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WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. April 7, 2010: Yours truly, has received e-mails, been stopped on the street, and in stores by citizens shocked, shocked at the 19% property tax increase. Even the Common Council, four of whom (Mr. Boykin, Ms. Lecouna, Mr. Roach, Mr. Power) have passed the budgets that have lead to the present budget crisis, is shocked, shocked there is such an historic tax increase. Now the Council and the Mayor are going to “work together” on the budget. What would Mr. and Mrs. White Plains do?
Select from the choices at the right, below are explanations of each suggestion. If you have some, let us know:
Cut Garbage, Recycling, Leaf Pick ups – When suggestions like this were floated last August, the ire of White Plains citizens rose as one when they were asked to bag leaves. But, what if garabage pick up was cut to once a week, and recycling forced to be taken to the city dump? Would this save gas, truck crews, etc.? Sharpen your pencils, let’s find out! Better yet, let’s bring in the carting companies and dump the garbage pickup altogether.
Cut Recreation and Parks Programs – A tough choice, I know. But at least raise fees more than they have already so the city makes more money on them. And, let’s dump the programs that are money losers. If people do not use them, why are we running them? Fees for field use should also be raised substantially more than they have for organizations renting the fields, including ones that use the fields free.
Close, Curtail the Public Library – A sacred and luxurious cow. How can the city justify $5.3 million – when there are 9 libraries in the 9 school buildings to serve children’s needs – in this budget nightmare? The public library might be spun off as a self-liquidating fund much like the new administration’s ingenious sewer rent to take the sewer expenditures ($770,000) off the new budget. How they create the fee mechanism that would take it off the books is another matter. That has to be seriously looked at. The library with the advent of the internet is an anachronism. It takes no time at all to find info on the net. You waste incredible time going and finding a book in the labyrinths of the library. Research needs for children are provided at the school system, including computer labs. I know people use it, but it costs the city $5.3 Million a year to run , 18 and a half times the cost of running the Slater Center which caters to a vastly more fragile population. Am I crazy?
Halt Capital Expenditures for One Year – in the budget capital expenditures spending around $8 million in loans, $275,000 cash out of the general fund are called for. Could they be delayed a year? Could the whole capital program really be analyzed hard to see if things are really needed? Probably, yes they are, but the Common Council is always told capital projects are needed.
Institute a Wage Cut of 10% — The salaries the city pays in the proposed budget total $76,000,000. If a 10% cut is instituted across the board this would save the city $7.6 Million. Is it possible? What’s involved here?
Lay off 100 Employees – The tax increase would be wiped out or at least cut back to manageable size by wholesale layoffs, when you figure benefits and salaries, one hundred layoffs would probably save about $10 Million at the very least.More than enough to replenish the fund balance in one year. It might curtail services, though. City needs to look at combinations of layoffs to see what’s possible.
Rezone Overcrowded Housing to raise money from scofflaw Landlords – Fines have not worked; inspections have not worked, but you could solve the city alleged illegal residents’ problem by creating new zoning that would legalize new capacities for residences now overpopulated, but make them subject to weekly inspections. To pay for the inspections and regular official surveillance (something the city is supposed to be doing now, but does not do so effectively – otherwise there would be no overcrowded illegal housing, would there?), owners of these newly legalized buildings would pay through the nose for housing persons unsafely, which would be corrected and profiteering would not be profitable any more. It would be interesting to see how much property tax increase could be defrayed if landlords paid surcharges on what they really made on these scurrilous gold mines that bleed the veins of the poor and the hopeful.
Institute Stiff New Certiorari Filing Fee – The real reason the city is in such financial trouble is certioraris filed by property owners in the commercial sector. If their properties are so unprofitable that they are over accessed, they should sell them. However, the city could with a little legal creativity make it very capital intensive for future certiorarists – hit them with a massive certiorari filing fee with the city to defray the city costs of analysis of the certiorari and a full forensic accounting audit of the certiorarists’ books. The city has never to this reporter’s knowledge forensic-ed any certiorari’s books. I’d say a nice tidy fee of $1,000,000 fee paid up front to cover the cost of a foresenic audit would be nice just for starters. Consider it certiorari “bail.” Make them pay, it might discourage future certs. Better yet, pass a law that any property owner filing certioraris for past year would have to pay the cost of a forensic audit of their books by a private accounting firm supplied by the city.
Bond for Certiorari Refunds – The city is currently paying certioraris out of its reserve for financing. The School Board of Education lays off the cost of lousy assessments and ineffectual certiorari analysis by the city by bonding certioraris. The city should do the same thing but, is that good financial practice? For a few years maybe it would help the city, rebuild that fund balance an time to jawbone the certiorari artists down or price them out of the market with paperwork, hoops, filing fees, cost of paying a forensic audit.
Establish Infrastructure Charge of Businesses – I can hear the howls of outrage from business owners now. But, it has to be done. The business property owners complain about the high rents, that business is down, but they stay. Business Property owners, and their tenants,especially retailers and restaurants have to be held accountable for the cost of furnishing the services to their establishments.
Charge them for police, fire, sidewalk, parking upkeep, any charge you can think of so they that utilize the city services the most pay the most. This is another idea spawned by the sewer rent legislation this week. Do away with the BID, and let these businesses new charges pay for a real economic development office that will fill their pathetic empty store fronts – negotiate reasonable rents that will contribute to the city economy rather than fuel money windfalls from certiorari filings from deliberately devaluing their properties for a profit.
Raise Taxi Fees add surcharge – With the windfall in taxi medallions, the city should raise taxi fees, which would help cab owners, and by raising them enough…they could add a little something extra, better a lot of something extra, a green fee perhaps. How much this could raise needs to be researched. But a $4 green fee, half to the cab owner and half to the city…direct into the general fund per rider would not be missed. If you need a cab, you need a cab right?
Consolidate City Departments – The Parking/ Recreation and Parks merger was intriguing. How about merging Planning with Building – One Commissioner. Merge Purchase with Finance. Put Department of Traffic in Public Safety. Let’s eliminate the Department of Information Services, and outsource it. Merge Assessment into Finance. Put Rec and Parks in the Youth Bureau. Why didn’t we think of this decades ago? Let’s “Feinerize.”
