THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

McKinsey Partner Gets Probation, Forfeits Profits for Testifying

Posted on July 20, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 20, 2012:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Anil Kumar, a former senior partner at McKinsey & Company (“McKinsey”), was sentenced today to two years of probation and ordered to forfeit $2,260,000 for his participation in an insider trading scheme in which he provided material, non-public information (“inside information”) stolen from McKinsey and its clients to Raj Rajaratnam, the head of Galleon Group (“Galleon”), who then traded based, in part, on the inside information. Kumar pled guilty in January 2010 to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of securities fraud. He was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court by U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin.

According to the information, statements made during Kumar’s guilty plea proceeding, and Kumar’s testimony during the criminal trials of Rajaratnam and Rajat Gupta, the former chairman of McKinsey and former member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble:

From 2004 through 2009, Kumar provided inside information relating to corporate transactions, revenue, and other financial information of McKinsey’s clients to Rajaratnam in anticipation that Rajaratnam would trade based, in part, on that information. Upon receipt of the inside information from Kumar, Rajaratnam executed and caused others to execute securities trades.

In return for the inside information, Rajaratnam paid Kumar nearly $2 million. By providing the inside information to Rajaratnam, Kumar violated his fiduciary and other duties of confidentiality to McKinsey and its clients.

***

In addition to the probation and forfeiture, Judge Chin ordered Kumar, 53, of Saratoga, California, to pay a $25,000 fine and a $200 special assessment fee.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also thanked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which Mr. Bharara serves as a co-chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reed Brodsky and Richard Tarlowe are in charge of the prosecution.

WP SCORES SURPASS HIGHER PASS LEVELS. STATE RESULTS INCREMENTAL

Posted on July 18, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From the New York State Education Department. July 18, 2012 UPDATED July 19, 2012 8:28 A.M. EDT:

A total of 59.3% of 2011-12 White Plains 8th Graders moving up to the high school this September passed the 8th Grade English assessment test this spring (with 56% managing to score in the Level 3 Range). The 59.3% passing ELA in 2012 compares to 52.7% who passed in the 2010-2011 8th grade class (now about to be sophomores.)

In Math, 74.4% passed the assessment (47.5% scoring in the Level 3 Range)compared to 71.5% passing in 2011. Passing scores were set 20% points higher a year ago in this year’s tests by the New York State Department of Education.

At the elementary level, of 5th Grade students preparing to enter the Middle School this fall, 51.9% (48.2% scoring in the Level 3 (of 4 levels) passed the English Assessment Test, compared to 52.7% passing at the 5th grade level in 2011. On the Math side of the ledger, 64.2% of 5th Graders across the district passed (37.5% in the Level 3 score bracket. In 2011, 60.1% of 5th graders passed the math assessment.

Jessica O’Donovan, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction for the White Plains City School District commented to WPCNR:

“We are pleased overall with the assessment results considering the exams were more challenging this year than last year. We are particularly pleased with the ELA (English Language Assessment) gains in grades 4, 7, and 8 and the Math gains in grades 5, 7, and 8. We also experienced some significant increases in the number of students achieving a Level 4 in ELA. For example, in gr. 3, our Level 4 results increased from 6% to 11%. So we are celebrating our successes, while simultaneously acknowledging that we still have hard work left ahead of us. “

For complete White Plains School District Results, building by building, click on this link, and scroll down to White Plains using the WP state school district code, 662200010000:

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/ela-math/2012/DistrictandBuildingAggregates-StateReport.pdf

The White Plains scores and the scores of all districts across the state were released by the State Education Department (SED)for the April 2012 grades 3-8 math and English Language Arts (ELA) assessments Tuesday. The average scale scores on this year’s exams in both ELA and math across the state are slightly higher than last year in most grades, and there is a small increase in the percentage of grades 3-8 students across the State who met or exceeded the proficiency standard on both exams.

“There is some positive momentum in these numbers,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch. “But too many of our students, especially students of color, English Language Learners and special education students, are currently not on a course for college and career readiness. That’s why we are continuing to press forward with critical reforms to ensure all of our kids are ready for college and careers. In the fall we will begin to phase in a new, more challenging, content rich curriculum and continue to press for the implementation of a rigorous teacher evaluation system in every district across the state.”

“We’re building a ladder, grade by grade, to college and career readiness,” Commissioner John B. King, Jr. said. “These results are a small, positive sign of growth, but not enough of our students are climbing as steadily as they should be. Next school year, we start to implement reforms to make that ladder strong enough to support all our students as they climb toward college and career readiness.”

King noted that the State Education Department and school districts have been working throughout the year to prepare for implementation of the Regents Reform Agenda. He said there are two related goals: preparing all students for college and careers and closing achievement gaps. Next year, new college and career ready standards will be introduced and a rigorous new fair and transparent teacher and principal evaluation system will start to be implemented.

The 2013 grades 3-8 state tests will begin to reflect the new, higher standards and provide better measurement of progress toward college and career readiness. King said next year’s tests will be tougher, but he believes New York’s teachers and students will rise to the challenge of higher standards for learning.

Summary of Statewide 3-8 Exam Results: Positive Momentum, But Gaps in Achievement Persist

55.1% of grade 3-8 students across the State met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (an increase from 52.8% last year); 64.8% met or exceeded the standard in math (up from 63.3% last year).
37.2% of African-American students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (compared with 55.1% for all students and 66.4% for white students); 46.1% met or exceeded the standard in math (compared with 64.8% for all students and 74% for white students).
40% of Hispanic students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (compared with 55.1% for all students and 66.4% for white students); 53.1% met or exceeded the standard in math (compared with 64.8% for all students and 74% for white students).
11.7% of English Language Learners (ELLs) in grades 3-8 met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (down from 12.6% last year); 34.4% of ELLs met or exceeded the standard in math (up from 32.3% last year).
15.5% of Students with Disabilities (SWDs) met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (up from 14.5% last year) across grades 3-8; 28.5% of SWDs met or exceeded the standard in math (up from 26.9% last year).

Big 5 Students Trail the Rest of the State, But Progress Seen in Yonkers, NYC, and Syracuse

Across the Big 5 city school districts, a smaller proportion of students met or exceeded the math and ELA proficiency standards than in the rest of the state:

In Buffalo, 27.9% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (up from 26.9% last year); 29.9% met or exceeded the math standard (down from 31% last year).
In Yonkers, 40.7% of students met or exceeded the ELA standard (up from 37.8% last year); 46.8% met or exceeded the math standard (up from 40.4% last year).
In New York City, 46.9% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (up from 43.9% last year); 60% met or exceeded the math standard (up from 57.3% last year).
In Rochester, 20.7% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (down from 24.4% last year); 27.3% met or exceeded the math standard (down from 29.4% last year).
In Syracuse, 24.2% of students met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard (up from 22.5% last year); 26.9% met or exceeded the math standard (up from 25.3% last year).

A summary of the test results, as well as individual school and district results, are available at
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/pressRelease/20120717/home.html.

FBI CHARGES 48 WITH MASSIVE MEDICAID PRESCRIPTION DRUG FRAUD IN THE MILLIONS

Posted on July 17, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR FBI WIRE. SPECIAL TO WPCNR FROM THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION. JULY 17, 2012:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Janice K. Fedarcyk, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Raymond W. Kelly, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York (NYPD); and Robert Doar, the Commissioner of the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA), announced today the unsealing of charges against 48 defendants.

They will be charged for their participation in a massive fraud scheme involving the unlawful diversion and trafficking of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of prescription drugs that had previously been dispensed to Medicaid recipients in the New York City area (“second-hand” drugs), in a national underground market.

As a result of the fraud, Medicaid lost more than an estimated $500 million in reimbursements for pills that were diverted into this second-hand black market. Forty-two of the defendants were charged in a superseding indictment, and six more were charged in a complaint.

Thirty-four of the defendants were arrested this morning in connection with today’s charges. Fifteen defendants were taken into custody in New York and New Jersey, and an additional defendant from the area was expected to surrender today. These 16 defendants were to be presented and arraigned in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Maas later this afternoon.

Nineteen other defendants were arrested in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, and Texas and are expected to appear today and tomorrow in federal courts in those states. The remaining defendants charged are at large.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said,

“As alleged, these defendants ran a black market in prescription pills involving a double-dip fraud of gigantic proportions. It worked a fraud on Medicaid—in some cases, two times over—a fraud on pharmaceutical companies, a fraud on legitimate pharmacies, a fraud on patients who unwittingly bought second-hand drugs, and ultimately, a fraud on the entire health care system. With the dozens of arrests we made today, we have taken a significant step toward exposing and shutting down the black market for second-hand drugs, and our investigation is very much ongoing.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk said,

“The scheme to collect, aggregate, and resell costly prescription drugs was bad medicine in three ways: profiting so obscenely by breaking the law is the very definition of unjust enrichment. The scheme was theft, plain and simple, from a program funded by taxpayers. And the scheme posed serious health risks at both the collection and distribution ends. People with real ailments were induced to sell their medications on the cheap rather than take them as prescribed, while end-users of the diverted drugs were getting second-hand medicine that may have been mishandled, adulterated, improperly stored, repackaged, and expired.”

NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said,

“It’s one thing when people sell their blood for money; it’s another when they sell their drugs, especially when the diversion compromises the pharmaceutical supply with tainted and outdated drugs.”

HRA Commissioner Robert Doar said,

“This case is an egregious example of individuals preying on our most vulnerable population. The diversion, repackaging, and reselling of HIV/AIDS medications, in some cases expired, is a danger to our public health. The integrity of the Medicaid Program has been threatened by these criminals who have used taxpayer dollars for the opposite reasons for which they are intended. But make no mistake, together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to pursue these types of criminals and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

The following allegations are based on the superseding indictment, the complaint, and other documents unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

The prescription drugs involved in this scheme were drugs designed to treat various illnesses, including HIV, schizophrenia, and asthma, and were non-controlled substances that did not lend themselves to abuse. These second-hand drugs were originally dispensed to Medicaid recipients in the New York City area who then sold them into collection and distribution channels that ultimately ended at pharmacies for resale to unsuspecting consumers.

The defendants and their co-conspirators profited by exploiting the difference between the cost to the patient of obtaining the prescription drugs through Medicaid, which was usually nothing, and the hundreds of dollars per bottle that pharmacies paid to purchase those drugs to sell to their customers. In order to maximize their profits, the defendants and their co-conspirators targeted the most expensive drugs, which often cost more than $1,000 per bottle.

The Fraudulent Distribution and Trafficking Scheme

The lowest level participants in the scheme (the “Medicaid beneficiaries”) were typically AIDS patients or individuals who suffered from other illnesses that required expensive drug therapies. Using their Medicaid benefits to cover the costs, the Medicaid beneficiaries filled prescriptions for month-long supplies of drugs at pharmacies throughout the New York City area and then sold them to “collectors” for cash instead of using them for treatment.

These transactions occurred at street corners and bodegas in and around New York City, including in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan and in the Bronx. Collectors then sold the second-hand bottles to higher level participants in the scheme (“aggregators”), who typically bought large quantities of second-hand drugs from multiple collectors.

These transactions repeated themselves at increasingly higher levels of aggregators who purchased the drugs from multiple, lower level aggregators. The pills were ultimately sold to wholesale prescription drug distribution companies (“corrupt distribution companies”), which then sold them to pharmacies and to other wholesale prescription distribution drug companies across the United States.

Ultimately, these pharmacies then dispensed the second-hand drugs to unsuspecting customers, some of whom likely were Medicaid beneficiaries. Therefore, in some cases, Medicaid would have reimbursed patients for the same drugs twice—the second time for drugs that were misbranded, adulterated, and possibly expired—and would thereby have been defrauded twice.

The defendants charged in the superseding indictment and the complaint include collectors, aggregators, and owners and operators of the corrupt distribution companies who were carrying out this scheme in states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Utah, Nevada, Louisiana, and Alabama.

In addition, several defendants were also charged with narcotics trafficking offenses for buying and reselling drugs including Oxycodone and Oxymorphone.

The Fraudulent Labeling Scheme

Because the prescription drugs involved in the scheme were not drugs of abuse and were ultimately going to be resold in the legal drug distribution chain, it was essential that they be packaged in bottles that appeared to contain new drugs that came directly from the manufacturer via authorized and licensed wholesale distributors. Therefore, the defendants and their co-conspirators had to restore the previously dispensed bottles to their original appearance, with the manufacturer’s label still intact but without the patient labels that pharmacies affix when dispensing drugs to a patient.

After purchasing the second-hand bottles originally dispensed to Medicaid beneficiaries, the defendants and their co-conspirators used lighter fluid and other means to dissolve the adhesive on the patient labels so that they could be removed. During the process, the manufacturers’ labels sometimes became damaged, and/or the second-hand drugs were close to their expiration dates or had already expired.

When the bottles were not resaleable because of damaged manufacturers’ labels or expiration date problems, some of the defendants replaced the original manufacturers’ labels with counterfeit labels and/or altered the labels to backdate their expiration dates. Some of these counterfeit prescription drug manufacturers’ labels were obtained by two of the defendants from the Dominican Republic. In other instances, the defendants and their co-conspirators removed the drugs from the bottles and trafficked in loose pills, which were then completely untraceable.

E-mails obtained by search warrant revealed that a certain subset of the defendants bought and sold more than $62 million worth of second-hand prescription drugs during an approximately 12-month time period during the conspiracy, which they meticulously documented in a business-like manner through purchase orders and receipts scanned onto their computers and uploaded into e-mail accounts.

The Second-Hand Pills

The second-hand pills that found their way back into the legal drug distribution stream were potentially dangerous to the unwitting consumers who purchased them for several reasons. For example, the defendants and their co-conspirators stored the drugs in uncontrolled conditions, such as car trunks, residences, and rented storage facilities, which would have compromised the medical efficacy of the drugs over time.

During the investigation, the FBI seized more than $16 million worth of second-hand prescription drugs, comprised of more than 33,000 bottles and more than 250,000 loose pills, kept in uncontrolled and sometimes egregious conditions by various defendants and their co-conspirators.

* * *

Charts identifying each defendant, the charges, and the maximum penalties are below. The indicted case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote.

Mr. Bharara praised the efforts of the FBI’s Health Care Fraud Task Force and thanked FBI, NYPD, and HRA for their work on the case. The New York FBI Health Care Fraud Task Force was formed in 2007 in an effort to combat health care fraud in the greater New York City area. The task force is comprised of agents, officers, and investigators from the FBI, NYPD, the New York State Insurance Fraud Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Inspector General, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, New York State Attorney General’s Office, New York State Office of Medicaid Inspector General, New York State Health and Hospitals Inspector General, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Mr. Bharara thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General for their assistance. He also thanked the FBI’s Boston, Houston, Miami, Newark, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City Field Offices, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s offices in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas (Southern), Florida (Southern), Pennsylvania (Eastern), and Utah for their assistance in the investigation.

If you think you may have purchased second-hand prescription drugs or were otherwise victimized by this scheme, you can call the FBI Hotline at 212-384-3555.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Masimore and Russell Capone are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Wilson of the Office’s Asset Forfeiture Unit is responsible for the forfeiture of assets.

The charges contained in the indictment and the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

* * *

U.S. v. Viera, et al.

Count	Charge	Defendants	Maximum Penalties
1	Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and healthcare fraud	Juan Carlos Viera Jose Manuel Dominguez Julio Dominguez Carlos Alberto Padron Juan Manuel Tavarez Padilla Juan Tavarez Aura Catalina Tavarez Edwin M. Tavarez Israel Tacher Roberto Tacher Vanessa Rosario Eligio Armas Eduardo Diaz Carlos Peralta Joselito Peralta Juan Carlos Peralta Hanser Olivo Liranzo Kelvin Manuel Martinez Taveras Glenn Luis Cabrera Fary R. Caba Padilla Miguel Padilla Americo Luis Garcia Dominguez Wilfred Rodriguez Jose Ramon Gonzalez Alex Justo Yoel Fernandez Rivero Amauris A. Rosario Jacqueline Jimenez Luis Santana Bayohan Diaz Paulino Cayetano Armando Garcia Sergio Novo Lazaro Ospina	0 years in prison
2	Conspiracy to commit adulteration and misbranding offenses and the unlawful wholesale distribution of prescription drugs	Juan Carlos Viera Jose Manuel Dominguez Julio Dominguez Carlos Alberto Padron Juan Manuel Tavarez Padilla Juan Tavarez Aura Catalina Tavarez Edwin M. Tavarez Israel Tacher Roberto Tacher Vanessa Rosario Eligio Armas Eduardo Diaz Carlos Pera Joselito Peralta Juan Carlos Peralta Hanser Olivo Liranzo Kelvin Manuel Martinez Taveras Glenn Luis Cabrera Fary R. Caba Padilla Miguel Padilla Americo Luis Garcia Dominguez Wilfred Rodriguez Jose Ramon Gonzalez Alex Justo Yoel Fernandez Rivero Amauris A. Rosario Jacqueline Jimenez Luis Santana Bayohan Diaz Paulino Cayetano Armando Garcia Sergio Novo Lazaro Ospina	Five years in prison
3	Conspiracy to commit trafficking in counterfeit goods	Vanessa Rosario Joselito Peralta	10 years in prison
4	Narcotics conspiracy	Juan Manuel Tavarez Padilla Juan Tavarez Aura Catalina Tavarez Vanessa Rosario Joselito Peralta Hanser Olivo Liranzo Amauris A. Rosario Brenda Santos Ira Karp Joel Gabriel Casado	20 years in prison
5	Narcotics conspiracy	Luis Santana Bayohan Diaz Luis Abreu Paulino Cayetano Jose Felipe Benito Duran Arelis Lee Milagros Acevedo	20 years in prison

U.S. v. Oria, et al.

Count	Charge	Defendants	Maximum Penalties
1	Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and healthcare fraud	Alex Oria Joe H. Nelson Kenneth Nelson Conrado Vazquez Efren Ruiz Abel Gonzalez	20 years in prison
2	Conspiracy to commit money laundering	Alex Oria Joe H. Nelson Kenneth Nelson	20 years in prison

Defendants’ Ages and Residencies

Defendant	Residence	Age
Juan Carlos Vier	Hialeah, Florida	49
Jose Manuel Dominguez	Miami, Florida	62
Julio Dominguez	Miami, Florida	60
Carlos Alberto Padron	Miami, Florida	54
Juan Manuel Tavarez Padilla	Cliffside Park, New Jersey	30
Juan Tavarez	New York, New York	58
Aura Catalina Tavarez	New York, New York	36
Edwin M. Tavarez	Cliffside Park, New Jersey	26
Israel Tacher	Miami, Florida	62
Robert Tacher	Miami, Florida	37
Vanessa Rosario	Cutler Bay, Florida	28
Eligio Armas	North Bergen, New Jersey	54
Eduardo Diaz	Cliffside Park, New Jersey	58
Carlos Peralta	West New York, New Jersey	49
Joselito Peralta	Ridgefield Park, New Jersey	37
Juan Carlos Peralta	Ridgefield Park, New Jersey	24
Hanser Olivo LIRANZO	Fairview, New Jersey	32
Kelvin Manuel Martinez Taveras	Bronx, New York	33
Glenn Luis Cabrera	Ridgefield Park, New Jersey	22
Fary R. Caba Padilla	Bronx, New York	21
Miguel Padilla	Bronx, New York	62
Americo Luis Garcia Dominguez	Miami, Florida	29
Wilfred Rodriguez	Brooklyn, New York	49
Jose Ramon Gonzalez	New York, New York	48
Alex Justo	New York, New York	37
Yoel Fernandez Rivero	Miami, Florida	32
Amauris A. Rosario	Bronx, New York	31
Jacqueline Jimenez	New York, New York	37
Luis Santana	Richmond Hill, New York	39
Bayohan Diaz	Richmond Hill, New York	27
Paulino Cayetano	Bronx, New York	36
Armando Garcia	Guttenberg, New Jersey	40
Sergio Novo	North Arlington, New Jersey	74
Lazaro Ospina	Bloomfield, New Jersey	71
Brenda Santos	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	34
Ira Karp	New York, New York	77
Luis Abreu	Worcester, Massachusetts	32
Joel Gabril Casado Gabriel	Bronx, New York	27
Jose Felipe	Brooklyn, New York	47
Benito Duran	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	38
Arelis Lee	Brooklyn, New York	56
Milagros Acevedo	Brooklyn, New York	48
Alex Oria	Missouri City, Texas	55
Joseph Nelson	Sugar Land, Texas	75
Kenneth Nelson	Sugar Land, Texas	52
Conrado Vazquez	Miami, Florida	40

County Mortgage Tax $$ Down 6% in first 6 months of 2012

Posted on July 17, 2012 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. Special to WPCNR from the Westchester County Clerk Office. July 17, 2012:

Revenue figures released today by Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni indicate that county mortgage tax receipts have fallen below first half collections in 2010 and 2011.

The mortgage tax, considered a major county revenue source, continues to struggle as the national economy and our local real estate market recover. The county received $6,170,454 this year so far, down 6.38% from the same point in both 2010 and 2011.

“We are hopeful that record low interest rates combined with the slow improvement we are seeing in our local real estate market will result in a steady increase in this important revenue source in the second half of the year,” stated Idoni whose office collects mortgage tax for Westchester County.

Mortgage Tax Collected (County Portion Only)

2008-2012

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 (through 6/30/2012)

$19,279,690 $12,425,216 $12,969,204 $13,079,307 $6,170,454

The total 2012 mortgage tax for the county is projected to be only about a third of the $39,836,895 collected in 2005 when the real estate market was at its recent peak. A comparison of the first half revenues from 2008 through 2012 follows:

2008 (% chg from prior yr) 2009 2010 2011 2012

$10,793,553 (-) $5,273,233 (-51.14%) $6,478,880 (+22.86%) $6,590,654 (+1.73%) $6,170,454 (-6.38%)

Idoni has collected fifty nine percent (59%) of his land records departmental revenue budgeted for 2012 at the halfway point in the year. As was the case in 2011, the source appears to be an increase in the number of consolidations, extensions and modifications of mortgages on properties throughout the county.

While the filing of consolidations and modifications does generate some limited revenue for the county in the form of recording fees, there is often no mortgage tax due as no additional amounts have been borrowed.

For more information about the Office of the County Clerk, please call (914)995-3080 or visits www.WestchesterClerk.com.