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WPCNR TAX SCOOPER. Special to WPCNR from New Jersey Biz. May 27, 2010: New Jersey Business, the online daily finds a debate going on as to how effective a property tax cap might be. Their report from Trenton, where New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is attempting to cut spending by imposing a property tax cap, finds that though Massachussetts education performs as well as New Jersey schools with a tax cap, the state simply taxed more as a result. Their report may be found at http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/studies_conflict_on_whether_nj.html

 

WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. May 26, 2010:

 

I read with interest the President of the Westchester County Association op-ed piece in the Sunday Journal News.

 

The WCA had a free “Call to Action” meeting last week. They featured Mayor Ed Koch addressing the need for reform in Albany, and the need to cut taxes and spending. Their President reiterated this message in his Sunday piece.

 

The WCA is good at talk.  Big dog and pony shows with no tricks.

 

They promised a task force a year or so ago,  among area banks, hospitals and businesses to help Westchester businesses. Well, I have yet to see the results of that task force or any benefit to Westchesterites.

 

To my knowledge no tangible hands-on services to help struggling local businesses have been heavily publicized by the WCA. Other than documenting the economic problems facing business in Westchester County and saying Albany has to do something. They are good at hand-wringing.

 

However, given a chance to actually help Westchester County homeowner taxpayers last year, and stop the bleeding, the WCA chose not to do so. They effectively blocked it. The issue was certiorari reform. They killed it.

 

This “reform” organization  trumpeted like a stuck elephant when the New York State Senate was about to take up a bill that could actually aid residential taxpayers who are paying the lion’s share of the tax bill for city and town services these days because of the burgeoning filing of certioraris– by — you guessed it — big businesses in Westchester County, big landlords, big law firms.  

 

A certiorari is a procedure a business files with a municipality claiming they have been overassessed in previous tax years.  They get awarded  refunds by municipalities in the millions and future profits by reduced assessments.

 

They have to document their losses, and because of the equalization rate which in the last decade or so thanks to rising home values have helped business owners immensely by articificially lowering business property owners’ percentage of taxes.

 

Coupled with a slowing economy, business owners who do not fill up their office buildings, can claim their businesses did not make as much money as they did and were over-assessed. They are granted huge refunds. These certioraris are rarely contested, if ever, by the municipalities. You have outrageous things happening like prime office space selling in White Plains for less than it was bought for in the 90s – and tremendous drop in assessments.

 

Adam Bradley, the former assemblyman, now the Mayor of White Plains, a city whose assessment roll has been a sitting duck for certiorari filings the last ten years thanks to the certirorai game corporations have played in the city, and by a “our hands are tied” Board of Assessment Review,  introduced the bill in the Assembly and they passed it.

 

When it when to the Senate, the great “let’s cut spending,” “let’s cut taxes” organization, the Westchester County Association swung into action. To support it? NO. To kill it.  Why? Because the certiorari money stream for both business owners and the certiorari law lobby would be stopped in Westchester if this bill passed.

 

The WCA fought very hard against certiorari reform, sending out news releases that  misstated what the separate commercial tax rate bill would do. The WCA wrung its hands, saying this was not the right bill for Westchester businesses at this time. Because it would hurt them.

 

Even the former County Executive joined the chorus against this bill saying it was not right to afflict Westchester businesses at this time with this separate commercial tax rate. It would not have meant more taxes – just a separate tax rate that would only kick in IF a certiorari was filed. This would have stopped the advantage of certiorari filings. And put certiorari law specialists in considerably lower tax brackets.

 

The WCA apparently wants as low taxes as possible for businesses – and the residents of Westchester to keep paying businesses’ bills for services – the police, the fire, the roads, the mass transit, garbage collection,  and also keep more perks for business.

 

What WCA really stands for is WE COUNT ALWAYS….because it only supports what is good for the businesses of the county. They live by their accounting, make money out of bankruptcies, cut their deals, want special perks and incentives and shoot lots of contributions to State Senators and Assemblypersons to make sure they get what they want, when they want and what is good for them.

 

The Call for Action in which the WCA demands cuts in spending, promises debates for all representative races in Westchester, to air the issues, is very interesting.

 

But it really comes from an organization whose best interests of their members is the business owners who belong to this organization. Their idea is whatever helps them is good for everybody. Certioraris help them. But that is killing the residential taxpayer who is really subsidizing business with their taxes. Business is not paying their share in this county. The residents are.

 

Oh, no they say. The counjty needs reval. Trust me: reval will not be good for you Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner.

 

More to the point, thanks to the WCA’s grandstanding last week saying Albany has to reform,cut spending,etc., because business is paying too much taxes, all America knows this is a place you do not want to locate.

 

They may as well have said — “Go to Connecticut, Go to Joisey.”

 

Where is the WCA in promoting the economic advantages of doing business here? Where else can you come in, get incredible perks for development (just ask), get your services essentially at very low cost – and if you’re not as successful still make a ton of money by turning your losses into tax refunds. Thanks to the beauty of the certiorari “Recap Device,” you can pay your taxes, then get them back with good bookkeeping. It is the hidden reason,aided and encouraged by the state legislature residential taxes have skyrocketed in this county. Why have school taxes and municpal taxes gone up?  To replace money lost from the millions in reassessments granted the self-promoting business community.

 

Their very Call for Action last week highlights the problems for businesses locating here unnecessarily and is very dumb from a public relations standpoint.

 

You do not want to do that. Stamford is killing us. Connecticut and New Jersey are waiting to snap our businesses up, and you’re telling the world how lousy New York State is. That’s really not smart.

 

Of course, it is meant to scare the heck out of Albany.

 

But, unfortunately,  the damage has been done.

 

I’d be pleased to inform persons  businesses and residents of programs the WCA has, to help residents and buisnesses in the following areas, which really need to be addressed now:

 

1.) Get mortgages. 2.) Forestall foreclosures. 3.) Find affordable business space. 4.) Stay where they are presently doing business. 5.) Promote real estate purchases in the area. 6.) Work with municipalities to analyze certiorari filings for accuracy, honesty, and fairness just in case losses have been articially inflated. 7.) Highlight key business areas where firms can settle. 8.) Promote the advantages of Westchester instead of the negatives.9.) A credit rehabilation. 10.) affordable housing for workers.

 

That’s for starters.

 

WCA should start contributing and stop the whining.