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 CAMPAIGN 2007. News & Comment By John F. Bailey.  November 6, 2007 Amplified 12:02 Noon. EST: All 43 White Plains Election Districts are open to record Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains votes today as White Plains is given the choice of business as usual or to put new voices on the Common Council.

White Plains is one of the few places in the country where independent candidates have literally signatured their way onto the ballot with 9 candidates running: Benjamin Boykin, Candyce Corcoran, Cass Cibelli Milagros Lecuona, Robert Levine, Anthony Pilla, Dennis Power, Robert Stackpole, Augostino Zicca have thrown their hats into the ring challenging the Democrat politburo.

This is the election of questions to be answered:

Is it a referendum on development or an endorsement of “Renaissance White Plains?” Will it be a vote of confidence in city finances and its free spending ways, or will financial reformers’ message of restraint and spending scrutiny register with the voter? Will overwhelming Democrat registrations in White Plains (2 to 1 over Republican) continue to guarantee any candidate on Line A will win in White Plains despite past performance and their credentials?

Does Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains love digging into pockets for tax increases year after year as their civic duty? Do they appreciate the parking policies that make going downtown something to dread?

How much the security issue and the illegal housing  and illegal immigrant issue really matter in White Plains may also be indicated, as the lack of White Plains enforcement on the illegal housing issue has been raised repeatedly in this campaign.

Does the cake of  the White Plains donut (outside of the downtown hole) really care that much about what happens downtown?  If they do, they may vote an incumbent or two out. If they don’t, you have your answer.

It will also be a barometer of how much Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains really know about White Plains and how they have watched their councilpersons perform the last four years. Voting them back in means they believe the incumbies’ anti-development campaigns, despite fact that the same councilmen running voted for all the development in White Plains to happen. Their campaign insulted the intelligence of the public. Well, we shall see if the public noticed. On other hand, if the incumbies are returned then you are left with an endorsement of the White Plains Renaissance, perhaps.

A lot is on the line, but the overwhelming Registration of Democrats in the city is the swing factor. Will voters vote their heads or their feelings? Always a dilemma.

Once again the circus of White Plains politics: sign stealing, character assassination in a willing party-biased press, delaying of issues, and outright lies in print will be over for another two years after today.

I for one will not miss it.

This may also be a very close election with 9 candidates splitting the vote we may never know who wins if machines are impounded — or, perish the thought — several jam and we have another “Delgado-Hockley” marathon. It could happen. After all, this is White Plains.

We are sure the Democrat legal jackals are standing ready with impounding and show cause orders and the whole bag of tricks to protect their power if any challenger is even close.

The Board of Elections actually gets to work today for their county money. We are told they will have observers in force at the White Plains polls. Now if only we can get them to show this much interest in School Board elections. 

The incumbent Councilmen and their newcomer running mate are blessed with a rainy day which usually holds down turnout. Citizens wondering where they are supposed to vote should call the City Clerk’s office at 422-1227 or the Board of Elections, 995-2000. Polls are open until 9 P.M. in White Plains

Vote early and often, and please close the  cemetery gate when you return to your grave.

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WPCNR Campaign 2007. By John F. Bailey. November 5, 2007: According to a New York State Office of Real Property Services spokesperson Monday, the ORPS used an estimated Total Market Value to compute the 2.69% Equalization Rate issued White Plains August 21 When computing the Equalization Rate, Joe Hesch told WPCNR the office uses the most recent sales and appraisals to estimate the Total Market Value of White Plains. It then divides the latest Total Assessed Value by the Total Market Value to compute the Equalization Rate. (This is a simplification.)

The confirmation from NYORPS indicates that White Plains Total Market Value of Real Estate is about $10.8 Billion, up 18% in one year. Though this means the Assessed Value in the City has been met, and Candidate Robert Stackpole’s dire prediction of last week thanks to a rising real estate market, and  pending calculation of the 2008-2008 Tax Roll, two Assessment experts tell WPCNR the 2.69% Equalization Rate virtually assures a sharp increase in certiorari filings for property tax refunds. It means continued assessment roll woes in the next five years.

Hesch described the Equalization Rate as a means of describing the average percentage of property taxes compared to Real market value the city charges all properties in White Plains.

Last week, candidate Robert Stackpole, running for Common Council made the prediction that if White Plains Total Market Value continued to average 7% as it has the last four years, (reaching $9.7 Billion) White Plains would face a $7 Million budget gap and WPCNR estimated a $14 Million gap would face the school district.

WPCNR estimated that if White Plains Total Market Value went up faster than 7%, say 20% the Total Market Value would go to about $11 Billion and White Plains would not have an automatic assessment drop of $33 Million, but would be exactly even, on the assessment roll going into the next budget year, subject only to increases in city expenditures, not just assessment drops. WPCNR’s Math Lab appears correct.

For White Plains to have a 2.69% Equalization Rate, it roughly has to have a  $10.8 Million Total Market Value (of city real estate) to wit:

$290 Million (Total Assessed Value) Divided by $10.8 Billion (Total Market Value)= 2.69% (Equalization Rate)

The 2.69 Equalization Rate, using the NYSORPS formula indicates White Plains Total Market Value rose about 18% in one year. This is more than double the 7% growth rate of the last four years that Stackpole used.

Certiorari Hemorrhage Predicted.

This is both good news and bad news according to an upstate City Assessor whom WPCNR interviewed today. The 2.69% Equalization Rate, fully .50 below this year’s assessment rate (3.24%) is an invitation to commercial properties to file for more certioraris on the present tax year, they said, and if an owner has had the same assessment for about five years, without applying for a cert, even more an incentive to file.

WPCNR looked at the history of the White Plains Equalization Rate:

 In 2001-2002, the Equalization Rate  (the average percentage of property tax White Plains charged all its properties)  was 6.35%, now in 2007-2008 it is 2.69%. This means that you are paying 4.66% more in property taxes than you should be paying if you’re still under your 2002 assessment. It is an invitation to file for certioraris if you have not already.  As a commercial property owner, unless you sell your property you cannot have it reassessed so as your expenses go up, you still pay the same property taxes. But as the Equalization Rate goes down, it means you are paying more taxes than you should have based on the same assessment. It is a no-brainer to file a certiorari.

The bonanza comes in selling a commercial property. Owner sells, property is reassessed, many times downward, buyer gets a lower assessment, former owner a profit, city loses big time assessment dollars.

Double Dipping.

The assessor also said that property owners who  have been granted certiorari relief since 2002  will most certainly file for more relief when eligible (about two years, WPCNR believes, but we will check this).  The assessor, I spoke too, noted this will be a disaster for White Plains in about five years time, when this year’s drop comes to roost especially if Total Market Value continues to rise, and the Equalization Rate drops even lower.

Hesch of the NYORPS said there was no way he could tell when the White Plains appeal of its Equalization Rate would be settled and the Equalization Rate finalized.  At this point, there is nothing White Plains can do except make the case that the Total Market Value has been overestimated by the New York State Office of Real Property Services and the wrong statistical sample of properties has been selected.

Assessments Continue in Free Fall.

Monday night, a very quiet certiorari settlement was approved by the Common Council, illustrates exactly this kind of timing, we’re talking about here.

Two of the three settlements traced back to the 2001-2002 year. The third, 2002-2003 (the year there was a big jump in total market value in White Plains when total market value went off the page going up 35%)

They were not big amounts, but disturbingly they are smaller properties

The City  granted dropped T & J Realty Company at 4 Quarropas Street assessment relief from $170,000 to $86,000, and agreed to a $44,395 refund over 5 years.

It dropped Reckson Properties at 140 Grand Street from $1,220,000 in assessed value to $1,050,000, granting a $166,023 refund over 7 years.

It lowered the assessment on Hillside Village Condominiums from $950,000 to $575,000, agreeing to a $219,298 refund.

White Plains, Like Robert Hall:As the Value Goes Up Up UP, the Taxes go Down Down Down.

The loss in assessment value to the city on these three settlements is $83,638 in property tax dollars each year. For the School District it is $279,186 each year. Think of this happening with each commercial property. It is not pleasant to comtemplate.

These are rather small settlements compared to the whoppers of past years. But our Assessor source predicts the 2.69% Equalization Rate is going to produce a lot more, and the more it drops over the next few years the more certioraris to come.

The erosion of the city tax base and more chillingly, the school district tax base – Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains the sole tax payer – sees no relief in sight.

White Plains is like a Robert Hall for Commercial Property Owners: as the value goes up up,up  the taxes go down down down.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. November 5. 2007 UPDATED 10:45 PM: Today’s photo shows Parker Stadium at the Highlands in the final days of  the old bowl’s makeover into its $3 Million synthetic Field Turf  and jurybox bleachers. The synthetic turf is seen by the sideline to the left, awaiting installation. Kickoff on Thanksgiving Day morning  is in 17 days. Charlie Norris of the Board of Education reported that the Field Turf started to be installed this morning and was out to about the 40 yard line. Work was also continuing Monday night, but not on installation of the turf.

Your School Tax Dollars at Work.

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WPCNR CRUISING With Fast Johnny. November 4, 2007: The American dollar may be taking a beating, our jobs may be being outsourced,  the country may be  being taken over, but if there is one field our country is still a leader in, it is fast food. Yours truly discovered the first true breakthrough in fast food in years today – McDonald’s incredible Angus Third Pounder burger.

New Burger In Town! A Fullback Payload!

Stoppin in at Westchester’s best McDonalds in Mamaroneck on Post Road, (where the oldies play),  my companion and I stepped up to the counter, saw the big brown and white sign and ordered the Angus Third Pounder, easily the greatest Mcdonald’s innovation since the legendary Quarter Pounder.

The Angus Third Pounder priced at $6.79 for a Third Pounder Meal at once blows the Burger King Whopper off the counter, and nukes the Wendy’s thin square jobs into oblivion – while priced at half the price of the monster charcoal burgers in Applebees and Cracker Barrel chains.

The Angus is thicker than the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder, but being 100% Angus Beef,  delivers a tastier beefier more charcoally payload with a  juiciness the typical McDonald’s burger has never had before. I am not going to spoil your first look at Third Pounder by showing you the picture. It will blow you away, and I would not want to spoil it for you.

The Angus Third Pounder puts real meat in your mouth and comes in an assortment of toppings: bacon and cheese, swiss and mushrooms, deluxe, and Special. I’d stay away from the bacon and cheese because McDonald’s still does the bacon too well but the big meaty thick Angus slab of 100% Black Angus beef is the most satisfying burger McDonald’s has ever created – macho and massive enough to satisfy the biker’s hunger; tangy and charcoal-flavored to “meat” the sophisticated demands of the Westport barbeque guy; and the right size to satisfy the teen appetite.

Even the Bun a Breakthrough! Will Not Crumble on a Full Condiment Load.

The gnarly sesame seed bun has enough crust to hold the hunk of meat without absorbing condiments , and will not flake and come apart in your hands (a typical flaw of all previous big burger buns), and Angus Third Pounder bun  never slips on its big wide and thick payload, either, no matter how much catsup you smear on your Big A. It’s wide high, trim and perfectly placed on the bun bed and the bun holds all the fixins (big bermuda, catsup, bacon, whatevah) right in there with no muss on your hands due to the bun’s tuck around shape holding the meat secure at the sides.

But the meat’s the thing.

My Angus Third Pounder delivered a black seared flavorful burger experience rivaling restaurant taste at a third of the price with a hint of charcoal to it, but with fresher taste than the mundane cardboard taste you get with the whopper, the Wendy’s burgers and even McDonald’s Quarter Pounder and Big Mac.

McDonald’s Angus Third Pounder fits right into one hand comfortably. It frees your second hand for meaningful conversational gestures, without any danger of the Angus Third Pounder construction compromising itself or the mighty burgher within and falling apart in your hand. The structure of the Angus bun is a true breakthrough closing over the edge of the Angus burgher wedge tucking it safely inside. It is the first true McDonald’s bun with taste to compliment it’s satisfying state-of-the –art burger .

Eliminates Mouth Stretch

The Angus Third Pounder  not only approaches the raunchy Charry flavor of the fastpitch and football snack bars with choice tasting meat. It has the exactly, precisely right vertical stretch.  It is satisfying with a height from bottom bun to the sesame top that fits the daintiest of mouths without smearing lipstick. No longer do you have to strain your jaw to fit this big winner into your mouth. 

The Angus Third Pounder is where the beef is! A melt-in-your mouth burger you will savor rather than wolf down, the Angus Third Pounder is fast food you will savor slow, swallow slow and let your taste buds revel in the juices, the macho authority of thorobred steer, done precisely right, not dry, but sizzling leisurely with mellow juices.

You just gotta taste it!

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2007. By John F. Bailey. November 3, 2007. The White Plains Commissioner of Finance is disputing Independent Party Candidate Robert Stackpole’s prediction last Monday that the city faces a $33 Million decline in its Assessment Roll in 2008-2009. In a written statement, and subsequent interview, Gina Cuneo-Harwood debunked the prediction as “totally false” and Mr. Stackpole did not understand the equalization rate effect – saying the Equalization is just “a measurement” and has no effect on the assessment roll. WPCNR has also learned the city has known about the decreased Equalization Rate since August 21, and not informed the Common Council until October, according to Council President Rita Malmud.

Cuneo-Harwood issued this statement to WPCNR:

A Unique Perspective.

This statement is in sharp contrast what has been said for years by city officials, councilpersons, and school district officials that the state setting of the Equalization Rate that applies to assessment of commercial property as being at the root of the problems of White Plains fifteen years of declining assessments. The Mayor, the assessor and councilpersons have lobbied very hard for Assemblyman Adam Bradley to push a bill setting a separate assessment rate for commericial properties. Most recently, last week, when Corporation Counsel Edward Dunphy told the Common Council that the new equalization rate  would affect PILOTed properties coming off the tax rolls to the extent they would pay less than what they were paying in PILOTS, but Mr. Dunphy did not have the numbers.

 Council Not Informed of Rate Decline Until October.

Council President Rita Malmud  told WPCNR this week, she first learned of the equalization in October, not saying the actual date, or whether the work session of October 25 was the first she heard of it when Mr. Dunphy made his comments.

However the city, according to the New York State Office of Real Property Services, which sets the Equalization Rates across the state, has known about the Equalization Rate of 2.69% since August 21. A press officer  for the NYSORPS told WPCNR the Assessor is e-mailed on the day the new Equalization Rates are set, and if there is no e-mail address for the City Assessor, he or she receives the new Equalization Rate within a week by mail. This means the city knew about this decline at least by September 1, unless the information never reached the city.

The city, its Budget & Management Committee and councilpersons  have been very positive about their financial situation the last three months even with the knowledge of their new Equalization Rate, which apparently they did not share with the Common Council unto mid-October.

Puzzling.

WPCNR has asked Ms. Harwood, in a series of follow-up questions, if the Equalization Rate had no affect on the Assessment Roll, why is the city appealing it.

WPCNR also asked whether in view of the new equalization rate, the city was going to refigure its balanced budget financial forecast three years out which they have given to the state to qualify for their Aid and Incentives to Municipalites (AIM) grant of $5.7 Million for each of the next three years.

Stackpole Comments of Last Monday

In an interview with WPCNR this week on his prediction of a $33 Million decline in the City Assessment Roll he made at the Downtown Residents Association meeting last Monday night. He based it on the historic pattern of Equalization Rate Decline related to Total Market Value average projections.

 Stackpole said the current state equalization rate of 2.69% issued August 21 – which the city is appealing – would indicate the city may experience a $33 Million decline in the Assessment Roll which Stackpole noted would have the city have to increase taxes or find other sources of revenue to make up a $7 Million decline in property tax revenues. WPCNR separately estimated that if Stackpole’s observation of the assessment, tax roll and equalization rate trends held true to past city assessment/tax role relationships, the school district would face a $14 Million tax receipt shortfall.

State Uses Total Market Value and Assessed Value to Determine Equalization Rate.

WPCNR asked Ms. Harwood, why the historic pattern of Equalization Rate Decline in tandem with rising Total Market Value which showed the assessment decline each year, was not in effect. She said it was not an indicator of how the assessment roll would decline.

Harwood said the $33 Million decline is totally false and not possible. She declined to offer an estimate of Total Market Value for the city for 2007-2008, saying the assessor was working on those figures. (Though to compute the new equalization rate, the Office of Real Property Services has to be either given current Total Market Value by the city assessor, estimate it to figure the new Equalization rate. The formula for figuring the Equalization Rate, according to the NYSORPS is this:

Total Assessed Value  Divided by Total Market Value Equals= Equalization Rate.

This may be viewed in further detail on the NYSORPS website, www.orps.state.ny.us., by clicking on “Equalization” where this formula is located.

Sales Tax Up 8% in First Quarter.

She did inform WPCNR that city sales tax receipts for the first quarter of 2006- were up 8%, year to year from July through September over last year at $10.9 Million