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WPCNR QUILL AND EYESHADE. From the New York State Department of Finance,  reporting by John F. Bailey. November 3, 2017:

On the eve of County Executive Robert Astorino’s schedule to submit his 2018 budget, 4 days before the County Executive election,  the county coffers are brimming with a solid nine month gain in County Sales Tax Dollars of 3.4%, creating a  very handy windfall of $12.8 Million through nine months.

The county is throwing up record numbers.

The County has made $389,545,503 in sales tax coin, $12,788,989 more moola than the county had in 2016 after three quarters ($373,756,520 in 2016).

Mr. Astorino does not need the airport deal as a deficit closer.

This means Mr.Astorino  could withdraw the airport deal entirely. He devised the airport lease to make up the deficit caused by over optimism in 2015 in predicting a 14% increase in sales taxes for the 2016 budget (a wild guess that was approved by the Board of Legislators).

He does not need it.

He almost has it in hand this month.If he says he does, he should pay attention to these figures. How can he justify a 40 year deal for a one year deficit that’s being erased? Funny the County legislators aren’t questioning him on it.

The Astorino Airport Lease Deal  devised this year would deliver $15 Million up front whenever it is agreed to, (or any deal the Board of Legislators chooses to support)  to cover that $15 million dollar “overoptimism,” followed by payments for 40 years.  The $15 million “budget gap” is rapidly being closed by the robust sales tax receipts across the county,  gaining monetary momentum the last three months.

Let’s pay attention what this means:

If the county now sitting on  $389,545,503 in sales taxes receives the tax receipts it received last year in October($40,724,262) November ($40,041,594) and December ($51,355,703) to close out 2017, it will finish the year with $15,788,963 more in sales taxes ($521,667,062) compared to the 2016 figure of $505,878,099.

Isn’t that nice?

That’s a 3.1% increase in sales tax receipts.

If the receipts go up 3.4% the rest of the way for the county, an additional $4.5 Million may roll in, creating a $20.3 MILLION sales tax increase, more than enough to wipe out the wildly optimistic increase predicted for 2016 that was just unfounded. How sweet it is.

There is no joy two blocks away from the Michaelian Building at White Plains City Hall. The county rise in retail/restaurant spending is not being spent in White Plains, New York, USA.

September  Sales Tax receipts in White Plains declined $1.2 Million to $3,706,161 from the robust $4,904,462 Million in August.

Unfortunately the news on sales tax revenues in White Plains are not keeping pace with its wild $4.7 Million August greeted by this reporter with hallalulias. Turns out it was fool’s gold.

They should be shaking their heads in the bunker at 355 Main Street wondering where the money went all of a sudden.

Sales tax dollars coming into White Plains as of September 19, dropped after the first three months of the city fiscal year to $12,297,250, a 3.9% decline.  Perhaps October, November and December will rev up the sales tax dollars. Let us hope so.

The mystery continues as to the lackluster performance of White Plains business.

Those millennia renters cannot come soon enough to White Plains..