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)

Employment Steady in WP, County Employment UP SLIGHTLY in August

Posted on September 17, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. From Johny Nelson, New York State Department of Labor. (EDITED) UPDATED FOR WHITE PLAINS,4 P.M. E.D.T. September 17, 2009:

In the City of White Plains the number of umemployed residents in August held at 2,100 for the second straight month, for an unemployment rate of 6.8%, with the Labor Department recording 30,000 White Plains residents employed in August.

In Westchester County, unemployment held steady at an unemployment rate of 7.3% 467,900 county residents were reported employed, with 37,000 reported as unemployed compared to 37,200 unemployed in July.August was the third consecutive month that unemployment had show a decrease. After a year high water mark of unemployed of 38,100 in June, there were 37,200 unemployed in July and another 200 found jobs in August.

The region’s economy continued to deteriorate in August as private sector employment declined by 2.5 percent. In 1st quarter 2009, private sector employment decreased by an average of 1.8 percent and since then, over the last 5 months, the sector declined by an average of 2.3 percent. Over-the-year private sector job losses have now reached or exceeded 16,000 for five consecutive months; this last occurred in 1992.

Private sector employment in the Hudson Valley decreased 18,800, or 2.5 percent, to 741,900 for the 12-month period ending August 2009. Private sector job gains were focused in educational and health services (+3,800). Job losses were largest in trade, transportation and utilities (-5,600), manufacturing (-4,300), professional and business services (-3,700), leisure and hospitality (-3,700), natural resources, mining and construction (-2,200), financial activities (-1,500), and information (-1,200). The government sector added 100 jobs over the year.

WP Faces $6 Million Sales Tax GaP, County $60 Million Shortfall: Stats Show

Posted on September 17, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. September 17, 2009 UPDATED WITH OFFICIAL STATE STATISTICS: White Plains based on present sales tax collection trends the first two months of its fiscal year, faces a $6 Million gap in sales tax collections in the current city budget, meaning the city will finish the current year in the red unless retail sales pick up sharply in the holiday quarter coming up.

Westchester County and its legislators can look forward to a $60 Million Sales Tax gap alone when they take up preparation the 2010 budget.

White Plains has experienced its fourth consecutive month of sales tax receipts decline. The County has experienced seven consective months of decline.

The figures were furnished WPCNR by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Total Sales Tax Receipts for the first seven months show White Plains receipts have declined 12-1/4%, falling behind the first half of 2008 in 5 of the 7 months.

Westchester County has failed to match 2008 cumulative sales tax collections figures in each of the last seven months, creating a $38.6 Million deficit in sales tax collections, which if the present rate of decline continues, creates a $60 Million sales tax gap the county would have to make up.

Official figures from the Department of Taxation and Finance released to WPCNR show White Plains collections have declined for four consecutive months, with the first two months of the new fiscal year that began in July showing a 12.87% decline in July and an 11.6% decline in August (the back-to-school shopping month).

The city is off $963,951.53 in sales tax the first two months of its fiscal year. If the 12.5% decline in retail sales tax collections sustains itself, the city will face a sales tax shortfall planned in this year’s budget of $6 Million, and in planning for the 2010-11 budget, a similar $6 Million less in sales tax that they cannot budget for 2010

Westchester County, which has a calendar year fiscal year(January to December), is off 12-1/2% in sales tax collections the first 7 months of the year, creating a shortfall in the sales tax monies anticipated of $38.6 Million.

In the first seven months of 2008, Westchester County collected $307.8 Million. In the first seven months of 2009, the county has collected $269.2 Million, $38.6 Million behind the pace of last year.

The county expected to receive $478.2 Million in sales tax in budget year 2009. At the present pace the county can expect a $60 Million sales tax shortfall before taking into account mortgage tax, increased expenses, wages, pension fund contributions and other impacts on the budget, unless of course, the holiday season in October, November, December is spectacular beyond retailers’ wildest dreams.

First Seven Months 2009 Sales Tax Receipts

Furnished by the New York State Department of Taxation & Finance

City Back to School Sales Sluggish. Sales Tax Collections Down 11.6% In August.

Posted on September 16, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. September 16, 2009: The White Plains Sales Tax Collections for August are down 11.63% from last August’s figure, reported the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to the CitizeNetReporter today. White Plains collected $3,474,630 in August 2009, compared to $3,931,818 in August 2008, a decline of 11.63%

In the first two months of fiscal year 2009-2010, city sales tax collections totaled $6,905,980.26, according to Susan Burns of the Department of Taxation and Finance, compared to $7,869,932 collected in July and August last year, a decline of 12.2%.

If the 12% decline in sales tax trend continues in the city, ( this is the third consecutive month of decline in sales taxes, maintaining a steady 12% decline), and is not made up by a record-breaking holiday season, the city is looking at a $6,000,000 gap in this year’s budget. (The city has budgeted $47,250,000 in sales tax collections for 2009-10.)

Westchester County sales tax collections continued to run 12.9% behind in collections in August, according to Ms. Burns, consistent with the 13% decline in July. The county collected $31,960,840.82 in sales tax in August, compared to $36,673,184 in August 2008.

Council Hires Labor Counsel. Talks Start in Week. No Prep?

Posted on September 16, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. September 16, 2009 UPDATED 9:45 A.M. E.D.T.: At a meeting of the Common Council Wednesday morning for the purpose of discussing rehiring Lamb & Barnosky as the city Labor Counsel, the Common Council voted unanimously to rehire the firm.. The firm has not, according to Richard Zuckerman, the lead labor counsel forthe city, prepared yet for the labor talks with the police and fire unions starting voluntary Binding Arbitration next week.

Mayor Joseph Delfino emerges from the inner sanctum of the Mayor’s Office to convene the special meeting this morning. The Council voted 7-0 to rehire Lamb & Barnosky, their labor counselors since 1968 for the upcoming voluntary arbitration talks with the police and fire unions. L & B will be paid a maximum of $108,000 as part of their contract. Richard Zuckerman advised the council last week that the labor wage settlements around the County and the metropolitan area have been running at 4% rate.

Joe Carrier, left, and Jim Carrier, right, Presidents of the White Plains Professional Firefighters and the White Plains Policeman’s Benevolent Association, were on hand, monitoring the action. Carrier commented whan asked if he thought the process of getting to the hire of a labor counsel was “bizarre,” said, “This process has been bizarre because they (the council) chose to make it bizarre.”

The approval comes eight days before the matter was to be discussed by the Common Council. Last Thursday evening, when asked if the Common Council was going to send a letter to the Mayor to recommend rehiring a labor counsel before beginning negotiations, Common Council President Benjamin Boykin would only say, “it’s been tabled to September 24.”

There was a change of heart this morning. Council President Benjamin Boykin told WPCNR that the Council received the copy of the agreement between the city and the union as requested last week on Saturday. He said he and Councilman Tom Roach agreed the document was in order and Roach and he agreed to call a meeting this morning to hire the labor counseling firm.

Edward Dunphy, the Corporation Counsel was on vacation and was not available for comment this morning as to whether Zuckerman would have enough time to prepare for the police arbitration talks beginning Monday, and the fire talks beginning September 24.

Boykin told WPCNR the council has been attempting to have a meeting with the labor counsel since last April, having sent the Mayor two letters (one from Mr. Roach and one from Mr. Boykin.) Boykin said he asked the Mayor to schedule a meeting August 25. When none was scheduled he contacted Richard Zuckerman (below) himself on September 3. Zuckerman said he was agreeable to meet and it was worked out that he would meet with the Council last Thursday.

Last Thursday, the Common Council learned from Richard Zuckerman (above)that despite the economic downturn, the negative revenue shortfalls affecting cities and towns and counties around the area has not had the effect of trimming labor settlements. Zuckerman (above) is with Lamb & Barnosky, a legal firm which has handled city labor negotiations since 1968, until July 1 of this year, when the Common Council tabled the matter of renewing the Lamb & Barnosky contract, pending more information about the firm. The matter is scheduled to be considered September 24, three days after pre-scheduled hearings with the Police union begin.

Last week, Zuckerman said hearings would begin September 21 with the Police and September 24 with the firefighters and continue through October. He also announced that a neutral arbitrator, Roger Maher had been agreed on to handle the police hearings, joining Alan Vianti, the neutral arbitrator selected last spring for the firefighter arbitration.

In the course of the acrimonious meeting, punctuated by bickering and fingerpointing between the Mayor and the members of the Council, Mr. Zuckerman noted to the Council that because the Lamb & Barnosky contract had not been renewed, he had suspended all preparation of exhibits he would have usually prepared for the upcoming arbitration.

The Council did not address how much work had been done previously until the suspension of the contract.

Mr. Zuckerman told WPCNR when asked about the possibility of postponing the hearings if the Council acted swiftly in approving the contract. Zuckerman said he could not comment. Zuckerman did say that binding arbitration hearings were routinely scheduled around advance availability of the participants and when they were available. WPCNR took that to mean a restructuring of the present schedule for White Plains Police and Fire would be difficult to do.