WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. March 28, 2007: The White Plains City School District, despite frequent statements at public meetings over the last few years, did not inform the City Safe Housing Task Force of any possible locations where overcrowded housing existed in the city in the entire year 2006, or in the first three months of 2007.

School representatives say at Council of Neighborhood Association meetings, particularly, have said that they cooperate with the city and share information to identify possible single family homes, rented out in violation of zoing, and thus,  containing multiple families,  based on school records of names and addresses of children attending White Plains schools. This may have been done in the past, but not in at the last 15 months.

Patti Cantu, President of the Battle Hill Association, prompted by the recent deaths of children in a Bronx home March 8, sent an e-mail to the Superintendent of Schools and Safe Housing Task Force, asking “How does the White Plains City School District notify the Safe Housing Task Force of a list of addresses that may be of concern with too many children residing in dwellings?”

Ms. Cantu, contacted by WPCNR in a routine follow-up call, said she received an answer from the Superintendent of Schools reporting that no lists of possibly overcrowded homes were sent to the task force in all of 2006 and 2007.

Ms. Cantu told WPCNR today, “I don’t care who is illegal, as far as we are concerned the issue is safety. I don’t know what he reports. None were reported (by the school district to the Safe Housing Task Force) in 2006 or in 2007, according to his e-maill.  Many other municipalities’ computer systems are in sync with their school district computers. Our city and school district are not. They are not working jointly to attack this problem (of overcrowding).”

Ms. Cantu and her neighbors on Battle Hill have assembled a list of approximately 50 or more dwellings committing alleged violations of parking, litter, and assorted quality of life issues,  and possible overcrowding for the Safe Housing Task Force to take action on. She is attempting to have a meeting with Damon Amadeo, the Acting Building Commissioner, to discuss the list and develop a plan of action.

In a related development last week, Damon Amadeo, the Acting Building Commissioner discussed addition of another building inspector for the Building Department, which Battle Hill Association and Councilman Glen Hockley have been encouraging. Amadeo said most violatons that the Safe Housing Task Force investigates are uncovered by police responding  to locations, who report alleged unsafe conditions to the fire department and the building inspectors who go in and analyze the premises for violations. Amadeo said the city does not put families out on the street, but follows up with the landlord.  He said that there would be some night hours and stepped-up inspections at odd hours.

Glen Hockley, the Councilman took issue with Amadeo on the intensity of the enforcement. Mayor Delfino defended the Safe Housing Task Force, on the grounds that “are we perfect, no, we’ll never be perfect.”

WPCNR asked Amadeo how many overcrowded dwellings had been discovered by the SHTF in the last year, and how many violations of code at residences had been documented by  the Safe Housing Task Force in the last year. Amadeo said he did not have those figures available and I would have to get them from the police.

A month or more ago, WPCNR asked Glen Hockley, the councilman for a report card on the Safe Housing Task Force activities: overcrowded residences cited, their current fates, and violations of code. To date, Mr. Hockley has apparently not been able to obtain such a performance report.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From White Plains Police. March 27, 2007: Landscape workers clearing brush on Bloomingdale Road this afternoon encountered a skeleton, police said, that had apparently been there all winter.

Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety, Daniel Jackson in a statement to WPNCR this evening said “The skeletal human remains were found about 30 feet from Bloomingdale Road in front of the Bloomindales property. It is unknown if the person was male or female at this point. The body had obviously been there throughout the winter and was in an area that was probably covered in water for some of the time. The medical examiner will have a better idea once he starts looking at the remains. There were no obvious signs of trauma to the skeleton. There was some clothing on the remains.  The remains were found by landscape workers who were clearing brush from the area.”

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WPCNR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. By New York Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley, 89th District. March 27, 2007:

This year my colleagues and I in the Assembly have worked with both the Governor and the Senate to pass significant reforms that had languished for years.  Compromises were reached on workers’ compensation reform (Chapter 6 of 2007), budget reform (Chapter 1 of 2007) and ethics reform (A.3736-A).  Now the focus is on the budget and the joint conference committees have begun.  However, there is much more legislative activity besides the budget being conducted and I have introduced numerous pieces of legislation to protect consumers from unfair business and insurance practices.

Since my first days in Albany I have advocated for HMO reform.  Some insurance companies unjustly and deceitfully take advantage of patients and their families by making them jump through hoops.  Families are forced to navigate through an unrelenting and complicated system of inconsistent procedures and refusals for reimbursements.  While insurance companies make record profits, our hospitals and nursing homes face funding cuts at both the state and federal level.  It should not be this way and my measures seek to level the playing field between insurers and health care providers:

·                                 A.2058 – Provides that an insurer may not terminate a physician’s participation in a managed care plan solely because he or she is only credentialed in non-participating hospitals;

·                                 A.1755 – Provides that an insurer may not charge out-of-network rates for an in-network hospital, solely because the patient used an out-of-network physician; and

·                                 A.3073 – Provides that claims for services by specialists may be subject to review by another specialist in the field if they are initially denied by the insurance company.

Additional measures I have sponsored range from consumer protection, to tax relief, to more local control over our town highways:

·                                 A.1415 – Requires any entity that provides mortgages to inform its customers of the potential adverse effect mortgage rate shopping may have on the customers’ credit ratings;

·                                 A.3099 – Includes pension and retirement plans as plans eligible for income reduction when determining eligibility for the Senior STAR exemption; and

·                                 A.6260 – Provides that the town board of certain towns may establish maximum speed limits on certain town highways.

Interestingly, quite a few of these measures have come from constituents reaching out to my office to make sure that I am aware of issues affecting either the county, a specific town or a family member.  March Madness is definitely in full swing with the state budget, but other legislative issues are still very significant.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS.  By John F. Bailey. March 26, 2007, UPDATED 9:20 AM: The White Plains Board of Education rejected Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors “Superintendent’s Budget” Monday evening, voting unanimously to  table adoption of the budget until April 9, pending another review by the Finance Committee this week.

 The movement to take one last look at cuts was lead by Donna McLaughlin, who said, “I question this facilities budget.” She said to WPCNR the line comprised about $11 Million of expenses including utilities, ($2.9M), maintenance($1.75M), Supplies($2.M), Repairs($645G), Equipment ($495G).

 Assistant Superintendent  for Business Fred Seiler put on the world’s fastest powerpoint slide show, holding slides up about 10 seconds each in explaining  $752,727 in new budget cuts to the board,  as first reported by WPCNR this afternoon, lowering the 2007-2008 Proposed Budget to $173,088,027. It was previously, $173,840, 754.

Based on Mayor Joseph Delfino’s pledge to hold the line on property taxes at below the school budget increase of 7.76 %, It is clear that the tax burden of the combined increases of school, city and county taxes combine for a  7% going on 10% increase in the White Plains median tax payer’s bill in a year when the inflation rate was only 3.1%.

Seiler explained that the district had cut $752,727 out of the previous $173,840,754 budget by eliminating $28,300 for all new instruments for the WPHS music department, while retaining money for new WPHS band uniforms, and eliminating 4 teacher positions (most pertaining to Special Education, according to Seiler) for a savings of $689,527 when salaries, non-instructional staff salaries, health insurance, social security payments and retirement from the reduced positions was totaled).

This, he said cut the budget-to-budget increase to 4.37%, the lowest White Plains budget increase in 9 years. The lowest budgets previous to this 4.37% increase were 4.95% in 1999-2000 when the budget was $103.4 Million, and 1998-99, 3.43% when the budget was $98.5M. For the record the budget has gone from 95.2 Million (1997-1998) to $173.1 Million in 10 years.

Tax Increase Eases

The sobering frugality rehab of the 4.37% increase has lowered the tax increase required in the new budget to 7.76%, down from the 8.35% increase of one week ago.

 Seiler noted the  average house assessed at $15,000 of assessed value would pay $516.75 in increased taxes in 2007-2008. Mr. Seiler said this would be reduced with a STAR exemption plus Governor Spitzer’s graduated STAR refund from the income tax now under consideration from Albany.

Big Picture: 7%  Increase in Schools, City and County Tax in 3.1% Inflation Environment.

Taking a look at the big tax picture in a 3.1% inflation year in New York State, the median home taxpayer is going to get hit for about an $11,500 tax bill in 2007. For the median priced home in White Plains ($700,000) with the STAR reduction this computes to $502 more in taxes.  

If you were an owner of that $700,000 median home, you paid $6,472.39 in school tax in 2006 and will pay $502 more (7.76% More) or $26 shy ($6.974)  of $7,000 in school tax in 2007-2008. Add to this a county tax of about $1,700, a city tax of about $2700 (possibly a 7% Plus tax increase at least coming up–according to Mayor Joseph Delfino in a public statement reported today), and Mr. and Mrs.  White Plains Median Homeowner is going to pay about $11,500 in taxes to the schools, the city, and the county this year, that is UP 10% in one year.

To recap, school taxes increase $502. Your city tax goes up $203, your county tax up about $50 — for about a $750 tax increase in total on your $700,000 home. The total tax bite: $6,974 to the schools, $2,623 (approximate) to the city and $1,700 to the county. Total estimated taxes:$11,300 up $736 — amounts to a 7% increase in property taxes in a 3.1% inflation environment. 

Vote down the budget and your taxes go back up to 8.35%

Mr. Seiler explained how the contingency budget, should the new cut budget be defeated would affect taxes. They actually would go up back to 8.35%  moving your tax up to $540 from the $502 increase, since a contingency budget would enable the district to spend $173.838,452 Million the amount of the contingency budget.

The Contingency Budget, Seiler demonstrated, is arrived at by taking out the debt service ($5,887,168) from the current budget ($165,841,434) giving you a base year adopted budget of $159,954,266. Next, Seiler said you multiply that by the 2006-2007 CPI of 3.84%.

The state computes the inflation rate for January 2006 to January 2007 as 3.2% multiplied by 120% for an inflation rate of 3.84% which gives you a new budget of $166,096,510, plus you add the debt service of $7,668,879 and $73,063 for projected enrollment to produce a contingency budget for 2007-2008 of $173,838,452  — actually $2,302 less than last week’s proposed budget.

For the record the Bureau of Labor Statistics computes the rate of inflation in the New York New Jersey area from February 2006 to February 2007 as 3.1% compared to 2.02% for the entire country.

The Superintendent said it was important that residents know that voting down the budget would cost them more in taxes .

Seiler said an option might be to go out with any defeated budget a second time.

Lowest year to year increase of 21 districts. Above Average Tax Increase.

Mr. Seiler pointed that the new White Plains year to year budget increase of 4.37% was the lowest of 21 districts in the Southern Westchester School Boards Association, where the district Y-T-Y increases are averaging 7.08%

The average tax increase of these 21 districts is 7.25%, making White Plains above average at 7.76%

Hold on Mr. Superintendent

The Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Connors, said the new $173.1 Million budget “maintains the quality of our programs, maintains class sizes where they have been,” and is one he felt comfortable “going out to the public with.”

Mr. Seiler came on and explained the budget cuts with his greased lightning slide show, (your reporter’s digital camera could not reset fast enough) and Mr. Bassano asked him to explain the Contingency Budget. Mr. Connors suggested that his talking to Albany today indicated there was support in the legislature for Mr. Spitzer’s budget cuts.

All seemed going well. But then, Donna McLaughlin spoke up.

Donna McLaughlin was troubled. She asked if the Board had to approve the budget this evening or whether it could be delayed. Seiler said the Board had to have the budget in to be voted on by April 16 (30 days before the May 15 vote.)

McLaughlin then said she felt the budget “had to be looked at more carefully, looked at a bit more closely.” She thought the Finance Committee (of administrators) should “go around on this maintenance budget. I’m not comfortable without taking a closer look.”

Connors asked what specifically she felt needed to be looked at. (The budget has been around with the same numbers for one month. She said, “I’ve talked in the past about the facilities budget and I’m not happy about it. I think we can tighten up. It hasn’t changed. We need to be as tight as we can. We don’t mean to be difficult.”

She put forth a motion to table approval of the budget until April 9.

Peter Bassano said, “We’ve seen belt tightening this year that’s unprecedented,” but said he would support further discussion (‘Let’s make sure we have it right.”) Board member Bill Pollack said he did not want to “lose momentum.”

Pollack, Bassano and McLaughlin made reference to e-mails they have received (a lot apparently) on the issue of the budget.

The Finance Committee will meet this week, and the Board will return April 9 to vote on the budget.

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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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