WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. March 26, 2007. UPDATED 8:21 A.M. E.D.T. March 27, 2007 with last night’s budget figures. : Superintendent of Schools has slashed the White Plains City School District Budget $752,727 before presenting it to the Board of Education for adoption this evening. The new budget comes in at $173,088,027 dollars, according to Michele Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board of Education, who reports the Superintendent “just signed it” moments ago. The cut saves $38 in school taxes on a  median priced home in White Plains ($700,000 on the market).

The tax increase in the 2007-2008 budget drops from 8.35% to 7.76%. The year to year budget increase is now 4.37% compared to last year’s budget of $165.8 Million. The new budget  of $173.08 Million is below what a state formula contingency budget would cost the district — $174M estimated by Assistant Superintendent for Business, Fred Seiler last week (using an inflation rate of 3.8% plus 1.07% in debt service. The previous budget ($173.8 Million)  the district was prepared to go with one week ago presented a 4.82% year to year increase.

Though inflation March 2006 to March, 2007 is calculated at 1.85%,  the district is getting a huge break in calculating contingency budget parameters because the state calculates inflation January to December which works out to 3.2% for all of 2006, according to the state. That is multiplied by 120% to reach thed 3.84% cap on the contigency budget. In an earlier edition to this story we had speculated that year to year inflation would be a lot less (1.84%) meaning an even lower contingency budget of $170M, but this is not the way the state calculates it.

The 7.6% tax increase below last year’s tax increase of 8.12% and below the previously offered 8.35% tax increase. It means  the owner of a $700,000-priced home will pay  $502  ( $11) more in school taxes. Last year such a home paid $6,472.49 in school taxes and would move up to $6,974 in school tax in 2007-2008.

When originally presented as a preliminary budget in January, the budget stood at $182 when the Board of Education got its first look at Assistant Superintendent for Business Fred Seiler’s Preliminary Budget of 2007-2008 expenses which topped out at $182.2 Million (a 9.8% increase – including projected salaries). A sum of $8 Million was taken out which had been budgeted for certioraris which were agreed upon to pay in installments in coming years.  The budget has been dropped $9 Million in two months — mainly thanks to the certiorari delay.

At a 5% per year budget increase– assuming no decreases in assessments over the next four years, the budget will hit $200 Million in 2010-2011 — three years from now. However the big if is if assessments remain where they are. Any further decrease in assessments will easily put the school district at the $200 Million mark in 2009-2010 or sooner depending on how disastrous the assessment declines are and the certs are in coming years. 








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WPCNR  Common Council Chronicle-Examiner By John F. Bailey. March 26, 2007 : Upon examination of the proposed cable television franchise agreement released Friday, it has become clear that the maximum amount of technical assistance Verizon will pay the White Plains Public Access Students over the life of their 15 year agreement is $250,000 scheduled to be paid in the first three years of the 15-year life of the proposed deal. 

Corporation Counsel Edward Dunphy announced an agreement 25 months in the making Thursday evening in which Verizon will pay White Plains $1 a month for each subscriber signed up by Verizon, and 5% of gross revenues Verizon earns each year. (The 5% of gross revenues is the maximum allowed by New York State, the White Plains legal department said.) According to city sources, White Plains currently receives approximately $700,000 in revenues from Cablevision, the current sole franchise for cable television in White Plains (which works out roughly to over $14 Million in revenues. 

WPCNR has found no provision in the agreement in which the city facilities can receive future Verizon payments for future historic technical upgrades in case a revolutionary transmission process requires a facility upgrade. WPCNR has placed a call to the White Plains Law Department to see if the agreement protects the city agains technology obsolescence. So far the Law Department has not responded.

The Council set a public hearing for April 4 to present the deal, and will hold a second hearing if necessary, approximately mid-April. The next step assuming the deal is approved will be approval by the Public Service Commission approximately two months after the deal is approved by the Common Council.

Verizon Charges Presented Thursday Evening

Verizon’s Scott Parr, a consultant who hammered out the deal with the city, said Verizon expected to bring lower cable prices through its fiber optic network, offering telephone, FiOS-TV and high speed broadband internet on the same wire system. He said there would be no charge for initial hook up for multiple television sets, only charges for boxes per month. He said Verizon expected to offer the basic package of cable, phone, and broadband for $100 a month. Cablevision’s Optimum service now charges the CitizeNetReporter  $46 for basic cable, $45 for Optimum  Broadband $35 for Optimum Voice (telephone), a total of $126 a month.

Mr. Dunphy said the cable operation in White Plains would receive $150,000 this year, and $50,000 a year for the next 2 years of the contract which would be dedicated to the Public Access Television operation, which is presently budgeted for $546,825 for the 07-08 year, according to a budget presented at a meeting of the Cable Television Commission recently.

Dunphy said that the subscriber revenues of $1 a subscriber a month (example: 20,000 subscribers would give White Plains $20,000 a month), and the 5% of gross revenues would be absorbed into the city’s general fund, the use, apparently at the city’s discretion. These are essentially the same terms of the Cablevision contract signed a decade ago.

                                                                         Verizon Progess

Parr said Verizon had installed fiber optic cable to all single family residents in the city (which account for 45% of residences in White Plains, and all multiple residences dwelling units (accounting for 50% of the city’s housing) which merely await the landlord’s o.k. to hook up to the buildings. Parr said that the competion between Verizon and Cablevision would hopefully encourage more cable customers to purchase more services, thus adding to city revenues over and above the monopoly that Cablevision enjoys now in the city.

The agreement is expected to set the tone, in negotiation an new long-term agreement with Cablevision. The city has been operating without a contract with cablevision since it expired in 2005.

Councilman Benjamin Boykin said he felt the franchise agreement should call for an increase in the monthly fee of $1 per subscriber to reflect inflation over fifteen years. Dunphy said White Plains and Verizon had been unable to agree on an inflation formula to protect the city over the length of the contract. 

Jim Kenny the Executive Director of White Plains Public Access said he already had a number of equipment upgrades in mind for the public access studios.

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. March 25, 2007: The White Plains High School took on the hardest Cole Porter musical to do, Kiss Me Kate this weekend and produced an entertaining, energetic dazzler of a production that had the audience on Sunday matinee whooping with hurrahs and thunderous applause. 

 For the Sarah Brightman-to-be, Kirsten Smayda’s Kate — she of the beautifully modulated voice dealt with Cole’s fabulous songs and her comedic timing was deft,  spirited and  hilarious especially on I Hate Men. For the debonair male lead, Alex Cantatore who went up and down the scale  as Petrucio and handled his Shakespeare exceptionally (kudos  especially to him on Where is The Life That Late I Lead?). For the dynamic belter, Susannah Genty Waksberg as Bianca whose  dancing, sass, brass and timing on Always True to You in My Fashion was Mermanesque — and for the entire ensemble for the dancing, the pratfalls for the spendid effort  that entertained, impressed and nailed this baby.  I think Cole would have liked it.

A tip of the fedora, too to Jason Kaplan as Harry for his spectacular Too Darn Hot , and red hot tip tap backed by his energetic ensemble chorus of dancers brought down the house — the show had to be held up the applause lasted so long — and too, for Remy Gautreau and Pamela Abrahams for a most elegant Brush Up Your Shakespeare — canes and all.

The orchestra under direction of William Eckfield was awesome working through the nuanced soars and dips of the Porter music without getting too over the voices and no clinkers. 

Kirsten Smada in red velvet with her lead Alex Cantatore and the company taking their bows for a splendid WPHS Kiss Me Kate Sunday afternoon.

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. March 25, 2007: The old infield was muddy, the outfield bare and slick, and snow patches lay about. But, that rare thing: the pickup ballgame, no adults, no umps, no supervision, no fees, no permits, no 9 aside,  was happening Saturday afternoon in Gardella Park.

It’s 1957 in 2007: The Pickup Baseball Game Was Back: The shots off the bat were greeted with “Oh my Gods!” Rhubarbs: “He was safe. He was out.” Swagger. Dives in the dirt. “The Game” was back. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer

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WPCNR PRESS ROOM. March 23, 2007: The television edition of White Plains CitizeNetReporter,  the White Plains Week  News Roundup show will have as its guest tonight, Alex Philippidis, who is leaving his post as Editor of Westchester County Business Journal to start a biotech news weekly web newsletter for GenoneWeb in New York City. Alex, who was one of the original three co-anchors of White Plains Week, a show that has produced over 325 weekly episodes chronicling the news in White Plains since January 2001, will be talking about his new position, the future of paper journalism and discussing the news of the week with Jim Benerofe, of suburbanstreet.com and, yours truly, John Bailey, The CitizeNetReporter.

John Bailey, left, and Jim Benerfore, right, interview their guest, Alex Philippidis on White Plains Week tonight on WPPA-TV, The Spirit of 76, on channel 76 tonight at 7:00 PM