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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Archbishop Stepinanc High School. August 3, 2009: Archbishop Stepinac High School today announced the formation of a Board of Directors who will oversee the

60-year-old school’s operations as an independent high school within the Archdiocese of New York.  Stepinac’s charter as an independent high school and its board were approved recently by the New

York State Board of Regents.

 

The formation of the board follows the announcement last January by the Archdiocese of New York

 that it was placing the responsibility for governance of its 10 high schools including Stepinac in the

hands of each individual school and that each would now be governed by its own board.  As a result,

for the first time the schools will be self-governing and have direct local control over their own

operations.  The Archdiocese will continue to own the school properties and buildings and

provide financial support for major capital repairs.

 

Stepinac’s nine-member board will be headed by William F. Plunkett Jr. of Tarrytown.

A prominent attorney, Mr. Plunkett is a graduate of Stepinac (Class of ’58) and is a founding

partner of the Plunkett & Jaffe law firm that in 2006 merged to become the Plunkett & Jaffe Group

of the law firm of McKenna, Long & Aldridge.  He is well known for his work with numerous

government and not-for-profit agencies and groups. He has been honored by many organization,

including the National Conference of Christians and Jews and is a recipient of the Ellis Island

Medal of Honor.

 

Joining him as officers of the board are:

 

Thomas B. Martin of Scarsdale, Vice Chairman.  A 1965 Stepinac graduate, he is a registered

Investment Advisor and owner of Circle Advisors, a diversified wealth advisory and financial services

firm, and is managing director of Circle Consulting Group Inc.  He is experienced in executive

compensation planning and employment contract negotiations.

 

Jim Scully of White Plains, Secretary.  A 1980 Stepinac graduate, he is a partner in Scully

Construction LLC, a leading provider of general contracting services in the tri-state area. 

He is active in numerous trade and community organizations and is a member of Stepinac’s

Alumni Association.

 

Kevin J. Keane of White Plains, Treasurer.  He is Managing Partner of O’Conner, Davies, Munns & Dobbins, LLP, a leading accounting firm in the New York metropolitan area. 

A 1974 graduate of Stepinac, he is a certified public accountant with extensive experience

in all areas of accounting and tax planning services. He specializes in dealing with closely held

businesses and their owners.  He is active in numerous business and community organizations.

 

Other board members are:

 

Maggie Kolman-Mandle of Briarcliff Manor is a partner in The Research Firm, a full service market

research company serving Fortune 500 companies.  She is the mother of two recent Stepinac

graduates and her brother is also an alumnus.  From 2002-2004 she served as President of the

Lady Crusaders, a group composed of the mothers of Stepinac students that provides support to the school.  

 

George Kahayas of Yonkers is Senior Trial Attorney at the law firm of Garbarini & Scher PC

specializing in medical, hospital and product liability and employment discrimination and is an

adjunct lecturer on health and law at the New York Medical College School of Public Health. 

Five of his sons are Stepinac graduates.

 

Sister Lucille Coldrick has been a member of the Sisters of the Divine Compassion for 50 years.

She has been deeply involved in education as both a teacher and an administrator. 

She taught at The Academy of Our Lady of Good Council in White Plains and served as its

principal for seven years and was principal of Preston High School in the Bronx from 1991-1998.

 

Monsignor Anthony Marchitelli, President of Stepinac, has had a long career in education.  He came to Stepinac in 2002 after having served as Principal of John F. Kennedy High School, Somers for seven years. For 17 years, he was a member of the faculty at St. Joseph-by-the-Sea, Staten Island where he also served as Dean of Discipline, Athletic Director and Swim Coach. He attended Cathedral College, Douglaston, Queens, where he earned a B.A. Degree and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, where he obtained a Divinity Degree in Theology. He was ordained in 1976.

 

Father Thomas Collins, former Dean of Students at Stepinac, is a 1979 graduate of Stepinac.  Following his ordination as a priest in 1992, he joined the faculty of the school and was later named Dean of Students. In 2007 he joined the school’s Office of Development.  In addition to his work at Stepinac, he celebrates Mass at Resurrection Church in Rye, Holy Rosary Church in Hawthorne and Our Lady of Sorrows Church in White Plains.

 

As the composition of the new board demonstrates, Stepinac alumni maintain strong ties to the school throughout their lives.  Mr. Plunkett noted that “the loyalty of our alumni will serve the school well as it moves forward in this new era.  Already there has been an outpouring of alumni support for the school that will provide a solid foundation upon which to build. Independence is a challenge that our board joined by our administration, faculty and staff are well prepared to meet.”

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor’s Press Office. July 31,2009: The Division of the Budget  released its First Quarter Update to the State Financial Plan yesterday, which includes updated information on revenues, spending, and other financial indicators.

Based on operating results through the first three months of the fiscal year and updated economic projections that indicate continuing weakness in the overall economy, the State must eliminate a current-year deficit of $2.1 billion in 2009-10, which will grow to $4.6 billion in 2010-11.

To address this issue, Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he will work with Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch to develop an Economic and Fiscal Recovery Plan that will eliminate the current-year budget deficit and improve the State’s long-term fiscal health. The Governor’s plan will be released in September.

“New York, like virtually every State in the nation, continues to experience historic economic difficulties, and further action is needed to control spending,” Governor Paterson said. “However, in addressing the State’s immediate fiscal issues, we cannot neglect the critical long-term reforms that are necessary to return New York to economic prosperity and national leadership. Along with the help of Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch, I will continue to push for a broad, bold agenda to help improve the lives of everyday New Yorkers and I urge the Legislature to join me in that effort.”

First Quarter Update to the State Financial Plan
The largest factor driving revisions in the Division of the Budget First Quarter Update to the State Financial Plan is continued weakness in the economy, which has resulted in lower-than-projected year-to-date tax receipts. Highlights include:

• Continued Revenue Declines. Through the first quarter of the 2009-10 fiscal years, overall General Fund revenues were $305 million below initial projections. This figure, however, includes several one-time cash management actions that do not impact the State’s underlying economic and revenue base. During the first quarter, the State recovered $387 million in past overpayments to the City of New York for their local personal income tax collections. It also accelerated $121 million in transfers from special revenue funds to the General Fund, which were expected to take place later within the same fiscal year. Without the impact of these one-time cash-management actions, General Fund revenues would have been $813 million below projections.
  
  
• Personal Income Taxes. Compared to 1Q2008-09, General Fund personal income tax collections declined by $4.2 billion or 35 percent to $7.7 billion in 1Q2009-10. This is $584 million below initial financial plan projections, reflecting persistent difficulties within the broader economy.




• Sales Taxes. Compared to 1Q2008-09, General Fund sales and use tax collections declined by 6 percent or $160 million to $2.6 billion in 1Q2009-10. This is $159 million below initial financial plan projections. DOB estimates that the economic base underlying the sales tax declined by roughly 14 percent during this time period. This decline is unprecedented, exceeding declines following September 11, 2001, and recessions of the 1980s and 1990s.
  
• Wage Declines. State wages are projected to decline 4.8 percent in 2009, the largest decline ever recorded. This historic deterioration, combined with other factors, is projected to have a severe impact on the base of virtually all of the State’s revenue sources over the Division of the Budget’s four-year forecast horizon.
  
• Continued job losses. Since the beginning of the State recession in August 2008, New York has lost 236,000 jobs. Employment declines are expected to continue into 2010, and the State unemployment rate is expected to peak at 9.1 percent in the first quarter of 2010. New York private sector employment is projected to fall 2.7 percent in 2009 (the largest annual decline since 1990), followed by a further decline of 0.5 percent in 2010. Employment in the financial services sector and professional services sector, both of which are particularly important to the downstate economy, are projected to fall by 5.2 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

“Although the budget enacted in April took substantial action to close a combined $20.1 billion budget gap, the fact remains that revenues have continued to fall, and this will force us to make further difficult choices,” Governor Paterson said. “Last year reflected a fundamental transformation of our economic base, but we believe the worst deterioration of our economy may be behind us.”

Revised Budget Deficits
The First Quarter Update reflects revised budget deficits of $2.1 billion in 2009-10, $4.6 billion in 2010-11, $13.3 billion in 2011-12, and $18.2 billion in 2012-13 – a cumulative total of $38.2 billion. This represents an increase from the $24.6 billion cumulative deficit projected in May 2009 ($2.2 billion in 2010-11, $8.8 billion in 2011-12, and $13.7 billion in 2012-13), but is still substantially below the $85.2 billion cumulative deficit projected before 2009-10 Enacted Budget savings actions.

In 2009-10, General Fund receipts are now projected to be $1.97 billion or 3.6 percent below Enacted Budget projections. The largest revenue declines are concentrated in personal income taxes ($1.1 billion) and sales taxes ($410 million). The balance of the 2009-10 deficit is the result of $151 million in increased General Fund disbursements, including higher than expected fringe benefit costs ($90 million), a settlement with the federal government related to School Supportive Health Services ($33 million), and others.

The increased deficits projected over the course of the Division of the Budget’s forecast period are primarily related to the current economic downturn and its powerful negative effect on tax receipts. Additionally, however, several revisions to the General Fund spending forecast will also impact the State’s budget gap projections, many of which are also related to persistent weakness in the economy. These include growing public assistance caseloads and child welfare claims; substantial increases in State pension costs due to decreased investment returns that will occur without legislation to enact Tier V reform and amortize the transition to higher rates; additional payments to school districts to reflect both increases in their actual spending and decreases in lottery aid; costs to support preschool special education; and others.

Spending Growth
In May 2009, the Legislature enacted a fiscal rescue plan for the MTA that helped protect commuters by mitigating drastic service reductions and fare increases. This rescue plan included a Mobility Tax, which, although it provides no benefit to the State financial plan, passes through the State budget and is provided in its entirety to the MTA.

Excluding the impact of the Mobility Tax, State Operating Funds spending growth from last year is nearly flat and expected to total $78.8 billion – an increase of 0.9 percent or $680 million compared to 2008-09. When this pass-through funding is included, State Operating Funds spending is expected to total $80.5 billion, an increase of 2.9 percent or $2.3 billion.

Workforce
Consistent with the Enacted Budget, the Financial Plan reflects $460 million in savings over two years from workforce reductions and related initiatives. The plan assumes these savings from a combination of severance payments, vacancy controls, voluntary reduction in work schedule, and other measures.

Additionally, also consistent with the Enacted Budget, the State workforce subject to Executive control is projected to total 128,803 at the close of 2009-10. This figure will be revised in the Mid-year Update to the Financial Plan pending implementation of the above workforce actions.

National Context
New York is not alone in addressing a mid-year budget shortfall. Over the last two-months, since May 16, at least 14 other states and Washington DC have announced mid-year deficits totaling $30 billion.

Additionally, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, at least 48 states have addressed or still face shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2010 totaling $163 billion or 24 percent of state budgets.

For a copy of the 2009-10 First Quarterly Update to the State Financial Plan and supporting materials, please visit www.budget.state.ny.us.