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)

City Cuts Macy’s Assessment in Half. Refunds $523,337.

Posted on August 7, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. August 7, 2006 UPDATED August 8, 2006: Tastefully tucked away in the First Reading Ordinances, Items 29-30 on Monday evening’s Common Council Agenda was an ordinance authorizing the first of the new fiscal year’s certioraris, which is a $523,337 refund to Macy’s of The Galleria, and a corresponding lopping of their assessment from $1.8 Million to $900,000, continuing the assessment drain lead by commercial properties in the city.

The $523,337 refund translates to approximately an additional $2.1 Million refund from the city school district. (School Taxes are 4 times the city tax). The School District is planning to issue an $8 Million bond to cover this and other expected certiorari refunds this year, the debt service coming out of school taxes.

The Monday evening settlement covers tax years 1995-96 through 2005-2006. Paul Wood, the City’s Executive Officer, said the settlement is not a new one but is the other half of the settlement with Federated Department Stores from last year where Bloomingdales’ received a tax cert. Wood confirmed the $523,337 would come out of this year’s budget and affect the 2007-2008 tax roll.

Mr. Wood also said that the city made its budget in the final quarter of 2005-2006 ending June 30, actually making more than the budget called for, and he would get the figures for WPCNR from the Commissioner of Finance. WPCNR awaits the good news.

It is too early to tell whether this is the beginning of a new raft of certioraris that will outpace increases in assessments from condominium and home sales and possibly increased PILOT payments this year that will result in additional pressures on the school and city taxes, or perhaps, keep the assessment roll even which would stop a disturbing trend.

In the last four years, the City Tax Roll has declined $22,472,507, ($4.4 Million in 2003-2004, $9.1 Million in 2004-2005, $2.6 Million in 2005-2006, and 2006-2007, $6.3 Million). This has shifted the burden of paying for the city and school services to the homeowner to the benefit of the commercial property owner.

Meanwhile the White Plains homeowner is paying the vast share of taxes, and faces a watershed increase in taxes as the school district prepares to repair its physical buildings.

The school budget at $165.8 Million in 2006-2007 has grown from $89.4 Million in 1995-96. That is an increase of 86% in a decade when inflation has risen 26%. To finance this growth and the recent declines in city commercial assessments, the school district has increased Mr. and Mrs. White Plains school taxes 92%. From $202.91/$1,000 of assessed valuation(1995-1996) TO $449.64/$1,000 in 2006-2007.

With the city budget fat with expenses that outstrip its revenues this has resulted in an increase of city taxes of 7.8% this year. The continued dwindling of commercial property assessments of established successful business mainstays of the city through the certiorari process appears to be continuing as evidenced by the Macy’s refund approved Monday night.

Cellphone Windfall Introduces New Revenue Stream?

Posted on August 6, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR NEWS AND COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. August 6, 2006: Reports from the Mayor’s Office last week indicated that the Air Pistol Ordinance on tonight’s Common Council agenda will be tabled – depriving the city of licensing fees from sale of air pistols

But wait! Just in the nick of time, thanks to the wonderful investigative reporting of the Journal News staff, Allan Hevesi, the state Comptroller, crack auditor and watch dog of the exchequer, has discovered an unbelievable error in the Unified Court System manual in stating who gets to keep the fines collected from illegal cellphone use violations.

It seems that the Journal News double checked with the Comptroller’s on how fines are collected, someone up in the Comptroller’s office said, Sheesh! They’re doing it wrong, that cities, including White Plains are able to keep their cellphone fine collections (estimated at over $1 Million for White Plains alone). White Plains according to its Executive Officer has been sending all the bucks to the state.

Is this any way to run a collection system? A little proofreading in the court system, please! More incredulous is that the city financial and legal departments did not make themselves absolutely clear on the handsfree cellphone law and catch this error.

So White Plains is getting $1.1 Million back from the state, according to The Journal News report. It’s very similar to Westchester County amd Con Edision giving the impression Westchester storm victims of July storms would get $360 food spoilage refunds, and having WPCNR find out from Con Edison that food spoilage resulting from storm damage wasn’t covered.

The handsfree use of a cellphone windfall is good news and bad news for White Plains residents and those who drive into White Plains from elsewhere.

Now the White Plains Police, as if they do not have enough to do, have new incentive to start enforcing the handsfree cellphone law within the White Plains city limits. White Plains gave out a ton of cellphone tickets, but all of it previously went to the state.

Now on any routine traffic day, handsfree cellphone driving violations are rampant in White Plains. (Perhaps reporters can get exclusions.)

There just aren’t enough police to spot all the cellphone violators!

Now, that thanks to The Journal News, any White Plains handsfree cellphone jing will go direct into the hungry maw of the White Plains hurting General Fund.

So drivers within the city limits of White Plains should watch themselves.

The first thing White Plains Police could do is assign just one officer to walk a beat up and down Mamaroneck Avenue and Main Streets and let him just watch the “handheld cellphone talkers.

The police now have more than enough incentive to form an elite “Cell Sweep Team” to go along with their SWAT team to concentrate solely on handsfree cellphone while driving offenders. Perhaps some new cell phone signal detection equipment can be purchased through a grant to note cell phone signals within the city limits that are moving….the equivalent of cellphone radar – sort of like applying LO-JAC principles to hansfree cellphone while driving violations. Perhaps a visual can be established on each individual cellphone use…with a floating squad of BP’s (bicycle police) on cruise to swiftly close on the individual.

Or better yet, while the Parking Department Parking Enforcement Officers, (or whatever they are called – never got an official release on that one), are out writing their 40 tickets an hour (the amount needed to reach their projections for 06-07) they can keep a sharp eye peeled for drivers holding a cellphone and conducting conversations while driving – and aid police enforcement.

Or perhaps the Parking Enforcement Officers can walk up to the window of a car and write them up. (I do not believe they are empowered to do that now. We’ll check on it.)

Perhaps the Common Council will consider an ordinance allowing the Parking Department Officers to write up drivers holding handheld cellphone conversations. Driving violations, at $100 a vio – it’s far more lucrative than parking tickets.

I am breathing a sigh of relief the city deficit is shrinking already.

Thank you Journal News!

Bradley Notes Legislative Successes.

Posted on August 4, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. By Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley. August 4, 2006: I am very pleased to announce that the governor recently signed legislation I authored to facilitate communication between parents and teachers by establishing an Internet-based communications system for schools (Ch. 160 of 2006). The new law, known as the Parent-Teacher Communications Act will help parents remain involved in their children’s education.

A child’s education is greatly enhanced by parental involvement. Unfortunately, large class sizes and busy parental work schedules often do not allow for sufficient communication between parents and teachers. This new law will help bridge the gap between the home and the classroom.

The Parent-Teacher Communications Act requires the state Education Department to develop guidelines to help schools establish Internet communication systems for parents or guardians to communicate with teachers. Combined with reform and oversight legislation, the measure will help parents communicate with teachers and enable them to provide important information and stay more involved with their children’s education. It will also enable educators to provide parents with important information regarding their child and make educators more accessible.

I have been working to ensure that our children have the best education and that our schools operate in the most efficient manner. Last year, I sponsored a new law (Ch.263 of 2005) to increase oversight of school districts statewide. To continue these efforts, the Legislature’s 2006-07 bipartisan budget agreement doubles the money for state Comptroller audits of schools, providing $2.8 million over last year to make sure our tax dollars make it into the classroom.

Money alone cannot achieve our educational goals; we must have accountability and we must have reform. We must involve parents and help enhance their role in our children’s education. I look forward to continue working on measures that make sure that our schools are the very best they can be.

Greenburgh Reaches Franchise Agreement with Verizon for Community Cable/Fibre Op

Posted on August 3, 2006 by John Bailey

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. August 3, 2006: Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner announced today that the Town of Greenburgh, Ardsley, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington and Tarrytown have reached a franchise agreement with the fibre optic upstart, Verizon on a 10-year Franchise agreement which will see Verizon agreeing to wireoffering residents of those villages and towns competitive programming and services (including 77 channels), with Cablevision agreeing to provide cable television service to all residents within five years.

Verizon will pay the villages and towns 5% of their Gross Revenues from subscribers they attract and a Public Education Government Access Grant to each town. Verizon will provide three public access channels to serve the towns and villages and in theory offer cable channels competitive with those of Cablevision. The summary provided by Mr. Feiner did not say whether this included new production facilities, or whether the three channels would serve all five towns.

Verizon will begin the agreement paying the towns a Public Educational Government Access Grants, ($88, 843 to Greenburgh, $61,983 to Hastings, $41,322 to Tarrytown, $33,058 to Irvington and $24,793 to Ardsley, which separate from the 5% of gross revenues (no estimate of project gross revenues was given). In the future the Grants, separate from the 5% of Gross Revenues Fee, are pegged at 57 cents a subscriber for Ardsley; 60 cents a subscriber for Greenburgh, 75 cents a sub for Hastings, 55 cents for Irvington and 69 cents for Tarrytown.

Paul Feiner in a statement released to the media said, “I have been pushing for cable TV competition since the early 1980s. I believe that competition will result in better service, more options for customers and hopefully more competitive rates.”

Feiner announced the Greenburgh Town Board will be holding a hearing on the agreement August 9 at 7:15 PM in Greenburgh Town Hall.