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WPCNR School Days. By John F. Bailey. February 16, 2005: The White Plains Board of Education followed the recommendation of their counsel and approved the granting of a tax certiorari refund of $2,775,521 to the owners of Westchester One, White Plains first modern office tower at 44 South Broadway at the regular Board of Education meeting Tuesday evening. The announcement exclusively to WPCNR brings the certiorari hemorrhages announced in the last two months to $3,794,015 to be paid out of the School District certiorari reserves.
The certiorari, according to Terrance Schruers, Assistant Superintendent for Business, was negotiated by the City of White Plains with Westchester One, after the findings of an appraisal done by the city through an independent appraiser.
The amount of the tax refund based on reassessment by the city is $2,775,521 and covers the last four years. WPCNR believes this settlement covers the years 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, and the current fiscal year, (2004-05). The figure was not announced at the televised portion of the Board of Education meeting. No School Board member saw fit to mention the figure to the viewing audience.
More to Come.
Schruers said in the televised portion of the meeting that the certiorari would be funded out of the school reserve for certioraris without further details. Scheurs added he expected more certiorari surprises to come.
Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors asked by WPCNR what affect this would have on the School Budget proposal (now sitting at about $157,494,830, a 12.7% school tax increase, Connors said he could not comment at this time. He said he awaited City Assessor Eyde McCarthy’s appearance at the School Board February 28 for a clear picture of what the School District could expect from the city in increased PILOT payments.
Connors said he was optimistic.
As sale receipts increase. Certiorari red ink raises to $3.8 Million.
The certiorari news comes one week after WPCNR reported the city six month financial report showed the city is on track for a 12% increase in sales tax receipts. It is unclear whether the city took into account these latest rounds of certioraris in their budgeting calculations in their presentation to Moody’s Investors Service in mid-January when Moody’s held the line on their negative rating for city bonds and refused to lift it pending the city balancing its budget.
The blockbuster tax refund brings the total certiorari settlements agreed to be the city within the last two months (after the city chose not to contest the suits in court) to $3,794,015 and change.
The uncontested giveback consists of three refunds: a $613,469 refund to Nordstrom’s in The Westchester, followed by a $405,494.80 refund to Gateway 1 Group, owners of the Centrex office building on Main Street. The new assessment of Westchester One was not available at presstime.
The Renaissance Starter Sues and Gets a Tax Refund.
Westchester One is the business that started the White Plains Renaissance and the Mayor Delfino “boom,” five years ago. Westchester One’s owner Bianco & Pep’e arranged to swap his land he owned on Brockway Place in exchange for land on which the former City Department of Public Works garage stood.
Mayor Delfino at that time pushed for the Shoprite proposal, favored by Nick Pep’e because Mr. Pep’e, of the firm Bianco & Pep’e a long time “good corporate citizen” reported he was having problems leasing up his Westchester One office site due to lack of adequate parking at Westchester One 44 South Broadway’s own garage.
Mr. Pep’e at the time had suggested bringing a Shoprite Supermarket and building a garage for his Westchester One building.
Stop N Shop which owned the Post Road Bowling Alley and Bank of New York sites also proposed a supermarket on that site, with parking underneath the store and a new public works garage in the back. It was Shoprite vs. Stop N Shop in a battle of supermarket titans for the White Plains shopper’s soul.
Eventually, the Common Council selected the Stop N Shop proposal.
The WPCNR News Archive story on this reporting the last marathon council meeting of August 5-6, 2001, reported:
At the time there was much talk from the Common Council members about Nicholas Pep’e and Stop N Shop combining their proposals. According to WPCNR observations, Councilpersons Rita Malmud, Pauline Oliva and Robert Greer suggested that Mr. Pep’e and Stop N Shop might explore how the two organizations could marry their two proposals.
Mr. Pep’e and Stop N Shop did meet after Stop N Shop was selected and came to a compromise plan which involved a swap of Stop N Shop land, the City DPW, and a new garage in exchange for the Pep’e property on Brockway Place for the new city DPW garage.
Seeking a compromise because he did not like the concept of a supermarket operating in front of garbage trucks (parked and cleaned at the old DPW garage behind the Bowling Alley and Bank, which was infested by rats), Mayor Joseph Delfino arranged a deal with Mr. Pep’e (a long Delfino supporter) to help Mr. Pep’e out with the alleged Westchester One parking need and create what the Mayor described as a more workable project without “rats” living near a supermarket.
Mr. Pep’e gave the city land he owned off Brockway Place and built the city a new public works garage on it. In exchange the city tore down its old bus depot turned Department of Public Works garage on the site behind where the new Stop N Shop stands today. Mr. Pep’e built a new three level parking garage.
The new Pep’e garage was built by Bianco & Pep’e of Scarsdale, which uses the top floors for their tenants at Westchester One, while allowing Stop N Shop to use the ground floor of the garage for their supermarket.
Mayor Delfino noted at the time it was a great compromise for the city that helped the outstanding corporate citizen, Westchester One. Bianco & Pep’e agreed to give his land to the city in a straightup exchange for the former DPW property in essentially a barter deal worth $6.4 Million.
The Nicoletti Surprise
The deal for the new garage eventually cost the city $1.2 Million in cold cash more because of cost overruns on the new Department of Public Works garage, brought about by Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Nicoletti’s insistence on constructing the building with concrete pilings that he said would make the new public works garage last twenty years longer.
Of the $1.2 Million cost overrun, $400,000 was spent for the pilings and $200,000 to move the Department of Purchasing to 202 Westchester Avenue (housed in the former DPW Garage) and $600,000 to move the Youth Bureau (also housed in the old DPW garage) to Eastview School, and renovate Eastview for the Youth Bureau according to New York State Education Department specifications.
Pep’e, as part of the agreement did not pay for the Nicoletti-inspired cost overruns or the move of the Youth Bureau and the Purchasing Department.
The council at 3:15 A.M., August 6, 2001, was miffed at Mr. Nicoletti and dressed him down on television. The $1.2 Million surprise then was bemoaned in this exchange between former Councilperson Pauline Oliva and Mayor Delfino, as reported August 6, 2001 on WPCNR:
Pauline Oliva said “I’m not as disturbed about the fact these things are going to be costing more. It’s just the way I feel we went about approving the contracts with the Pep’e and Stop N Shop people without a clause specifying either they would pay or we would share in the costs if an overrun occurs. We did a bad job there. All members of the council were under the impression it was an even exchange.”
Mayor Joseph Delfino questioned this logic: “It was always an understanding (with Pep’e) that we were getting equal value, the value was $6.4 million. Anything we added on, we would pay for. What would you have them do, give us a blank check? Would you do this (agree to pay cost overruns if you were the contractor)?”
Oliva rejoined: “To end up taking it out of the pockets of the people of the City of White Plains…well when a reporter called me about it (the cost overrun) and I heard your discussion, it was a big surprise to me. It just shocked me.”
Garage does not get heavy traffic today. Cars Stored There.
As it has turned out, Mr. Pep’e may not have needed the new garage floors anyway, according to some observers. Observers have reported that the Pep’e upper floors are not being used for parking for Westchester One because new model cars belonging to a car dealership on Westchester Avenue are being stored on the second level. But, this has not been confirmed.
The city could not be reached for comment on the private appraiser’s reasons for lowering the Westchester One assessment, nor the actual figures on the assessment reduction.
