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 CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. May 29, 2010:  Mayor Adam Bradley contacted WPCNR Friday evening and assured WPCNR that, as he said in his remarks last Monday evening at the Common Council, he “had deep reservations” about requiring some employees and retirees to pay 15% of the cost of their health care benefits as the Common Council approved the budget-cutting step.

WPCNR reported exclusively Friday that 700 retirees (who started working for the city before July 1,1995, will begin paying $1,102 if they have an individual Empire Blue Cross /Blue Sheild plan and $2,396 if they participate in the Empire family plan effective July 1.

Bradley told WPCNR Friday evening, the administration has found two companies which may offer less coverage to the retirees and the employees who are forced to pay 15% of the medical benefits in the just-approved 2010-11 city budget, but will enable the employees and retirees who select them, to again receive their benefits without paying a share of them. Bradley said the city is looking these companies, but the availability of the plans is not to be expected before January 1, 2011.

After WPNCR reported the widespread effect of the pay 15% of benefits policy  Friday afternoon, it was learned that letters to the retirees affected, who include former Mayors (including Mayor Joseph Delfino, Bradley’s predecessor), councilpersons, Commissioners, managers and appointed personnel were mailed out Friday.  Previously retirees had only sketchy notions, at best, that they would be hit with $1,102 or $2,396 charges for health care.

John Callahan, city Chief of Staff explained in a written statement earlier this week,  the new plan(s) that the city may offer would work in a e-mail earlier this week, before WPCNR learned the high number of  retirees affected by the Council medical benefits decision Monday evening.:

“Retirees who were subject to a collective bargaining agreement (unionized workers) and who commenced work with the City prior to July 1,1995 will have an amount of up to 85% of the premium charged by the Empire Plan contributed to their health insurance premium by the City. The administration is seeking to identify  insurance plans whose premiums are less than the Empire Plan’s premiums and  to offer at least one such plan to the City’s retirees as an alternative to the Empire Plan. Thus, if a plan whose premium was 85% or less than the premium charged by the Empire Plan was offered by the City and was chosen by a retiree, the entire cost of that plan’s premium would be covered by the City.”

WPCNR asked if the administration had asked the police and fire unions to revise their contract to require that police and fire retirees who joined the city after July 1, 1995, pay 15% of their retirement medical benefits, Mr. Callahan and Mr. Bradley said “No, they had not.”

Bradley said the police and fire unions were only asked to have new hires to the departments pay 15% of their benefits.

This is puzzling.  Since the administration had no plans ever in the next year or two  to hire new police officers and firemen any time soon due to the budget constraints, it is not clear how any savings would be achieved by simply asking new employees to pay 15% of their medical benefits.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. May 28, 2010: At the Board of Education last Monday night, the Board appointed three new Elementary School Principals. Theresa Niss (long arts coordinator for the School District, and Assistant Principal at Post Road School was appointed Principal of Post Road School replacing Laura Havens.. Tashia Brown was chosen Principal of Ridgeway School, and Darrell Stinchcomb was installed as Principal of Church Street School  for Michael DeChance who was reassigned.

Still to come on filling out the School District roster for next year is a new Assistant Suprintendent for Curriculum and Instruction to replace Margaret Dwyer, and a new Principal for White Plains High School to take over the reins for Ivan Toper who is retiring. A month ago, Suprintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher Clouet advised WPCNR that a national search is on for both positions.

Each Elementary Principal in this year’s School Budget is being paid $172,433.

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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

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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.

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. News & Comment By John F. Bailey. May 23, 2010:  

 

Here I go again

He’s back in town again.

I’ll take his word again,

One more time.

 

Here we go again

Their promises will be made again

I’ll be their fool again.

One more time.*

 

*With apologies to the genius, Ray Charles, this was a great “B” side on an old Rayman  45 RPM record. The lyrics I have paraphrased sum up the significance of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s declaration of his candidacy for Governor of New York State yesterday.

 

Having read Mr.Cuomo’s very smooth, hard-hitting declaration of his candidacy, he says all the right things about what he wants to do to save New York State, and he is so clean-cut, heroic, macho, and charismatic – well, you want to believe he is the man. He’s got the women’s vote. He looks good. Sounds so good. You want to believe that he is really going to do all these wonderful things.

 

You can read it and see Mr. Charisma’s video delivery of the speech at www.andrewcuomo.com/theplan

 

To read the complete 250-page Cuomo plan for New York State, go to http://www.andrewcuomo.com/system/storage/6/34/9/378/acbookfinal.pdf

 

 

Well, unfortunately, he has to deliver

 

The question the press should be asking big time now,  is how?

 

In 8 pages of Obama-esque rhetoric that ring out like the Liberty Bell, Andrew Cuomo took the reform issue away from the Republican patsies who have no name recognition.

 

 What is the matter with the Republicans? If they want to win, they need to run Mike Bloomberg, Mayor of New York. Mike—the $1 a year man —  would win in a walk against Cuomo. But the Republicans vying for the nomination won’t. Why? They have no interest in changing things.

 

The Repubs had their legs cut out from under them with the intro “Mr. Charisma” delivered  Saturday.

 

He said, “I have gone to work with one mission: to represent the people – period. To fight for you, no matter how powerful the foe, no matter how long the odds.”

 

Great stuff! You know, it is Obamaesque!

 

But, is Andrew Cuomo “The Real McCoy” or “Fool’s Gold?”

 

 

Remember the forgotten governor, the governor they mock, the governor they ignore,  who took over from Eliot Spitzer? David Paterson made honest efforts to deal with New York’s financial crisis, whose efforts were thwarted at every turn by the legislature Cuomo is going to work with, or be stuck with. We may lose a few of these incompetents in the fall, but not enough.

 

Paterson painted the picture of financial mayhem and still the legislature would not listen. He put out the figures. The legislature savaged Governor Paterson, as did the press. The press mocked him.

 

But now, having heard this Declaration of his candidacy this weekend, we just know Andrew Cuomo will be different. He is seizing the crusader/reformer role He knows Albany. He says he knows what is wrong.He says:

 

“My campaign is this simple: I represent the people of the great State of New York and we want our government back.”

 

Here we go again.

 

Man that’s a great powerful commercial line that quote, isn’t it? Sounds great, says nothing.

 

He wants to pay New York companies $3,000 in tax breaks for every unemployed New Yorker they hire. Very nice. Very touchy feely.

 

Here we go again.

 

He wants to cut New York State Agencies, and “bring in the best private sector minds to reorganize the state’s 1,000 agencies, authorities and commissions with a mandate of at least a 20% reduction and to reinvent our government for a new century.”

 

Here we go again.

 

Cutting all those free-spending agencies sounds very good.  However, the governor as yet does not have the power to abolish government agencies approved by the legislature. He’d have to get that. How will that happen with a legislature that will not even cut the budget in the face of a $9 Billion shortfall?  When the governor pleads with them to do so. Has Assemblyman Sheldon “The Merciless” Silver bought into this? If so, Mr. Silver has been born again! 

 

OK, Mr.Cuomo –let’s start with hacking the Department of Transportation, the highly paid chimpanzees who are making all the wrong decisions all the time and burning millions every day. Let’s do something about those clowns. Then the MTA – mis-managed, top-heavy – building projects that take years. This is the state that has no clue where they are going to get $20 Billion to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge.

 

For Mr. Cuomo to say he is going to appoint a commission to cut the number of agencies, ahhh…just what is needed “task force diplomacy.” That’ll take two years and then he’ll be running for reelection and say give us time to finish the job.

 

Mr. Cuomo suggests Quixotically “we need to get the State’s fiscal house in order and start living within our means.”

 

Here we go again.

 

He said this, within two days of the revelation that the legislature gave unions 5 to 7% pay raises in an emergency spending bill because a court ruled they could not freeze wages. The courts are even with the unions. How can he possibly freeze wages?

 

Cuomo has the audacity to say that “My plan will cap state spending and freeze state taxes. I also propose to freeze salary increases for state workers.”

 

This is not Andrew Cuomo’s fault. His speechwriters should have revised that speech after the judge ruled the state could not freeze the wages. Very sloppy.

 

This is very original.  He wants to cut costs. He promises not to raise taxes. He wants to cap state spending. Good luck with that.

 

Has he observed what’s happened this year and last year? In face of plummetting revenues, the legislature he is going to work with, has raised spending, just racheted it on up. They thumbed their nose at Governor Paterson. This sounds very good though.

 

Property tax relief:

 

Here we go again!

 

He said in his video yesterday:  “We must stop the crush of local government spending by imposing a cap on rising property taxes. My cap would be two percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Taken together, these steps would be a major effort to right the financial ship of the State.” Of course it would. It would also force school districts to lay off thousands in bloated staff.

 

( The legislature has NO interest in property tax reform. Mr. Cuomo, let me inform you that the legislature has such a hand-wringing sensitivity to the property tax payer, but such loyalty to their pals in the legal certiorari lobby that they threw out the Adam Bradley/Suzi Oppenheimer separate commercial tax rate bill that would have taken away the incentive to file certioraris – the main reason property taxes go up across the state. Mr. Cuomo should look carefully at that little play out.)

 

But nobody wants to freeze the property tax rise, Mr.Cuomo. Please get those plans to cut it and make the property tax not as onerous out in front soon before they make decisions for this current year. Maybe we can do some reform this year with your guidance now. Give Mr. Paterson the summer in Lake Placid.

 

 

What will be your magic to turn both houses of the legislature members’ minds around on that property tax issue? Tell us your plan to cloud minds and bend the legislators to your will.  Eliot Spitzer couldn’t do it. The Sheriff of Wall Street quickly became ineffectual. 

 

I hope you can work with them better than he and Paterson have. How will you do that?

 

But, the few voters and perhaps more reporters than this journalist might ask that and look behind the very earnest rhetoric and simple messages and  will want to know how will this happen?

 

Mr. Cuomo I’m sure remembers what happened last year when Governor Paterson wanted to do the same thing—cap property taxes.

 

The Democrats in the state legislature proposed the circuit-breaker so as not to handicap the school districts too much. And nothing got done.  Both proposals were D.O.I. ( Dead-On-Introduction).

 

The legislators never even went through the motions of providing tables of examples on how taxpayers and school districts would be affected. That told me something.There is no incentive. How will Mr. Cuomo get them to wake up and smell the black coffee?

 

However, a little math is in order when proposing a 2% property tax cap. It is dumb. And it has serious consequences as long as certioraris are not checked.

 

To help you out, Mr. Cuomo, since you know law – but obviously have not beefed up on numbers crunchers who know anything about school district financial problems – here’s what will happen if a 2% property tax cap is slammed on the White Plains School District:

 

 In White Plains this year we are getting a 3.8% property tax hike on a budget the Superintendent of Schools said is the lowest White Plains can run without really affecting the quality of education in the district. 

 

To be limited to a property tax increase of 2% in 2011-12, (Mr. Cuomo’s first budget) the 2011-12 White Plains  budget could only go up $3,501,000 if the 2011 White Plains Assessment Roll remains the same.

 

I have news for our School Board.  The Assessment Roll  is not going to remain the same, and it is not going up either.

 

To cover next year’s (2011-12 budget) teachers 5% raises the district needs about $4 Million. If the assessment roll tanks $3 Million in 2011 – the district will have to pay that 2% to make up the assessment roll deficit and  layoff another 40 teachers.

 

They would actually have to cut the budget $3 Million if the assessment roll declines at its current pace, $3 Million a year dropping  the school budget to $180 Million and dropping, before they handled other increases in costs other than raises.

 

The Governor-all-but-elected is going to have to examine his property tax policy, because few districts around New York State can afford to be held to a 2% property tax.

 

The Gubernatorial Declaree said he wants new ethics laws. Ethics is a word not used in Albany. It is a dirty word. Ethics, Sethics!

 

Here we go again.

 

He said he wants full disclosure of all legislators’ outside income, and an independent monitor to police the legislators’ compliance. (Perhaps Meade Esposito can be exhumed to do this.)

 

He calls for new campaign finance laws and in shock I read he wants an independent redistricting commission. That will be fun. I will believe that when I see it.  This sounds very good, but do we really believe the legislature is going to go along with that, really?

 

He wants to convene a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the rules. What sense of coalition does he have now in the legislature to do such a thing?

 

He said, “the influence of lobbyists and their special interests must be drastically reduced with new contribution limits.” Does he include the construction industry, the certiorari lobbyists, the independent business owners, Wall Street, the banks? New York voters hear this every four years. What possible assurance does the voter and the taxpayer have that Mr. Cuomo can do this? How will he do it?

 

 

Or does Mr. Cuomo take us for the same old fools? Or is he optimistic and naive? Or, are we?

 

I think it is we who are naive.

 

Mr. Cuomo is not naive, but he knows what sells to the voter.

 

This introductory declaration is eerily reminiscent of another man who campaigned for change, remember just 17 months ago?

 

There was going to be change we can believe in when President Obama came in. There was a lot of change, wasn’t there? He put the architects of the financial mayhem of the last fifteen years in charge and what has happened? Where is the change? The banks are still holding on to mortgage money. The banks are still cutting irresponsible loans. The thieves of Wall Street are making billions with our money.. The Afghan war has gotten worse. Iraq is not improved. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the worst corporate disaster ever, and the new administration is “Katrinasizing,” letting BP call the shots. (His Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Homeland Security are going to visit the Gulf tomorrow and verify there is oil there I guess. Aside: Tell BP to stop it or else.)

 

Perhaps the general press will press Mr. Cuomo on how we could get started on his laundry list of reforms now – when we need them this year –2010-11.

 

It is a disgrace they have not.

 

His complete 250-page plan is an amplification of the speech he gave in video form, but with few specifics on how all his suggestions and things he feels the state should do are going to be sold to the legislature. It all sounds good and that is my point.

 

Mr. Cuomo should take his plans and ideas to both houses now and share with them how he would solve this $9 Billion hole –now before it becomes a $24 Billion hole in his first budget next year, that is, if he’s serious. If I could smooth things for myself before I took a job — like prepare — make coalitions — collect markers — and was serious, that’s what I would do. I hope he does.

 

The press has cut Mr. Cuomo a tremendous break for months, by not asking him his take on the budget mess. He is bound to be governor unless Mike Bloomberg is tapped by the

Republicans

 

Here we go again, indeed.

 

Every time there’s a big election, the same bromides are laid on the voters: lower taxes, ethics reform, lobby reform, spending reform, we’ll keep you safe. We’re going to change things.

 

It is fascinating that the Cuomo speech rolled it out again – the same sound byte promises every candidate has rolled out ever since I was ten years old.

 

It is also highly significant Mr. Cuomo did not take questions from the assembled press Saturday. Perhaps because he has no answers? No beef?

 

I want to believe Mr. Cuomo has a plan. Just like Richard Nixon had for ending the Vietnam war.

 

I want to believe the Democrats who will nominate him next week will go on record supporting every one of these promises (“We will work together with Andrew to make this vision the New York State needs, happen.” I want to hear that.)

 

But, I hope Mr. Cuomo starts working with his Dem pals  now to help the frozen legislators “craft” this year’s budget. Cuomo cannot cross his fingers and hope the economy comes back.

 

Because it is not coming back.

 

Everybody, including Mr. Cuomo is crossing their fingers that somehow things will get better.

 

The final verse of Ray Charles’ song…paraphrased again – which I hope does not happen. The next governor cannot screw up.

 

We’ve been there before

And we’ll try it again.

But any fool knows

There’s no way to win

 

Here we go again,

They’ll break my heart again

We’ll play the fools again

One more time.