WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR DOWNTOWN DAILY.From the Downtown Business Improvement District. February 6,2014:

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office. February 4, 2014:

Governor Cuomo believes that the best long term economic development strategy is ensuring New York State has the strongest possible education system. Common Core is an issue about which there has been a lot of dialogue. The Governor believes that we need to set real standards for our students and have a meaningful teacher evaluation system, and continues to support the Common Core agenda.

However, the Governor believes that the way that Common Core has been managed by the Board of Regents is flawed, leading to too much uncertainty, confusion and anxiety among students and their parents. The strength of public education in New York is dependent on a rational system that is well administered.

Two weeks ago, the Governor announced that he will assemble a panel that includes education experts and members of the legislature to identify flaws in Common Core’s rollout and take corrective action by the end of this session.

The Governor believes there are two issues – common core and teacher evaluations – and they must be analyzed separately. It would be premature to consider any moratorium before the panel is allowed to do its work.

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor’s Press Office.(EDITED) February 3, 2014:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the largest single year of recoveries of taxpayer dollars in the history of the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG). Preliminary calculations show the administration recovered more $851 Million in 2013 alone.

For example, OMIG audited Abbott House in Irvington, Westchester County, to check compliance with Medicaid regulations regarding outpatient services. These services are furnished at clinic and day treatment facilities and through home- and community-based federal waiver programs. The audit found information was missing from Medicaid consumer records needed to support reimbursement for service.

Auditors discovered that critical components of consumer records were absent, so they could not confirm whether a consumer had responded to treatment, or whether the treatment had been delivered in the first place. Additionally, Abbott House billed for more days of service than were documented, as well as for services when there was not a required residential habilitation plan. OMIG recovered the full amount – more than $254,000 – from this provider.

Some notable actions in 2013 included:
· Cracking Down on Ineligible Individuals – OMIG investigated a ring of ineligible individuals who had been fraudulently enrolled in the Medicaid program in Brooklyn, New York. In these cases, members of an exclusive gated beachfront community had fabricated information on their Medicaid applications in order to bypass eligibility limits. One notable case included an individual who vacationed in Las Vegas and drove a Porsche, Aston-Martin, and a BMW. This work lead to six prosecutions by the Brooklyn District Attorney for welfare fraud, grand larceny, and offering a false instrument for filing.

· Recovering Home Health Payments – OMIG reconciled Medicare and Medicaid payments for dual-eligible Medicaid consumers. When Medicaid consumers are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, home health care providers should first bill Medicare, and then bill Medicaid for whatever portion of the bill Medicare does not pay. OMIG’s work to review statewide home health payments identified instances where the Medicare program should have paid but did not. This work identified $496 million in inappropriate Medicaid billings. OMIG recovered $211 million in New York State’s share for taxpayers during 2013.·

New Yorkers can assist the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General in fighting fraud, waste, and abuse by reporting potentially suspicious behavior or incidents. OMIG encourages anyone who observes instances of potential Medicaid fraud, waste, or abuse to contact OMIG’s fraud hotline at 1-877-87-FRAUD or visit the Web site at www.omig.ny.gov. Tips can be completely anonymous, and OMIG investigates information from all calls.New Yorkers can assist the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General in fighting fraud, waste, and abuse by reporting potentially suspicious behavior or incidents. OMIG encourages anyone who observes instances of potential Medicaid fraud, waste, or abuse to contact OMIG’s fraud hotline at 1-877-87-FRAUD or visit the Web site at www.omig.ny.gov. Tips can be completely anonymous, and OMIG investigates information from all calls.

Th $851 Million brings the three-year total under Governor Cuomo to more than $1.73 billion recovered from Medicaid providers who inappropriately billed Medicaid and individuals who received services to which they were not entitled. This is a 34 percent increase over the previous three years. OMIG’s recoveries are the highest on record for any state Medicaid program integrity unit.

“With more than $851 million recovered from Medicaid abuses in 2013 alone – the most in the State’s history – New York is truly leading the nation in fighting fraud and protecting taxpayer dollars,” Governor Cuomo said. “Our focus on cleaning up the Medicaid program is showing record-breaking results, and OMIG’s efforts serve as a role model for other states to follow. Eliminating this kind of waste is vital to transforming New York’s healthcare system, and this year’s tremendous amount of recoveries shows that we are well on our way to building a healthier and fairer New York.”

“Fighting Medicaid fraud is a cornerstone of our efforts, and anyone who steals from Medicaid should know that we will find them. OMIG is proud of this record result,” said Medicaid Inspector General James C. Cox. “This is an extraordinary accomplishment, and an historical achievement. Through dedication and perseverance, our staff not only met but exceeded all expectations in recoveries for the year. Governor Cuomo’s support was crucial to our efforts.”

These results reflect the administration’s focus on eliminating or preventing fraud, waste, and abuse, particularly in the Medicaid program. OMIG has worked to eliminate fraud through aggressive responses to allegations of fraud in social adult day care, excluding unscrupulous providers, and focusing on ineligible individuals. Among the improvements in fraud and abuse prevention established under the Cuomo administration are the creation of pre-claim reviews – specialized reviews of home health claims and inventory reports – improved practices for reviewing pharmacy operations, and strong data sharing and coordination with federal, state, and local partners.

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Gotham City Synchro, sponsored by the Figure Skating Club of New York, fnished a flawless skate to take 5th Place of 16 teams competing in the United States Figure Skating Eastern Championships in Hershey, Pennsylvania Saturday. The Gotham team won their qualifying round Friday and followed that up with a flawless execution to take their 5th place.

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE News & Comment by John F. Bailey January 31, 2014:

Money.

Everbody is talking about. The Governor is promising property tax refunds if the school district and the city holds their tax levies under a 1.5% increase.

White Plains is starting to think about it.

The Mayor’s Budget and Advisory Committee is going to meet February 10 at 7:30 and they will be briefed on the effect of the Affordable Health Care Law, After Retirement Benefits, including retiree health insurance, and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s tax relief proposal.

A funny thing about those tax relief proposals of the governor—in order to have tax payers get a refund of any property taxes, the city has to keep the rise in its tax levy to 1.5%. Last year the allowable cap was 2%.

This year’s current adopted budget predicts a 4% rise in expenses, salaries, benefits, pension costs in 2014-15.  Hopefully that will not happen.

Tell you why:

A 4% rise in expenses amounts to a $7 million increase in the overall $171.2 Million budget to about $178.2 Million.

To cover a $ 7 Million increase in the budget the property tax levy has to hit $60 Million, which would raise the property tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value to $216 from the present $192, a 12% property tax increase.

On a $650,000 home in White Plains this amounts to $3,559 in city taxes compared to $3,163 that owner is paying the city this year. That’s a $400 increase.

A 13% increase in the levy is unthinkable. It is far from the 1.5% cap. That 13% is not counting any retroactive increase an arbitrator may impose on the city in settlement of the police arbitration.

Perhaps the city will come to their financial senses and not roll over the budget as they do almost every year.  Of course a ¼% raise in the sales tax would cover that $7 Million increase nicely, wouldn’t it? They had better crank up that sales tax request to our legislators soon.

If they increase the levy 13% , the property tax rate could be 12%  higher. This is what happens when you roll over.

In order for the city to get their property tax rebate from Governor Cuomo, this year,  the city has to cut millions out of the payroll—read jobs –or raise the sales tax. If parking revenues are down, and I would bet they are, it will compound the problem.

Governor Cuomo’s promise of continued property tax refunds to our citizens if the city of White Plains saves 1% a year for three years 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 does not appear possible.

That is not happening with this administration or an administration around New York State. The 1.5% tax levy cap and the governor’s property tax rebates proposal appears to ignore the history of city budgeting at least in White Plains this city has cut the budget once in 14 years.

The city, in order to avoid raising the tax levy beyond the 1.5% cap (1.5% on a 53.3 Million dollar levy is $799,500, has to find more revenue. Will they raise parking rates? Raise sales tax to fund a rollover budget? Or layoff?

They need to find some money now. The effects of business as usual are chilling.