Shelter Island and New York, purchased close to 25 acres of the St. Gabriel’s property in mid-April. The company paid about $15.1 million to the Passionists Fathers, a Catholic religious order, which had owned the mainly undeveloped propertythat has fronted on Coecles Harbor for more than a century.

The second-highest tax bill went out to Keyspan, which is charged $119,507, followed by William M. Birch, who will owe $68,621.

Sixty-one properties are billed at $50 or less. Some of these properties are underwater lots or small, private roads or rights-of-way.

Top Shelter Island Tax payers.