Board of Legislators Bids to Increase Social Spending

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators, December 3, 2013:

The Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL), nearing the end of its review of County Executive Robert P. Astorino’s Proposed 2014 County Budget, formally approved Monday a $2.5 million increase of funding support for the Title XX child care program, as well as the restoration of two professional positions, as additions to the final spending plan.

The BOL approval was made during a meeting of the Budget & Appropriations Committee, chaired by Legislator Judy Myers (D-Larchmont). The total spending increase would be paid for through expected revenue from a forthcoming operations deal at Playland, offset savings found in another child care program and a reduction in staff spending already proposed in the budget.

“It’s important that the 2014 County Budget provide a crucial umbrella of protection for the lives of Westchester residents and our natural resources,” said BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). “We have focused on balancing the needs of our residents and making decisions that are fiscally responsible in these budget additions. I’m confident that they’ll be part of the final budget negotiations with the Administration.”

Enrollment in the Title XX child care program has been frozen since 2010. The BOL’s spending addition will increase program enrollment to approximately 400 slots, which many residents and child care advocates stated at the last two public budget hearings as being necessary to meet community needs.

“This is simply a matter of the Board responding to the concerns we’ve heard at the budget hearings over the past few years,” said Myers.

The two professional positions the BOL is seeking to restore are the Director of Water Agency and Environmental Project Director, both of which are involved with the County’s responsibility in complying with Federal law requiring the maintenance of a safe public drinking water system.

“These two staff members have a great deal of experience and institutional knowledge,” said BOL Majority Leader Pete Harckham (D-North Salem). “Right now, the County is in a sensitive situation regarding environmental protection, and letting these two veteran professionals go at this point seems like a bad idea.”

Two groups of additions are being made for the sake of greater budget transparency. First, a number of Department of Social Services staff positions are being moved out of trust accounts and into the operating budget. (These are positions are fully paid for by Medicaid administration and have no affect on the tax levy.) Second, program funding is being broken out of the Community Based Initiative line in the Proposed Budget’s Miscellaneous budget and placed in the proper Department budgets.

The BOL Budget & Appropriations Committee will consider deletions to the Proposed 2014 Budget on Friday, December 6. A special meeting of the BOL will be held on Monday, December 9 at 10:30 AM in the BOL Chambers to consider an Act adopting the 2014 County Budget.

 

 

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706 Domain Names Seized for Selling Counterfeit Goods

WPCNR CYBER NEWS. From ICE. December 2, 2013:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) teamed with 10 foreign law enforcement agencies to seize hundreds of domain names that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online to unsuspecting consumers.

.During this operation, federal law enforcement officers made undercover purchases of a host of products including professional sports jerseys and equipment, DVD sets and a variety of clothing, jewelry and luxury goods from online retailers who were suspected of selling counterfeit products. Upon confirmation by the trademark or copyright holders that the purchased products were counterfeit or otherwise illegal, law enforcement officers obtained seizure orders for the domain names of the websites that sold these goods.

In the weeks leading up to the end of the year, the market is flooded with counterfeit products being sold at stores, on street corners, and online, according to law enforcement officials, not only ripping off the consumer with shoddy products, but also putting their personal financial information at risk. The most popular counterfeit products seized each year include headphones, sports jerseys, personal care products, shoes, toys, luxury goods, cell phones and electronic accessories, according to the IPR Center.

The 706 domain names seized were set up to dupe consumers into unknowingly buying counterfeit goods as part of the holiday shopping season. The operations were coordinated by the HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) in Washington, D.C.

An iteration of Operation In Our Sites, Project Cyber Monday IV resulted in the seizure of 297 domain names from undercover operations conducted by HSI offices around the country. This is the fourth year that the IPR Center has targeted websites selling counterfeit products online in conjunction with Cyber Monday.

Due to the global nature of Internet crime, the IPR Center partnered with Europol who, through its member countries, seized 393 foreign-based top-level domains as part of Project Transatlantic III. Additionally, Hong Kong Customs coordinated the seizure of 16 foreign-based top-level domains hosted in Hong Kong, enlisting the assistance of the web-hosting companies to suspend the service of related websites.

“Working with our international partners on operations like this shows the true global impact of IP crime,” said ICE Acting Director John Sandweg. “Counterfeiters take advantage of the holiday season and sell cheap fakes to unsuspecting consumers everywhere. Consumers need to protect themselves, their families, and their personal financial information from the criminal networks operating these bogus sites.”

“This operation is another good example of how transatlantic law enforcement cooperation works. It sends a signal to criminals that they should not feel safe anywhere,” said Rob Wainwright, director of Europol. “Unfortunately the economic downturn has meant that disposable income has gone down, which may tempt more people to buy products for prices that are too good to be true. Consumers should realize that, by buying these products, they risk supporting organized crime.”

During the last few weeks, the IPR Center and its international partners received leads from trademark holders regarding the infringing websites. Those leads were disseminated to HSI offices in Denver, Dallas, El Paso, Houston and Salt Lake City as well as the Belgium Economic Inspection, Belgium Customs, Denmark Police, Hungarian Customs, French Gendarmerie, French Customs, Romanian Police, Spanish Guardia Civil, City of London Police, and Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department.

The domain names seized are now in the custody of the governments involved in these operations. Visitors typing those domain names into their Web browsers will now find a banner that notifies them of the seizure and educates them about the federal crime of willful copyright infringement

Operation In Our Sites is a sustained law enforcement initiative that began more than three years ago to protect consumers by targeting the sale of counterfeit merchandise on the Internet. The 297 domain names seized under Project Cyber Monday IV bring the total number of In Our Sites domain names seized to 2,550 since the operation began in June 2010. In that time, the seizure banner has received more than 122 million individual views.

U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the District of Utah, Western District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, and the District of Colorado issued the warrants for U.S. seizures. Significant assistance was provided by the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

The HSI-led IPR Center is one of the U.S. government’s key weapons in the fight against criminal counterfeiting and piracy. Working in close coordination with the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property, the IPR Center uses the expertise of its 21-member agencies to share information, develop initiatives, coordinate enforcement actions and conduct investigations related to intellectual property theft. Through this strategic interagency partnership, the IPR Center protects the public’s health and safety and the U.S. economy.

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Unemployment in Westchester County down to 6%. New Jobs creation sluggish

WPCNR HEART AND PULSE. From the New York State Department of Labor. November 29, 2013:
The October  2013 unemployment rate for the Hudson Valley Region is 6.3 percent. The Westchester County unemployment rate is 6%.
The regional unemployment  is down from 6.5 percent in September 2013 data and down from 7.3 percent in October 2012.  In October 2013, there were 70,500 unemployed in the region, down from 72,500 in September 2013 and also down from 82,100 in October 2012.
For the 12-month period ending in October 2013, private sector employment in the Hudson Valley Region was relatively unchanged (increased by 0.04 percent or 300 jobs). Employment gains were recorded in the following industries: professional and business services (+2,200), other services (+900), and trade, transportation and utilities (+700).
Meanwhile, job losses were most apparent in manufacturing (-1,600), followed by leisure and hospitality (-800), and information and educational and health services – both down 600, respectively.
The government sector shed 3,200 jobs over the year.
In October 2013, the regional job growth came in weaker than expected as evidenced by the flat over the year growth in the private sector. By comparison, through the first 9 months of the year, private sector employment in the region was growing on average by about 1.1 percent. A weaker than expected job count in the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown MSA (-1.4 percent or 2,900 jobs) has offset the overall job growth in the region. A disappointing over the year job count in the aforementioned MSA, in educational and health services, which in itself is an anomaly, as well as significant job losses in manufacturing (-700), which in part is due to recent layoffs at IBM, have all contributed to the lack luster job growth reported in October.
Three of the top 10 counties in New York State with the lowest unemployment rates in October 2013 were in the region:
  • Tompkins County 4.8 percent
  • Yates County 5.2 percent
  • Hamilton County 5.3 percent
  • Putnam County 5.5 percent
  • Saratoga County 5.5 percent
  • Ontario County 5.6 percent
  • Nassau County 5.7 percent
  • Rockland County 5.7 percent
  • Columbia County 6.0 percent
  • Seneca County 6.0 percent
  • Westchester County 6.0 percent
 
Among the 7 counties in the region, Putnam County (5.5 percent) had the lowest unemployment rate and Sullivan County (8.1 percent) had the highest unemployment rate.
  • Putnam County 5.5 percent
  • Rockland County 5.7 percent
  • Westchester County 6.0 percent
  • Dutchess County 6.7 percent
  • Orange County 6.9 percent
  • Ulster County 7.2 percent
  • Sullivan County 8.1 percent
Of the 10 Labor Market Regions in New York State, the Hudson Valley Region (6.3 percent) trails only Long Island (5.9 percent), and the Capital Region (6.1 percent) with the lowest unemployment rate in October 2013.
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County Bonds Snapped Up. $57 Million Debt Sold. $19M for Roads, $18M for Parks,Golf Courses

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. November 29, 2013:

Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino announced that the county’s latest $56.9 million bond issue was one of the most successful ever in terms of demand and price.

“The market is rewarding the county for its careful and prudent fiscal management and this is good news for taxpayers,” Astorino said. “The results are an objective validation that Westchester is on the right track governmentally and financially.”

Westchester, which has the highest credit rating of all the counties in New York State, sold two bond series on Tuesday totaling $56,955,000.

  • The first series of $52,650,000 has a 14-year maturity, had 11 bidders and was won by JP Morgan Securities, who purchased the bonds with a total interest cost to the county of 2.57 percent.
  • The second series of $4,305,000 has an 11-year maturity, had seven bidders and was also won by JP Morgan Securities, who purchased the bonds with a total interest cost to the county of 2.099 percent.

The winning bids for both series were lower than the industry’s index (Municipal Market Data, or MMD) for AAA rated municipal bonds, which indicates the favorable interest rates  received by the county.

“The number of bidders and the fact that our rates are below the MMD index show the strength of the county’s financial position, which translates into lowering the cost of our bond payments,” said Ann Marie Berg, Westchester’s Commissioner of Finance.

The proceeds will be used to finance various capital projects; the two largest being $19 million for road and bridge repairs and $18 million for improvements to parks, recreational facilities and golf courses.

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