Calls for Transparency on Timely Disclosure of Tentative Settlements

Posted on June 20, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. June 20,2009: In light of the revelation that governments and school districts have been violating the Freedom of Information Law when they withhold tentative settlements of labor contracts from the media and the public until they are ratified, WPCNR presents the testimony of Empire Center research, Lise Bang-Jensen’s February testimonty before the New York State Legislature Joint Legislative Committee detailing some of the pitfalls this practice creates for city governments and taxpayers.

Ms. Bang-Jensen’s testimony:

Lise Bang-Jensen Testimony: Collective Bargaining Agreement Secrecy

Before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee

Complete report in PDF format

February 04, 2009

My name is Lise Bang-Jensen. If my face looks familiar to many of you, it may be because I spent hundreds of hours in this very room covering fiscal hearings like this one when I was a reporter-producer for Inside Albany.

I am currently senior policy analyst for the Empire Center for New York State Policy, which is a project of the Manhattan Institute.

At the Empire Center, my chief focus has been on public sector employment issues and government transparency. I am the principal writer of a blog called NY Public Payroll Watch. I also was involved in creating the Empire Center’s nationally recognized transparency web site, SeeThroughNY.net.

Launched July 31, 2008, the site enables citizens with access to a computer to search the:
•   State payroll, the NYC payroll and the payrolls of 19 larger state public authorities (including the MTA, Port Authority and Thruway Authority);
•   Teacher union contracts of the state’s 733 school districts and BOCES;
•   School superintendent contracts;
•   Legislative office expenditures; and
•   Legislative member initiatives.

Government Transparency

The Empire Center created SeeThroughNY.net to increase government transparency. We also wanted to offer a model for government, because we believe ultimately state and local governments owe it to their citizens to put this kind of public information—and much more–on the Internet.

The Empire Center is not alone in its quest for more transparent government.
The state of Missouri—the “Show Me” state–has a noteworthy transparency site. In the past year, both New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli have created transparency sites that, while still in their early stages, show great promise. The Empire Center honored them both with our 2008 SeeThroughNY transparency award.

(Links: www.sunlightny.com and www.openbooknewyork.com)

Government transparency also is a top concern of President Barack Obama. Just one day after his inauguration, Obama issued a memorandum calling for “creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.” As a U.S. Senator, he co-sponsored the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which puts federal contracts and grants on the Internet (www.usaspending.gov).

I would welcome the chance to talk with any of you at a later date about how New York could enhance government transparency by adopting a policy of “proactive disclosure.”

Secrecy over pending employee contracts

However, today I want to discuss an aspect of government secrecy that’s often overlooked.

Local governments and school districts frequently keep the public in the dark about one of their biggest potential expenditures—proposed salaries and benefits for their employees. Tentative collective bargaining agreements often are withheld from the public until after elected officials ratify them. By then, the contracts are done deals. It’s too late for citizens to meaningfully raise questions or debate their merits.

Such employee contracts may require huge property tax increases, especially considering that personnel costs are the largest spending category in local budgets. For school districts, they account for about 70 percent of all spending.

Citizens, who ultimately will shoulder the costs, should be able to review tentative contracts before city councils, school boards and other legislative bodies approve them. That is now the practice in many jurisdictions, including New York City—although contract details can be sketchy.

Contract secrecy — with its resulting lack of public oversight –can carry a huge price tag for taxpayers. Just ask residents of Johnson City, which is a village (not a city) of 15,000 residents just outside Binghamton. Under a shroud of secrecy, the village board approved a five-year contract raising firefighters’ salaries by 41 percent.

Johnson City, strapped by the generous firefighters contract, can’t pay its bills. Faced with making good on the contract, the village must borrow up to $1.1 million during the current fiscal year. So financially desperate is the village that there’s talk of contracting with Binghamton for fire services in the future. Or even dissolving the village.

In Utica, the school superintendent refused to reveal details of a proposed teachers contract—even after union members approved it. The memorandum of agreement was made public only after the school board ratified it.

In defending the secrecy, a school board member said, “If it’s released the O-D [Utica Observer-Dispatch] could write an editorial on what is right or wrong with the contract and influence board members votes.”

Isn’t that how democracy is supposed to work? Isn’t that why in Albany, bills must “age” three days before the Legislature can vote on them—except in emergency situations?

What school board members may have been reluctant to share with Utica taxpayers in advance is that the contract dramatically expands lifetime health benefits for retired teachers, committing the city to higher property taxes for decades to come.   Most alarming is that one day after the contract was approved, a school business official said she had yet to calculate its long-term costs. It seems taxpayers weren’t the only ones kept in the dark in Utica.

I am not here to debate the merits of the Johnson City and Utica contracts.
Instead I’m suggesting taxpayers be given a chance to put in their two cents before the contracts are set in stone.

Proposed remedies

In 2006, a Suffolk County grand jury–which spent a year probing financial irregularities of county school districts–complained about “an abject lack of transparency regarding the issue for which school districts spend the overwhelming majority of their funds—salaries and benefits for the employees.”

The grand jury urged the state Legislature to enact a law requiring school districts put copies of tentative contracts on their web sites at least one month prior to a vote by their school boards.

That is an excellent idea. In addition, advanced disclosure of tentative contracts should include:

• the net financial impact of all provisions, including annualized and cumulative costs of proposed changes in salary schedules, benefits and work rules;

• a breakdown of any savings attributed to union concessions or “givebacks”;

• proposed salary increases on an annualized and cumulative percentage basis, with a separate breakdown of average percentage increases including step and longevity increments; and

• an estimate of the projected impact on taxes over the life of the contract.

No law currently prevents local governments from releasing such details after union negotiations conclude. Unfortunately, in the absence of an affirmative disclosure requirement, it appears that many local officials are inclined towards secrecy rather than transparency in such matters.

Attached to my written testimony is a copy of my policy briefing, Lifting the Shroud of Secrecy from Public Employee Contracts, which offers further details of the proposal.

I would be happy to answer any questions.

County to Consider Vote on Establishing Assessment Standards–1st Step to Reval?

Posted on June 19, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR The Certiorarian. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators with reporting by WPCNR. June 19,2009: Westchester legislators will move to adopt a resolution which will establish a county assessment commission at Monday’s upcoming Board meeting. The proposed legislation creating the Westchester County Assessment Commission, due for a vote at Monday’s Board of Legislators meeting, would be responsible for the development of a regional model for the collection and maintenance of property data that would be used by local assessing units as the new standard for recording the characteristics of every parcel of property within the county.

White Plains City Assessor Lloyd Tasch reached Friday afternoon by WPCNR described this as the first step that would have to be be undertaken by the county in order to execute a countywide revaluation of property, if the county chose to do so. Tasch also said it was tied to a county effort to photograph-map the county from the air to be used as a resource by all county communities (and assessors). The cost of the aerial photography piece is $1 Million.

Revaluation was endorsed by County Executive Andrew Spano last week in a letter to State Senator Jeff Klein as the only solution to the certiorari practice of businesses filing for lowering of their assessments that have lowered Commerical Property Owners property taxes 9% in the last eleven years, while homeowners property taxes have doubled. Tasch said the establishment of the Commission would also enable communities to defend assessments more successfully.

“It is crucial to the commission’s work that parameters are in place to create a more uniform, transparent, equitable and efficient assessment practice,” said Board Chairman William Ryan (D, I, WFP-White Plains). “This measure will save taxpayer dollars.”

Lloyd Tasch, White Plains City Assessor, President of the Westchester County Chapter of the New York State Assessor’s Association has been working with the county on the legislation.

Tasch told WPCNR it is an effort to standardize assessment data to determine assessments. Tasch said “it’s tryingto get the best data for the defense of certs (challenges of assessments).”

Tasch also said it is connected with another piece of legislation providing $1 Million paid by the county for creating aerial photography maps of all towns and municipalities in the county. Tasch said it would be impossible for individual communities to pay for this themselves. Tasch said this was not a county first step toward a county “revaluation,” but said, “It’s (the Commission’s) exact purpose has not been established, but it would determine countywide standards to gather data needed to do a “reval”

Despite keeping the county tax levy to a minimal increase of 1.77%, a recently released report by the Westchester County Tax Commission highlights a perennial problem that underscores the need to reform how real property is assessed within the county. A slight increase in county taxes can actually end up as a decrease on a property tax bill for some residents and an increase that varies from minimal to significant for others. The current assessment system that produces these wild gyrations year-to-year is outdated and long overdue for an overhaul. Westchester County is the only county where tax warrants do not expire, and where towns, cities and villages are rendered the enforcement authorities in the event of non-payment of taxes.

“As Chair of the Board’s committee with direct oversight over tax collection and assessment, we are taking the lead in fostering true cooperation with all levels of government on this issue,” said Legislator Ken Jenkins (D, WFP-Yonkers), Chair of the Board’s Committee on Government Operations. “The proposed resolution would create a process of assessing real estate and personal property values in Westchester County, and would serve as an extreme benefit for county residents.” This resolution, also, calls on the County to use the assessment improvement study grant award to establish a centralized commercial assessment database – maintained by the County and available for use by all municipalities – using existing data-sharing agreements.

In 2008, Westchester County was one of 50 counties in New York State to receive an assessment improvement study grant of $50,000 under the Centralized Property Tax Administration Program from the NY State Office of Real Property Services. At which time, the Collaborative Assessment Study Committee (composed of members of the Westchester Municipal Officials’ Association, the Westchester Municipal Assessors’ Association and the Westchester County Tax Commission) drafted a study which reviewed at least one system that will apply common standards to every county parcel.

The Collaborative Assessment Study committee concluded that the most appropriate and applicable model would a Municipally-Administered Model, wherein municipalities would either contract among themselves or with an independent agent to treat all parcels identically to achieve transparent, equitable and efficient assessment practices, as well as potential economies of scale. “The Collaborative Assessment Study Committee has worked tirelessly to create this study, upon which the County Board can move toward legislative action,” said Jenkins.

Superintendent Confirms 2%,2% and 1.25% Raises, 16.65% Over 3 Ys+Health Savings

Posted on June 18, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. June 18,2009 UPDATED With Step Increases 10:05 P.M E.D.T. UPDATE, PREMIUM INFO, 12:50 A.M. E.D.T. June 19,2009 UPDATED JUNE 20,2009: The Superintendent of Schools, Timothy Connors confirmed this afternoon in an e-mail to WPCNR that the School District and the teachers union raise increases are 2% retroactive to 2009-2009, 2% for the coming year beginning July 1 (2009-2010) and 1-1/4% in year three, 2010-2011. The Superintendent did not clarify whether the third year raise of 2-1/2% reported to WPCNR by persons familiar with the Memorandum of Understanding was contingent on economic conditions in year three of the contract, 20010-11.

Though the raise is being reported as 2%, the new contract if approved, actually means a 5.55% increase for each year of the new contract because of the 3.4% to 3.8% automatic salary increases that come with each year a teacher stays on the payrollup to twenty years.. Previously, based on a past Earning Schedule, WPCNR calculated the step raises at 2%. Checking the current earnings schedule each teacher from a second year teacher to a teacher in their 20th year receives a 3.4% to 3.8% raise automatically in addition to whatever scale increase is negotiated according to the current contract.

Roughly calculated by WPCNR this means the wage increases total top 16%.

In addition to the retroactive wage increase payment negotiated at 2% for this year, when you include 2% in wage increases for 2009-10 and 1.25% (according to the Superintendent) for 2010-11, the total wage package for three years creates a 16.25% Increase in salaries for teachers.

The contract increases wages 5.25% over three years,across all levels over and above the automatic step raises for longevity which are 3.8% for each year of service, creating an overall raise over three years of 16.65%.(5.8%, 5.8% and 5.05%) if the present 3.4 to 3.8% longevity increase remains.

Settlement Appears to Catch Teachers Up to Premium Costs, with the Longevity Increases.

Quoted in WPCNR last October, Fred Seiler, Assistant Superintendent for Business for the district confirmed that premiums with the Statewide Schools Cooperative Health Plan, the consortium the district has contracted with for health benefits have gone up 17% since July 2007. He said, Co-Pays have doubled from $10 to $20 for doctors visits.

Teacher Share of Health Premium, 7%.

Seiler said the total premium for an individual with “SWSCHP” as it is known, this year (08-09)is $7,293, of which a teacher pays $625 annually (8.6%) . For a two-person family, the premium is $15,388, the teacher share they pay is $1,075 annually (7%). The premium for a family Two Person, is $16,336, of which a teacher on the family plan pays $1,220 (7% of the cost).

Counting the 3.8% longevity step increases with the 2%, 2%, 1.25% wage increase catches the teachers almost up to the 17% health care premium raises they have faced the last two years.

Response to Confirmation request.

The Superintendent responding to a WPCNR request to correct any part of what was originally reported to us wrote in an e-mail response:

“There are other savings in insurance and the cost for the third year is 1-1/4 %.”

Connors did not deny that the teachers if they approve the contract would pay 8% and 9% of their health package in 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively, and that Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield had been agreed to be dropped as a health care provider by the teachers. The 8% and 9% increase in the teacher share of the preimum is up over the 7% levels of the last contract.

Clouet off hook

The settlement gives incoming Superintendent of Schools Christopher Clouet a breather of 1-1/2 years before he has to negotiate the 2011-2012 teacher contract. Previously, Superintendent Connors told WPCNR only a two year contract was being considered, which would of required Clouet to begin negotiations in January. This gives Clouet a honeymoon to repair the acrimonious atmosphere between the Board of Education and the White Plains Teachers by the 18 month statemate over negotiations, which has ended with a 2% increase, should the teachers choose to accept the tentative settlement

Suzi Op Take on Assessment Bill Being Tinkered; Cert Bill Dead

Posted on June 18, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE CERTIORARIAN. By John F. Bailey. June 19, 2009: State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer’s Press Office told WPCNR today that due to the stalemate in the leadership of the State Senate, the key Commercial Assessment Ratio bill is not expected to come out of committee in 2009. The prognosis may doom Westchester County cities and towns to another round of certiorari applications and potential record assessment losses in a falling real estate market.

For two weeks State Senator Oppenheimer has not released a statement reacting to the publicity campaign of the Westchester County Association and Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano’s opposition to her bill in a letter to State Senator Jeff Klein, or, most recently, a negative editorial in the Journal News.

Oppenheimer and Assemblyman Adam Bradley’s bill would create a separate Commercial Assessment Ratio that county assessors have endorsed as a step that would cut back drastically on the incentive to file certioraris while not raising property taxes on the businesses, homeowners,co-op owners and condominium owners. The bill has been roosting in Albany since 2005 when Bradley introduced it after creating it with the aid of assessors in Westchester County.

Ms. Oppenheimer’s defense of the bill is still being formulated, her Press Secretary said today

Debra LaCappa, Press Secretary for Ms. Oppenheimer, asked 13 days ago if the State Senator had a statement in reaction to the Westchester County Association’s news releases spreading charges the Commercial Assessment Ratio bill would raise property taxes of commercial property owners and co-op and condominium owners (dismissed as “untrue” by the President of the Westchester County Assessor’s Association yesterday and in an article on this website two weeks ago), said Thursday the Oppenheimer response to the attack of the County Exeuctive and the WCA on the bill “was still being tinkered with.”

“There’s been so much misinformation disseminated to persons that have been targeted (by opponents of the bill), it’s hard to explain to them what the bill does,” LaCappa told WPCNR Thursday. “State Senator Oppenheimer’s office has received thousands of calls from elderly home owners and owners of co-operatives and condominiums who are afraid this bill raises their taxes. It’s not easy to explain that that is not the intent of the legislation.”

LaCappa told WPCNR the State Senator leadership issue now playing out in Albany has created a situation where only high priority bills were going to be considered. She said there was an effort afoot to get the Republican Party leadership to agree to taking up bipartisan legislation, but said it did not appear that the Commercial Assessment Ratio would get out of committee this year.

Mr. Bradley, as reported exclusively by WPCNR in a previous story called the Westchester County Association publicity outcry untrue two weeks ago, and noted surprise that County Executive Andrew Spano has endorsed revaluation countywide rather than the Commercial Assessment Ratio bill.

Mr. Bradley called for statements by WPCNR earlier in the week has issued no further statement this week, though to be fair he did return a call yesterday, but WPCNR was on assignment.

District Teacher Settlement: 6.5% Over 3 Years. Higher Pct Health Pay

Posted on June 18, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F.Bailey. June18, 2009 UPDATED 6:10 P.M. E.D.T.UPDATE 10:20 P.M. in Italics: Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors confirmed Thursday afternoon the first two years of the tentative teachers’ contract call for 2% and 2%, respectively, but said the third year increase was 1.25%. WPCNR is checking back with the Superintendent to see if the 2-1/2% reported by a holder of the MOI for the third year is contingent on approval. Connors did not divulge further details except to say in brief written statement,

“There are other saving in insurance and the cost for the third year is 1-1/4 %.”

WPCNR has learned from a source familiar with the school district-teacher Memorandum of Understanding circulated to members of the White Plains Teachers Association, that the leadership and the Board of Edcuation have agreed in principle to a three year contract through 2010-11.

The contract increases wages 5.25% over three years, over and above the automatic step raises for longevity which are currently 3.8%, creating an overall raise over three years of 16.65%, an average of 5.5% a year, if the current longevity pay increase of 3.8% earned automatically every year for the first 20 years.

The tentative settlement also increases the share of health premiums teachers must pay, and eliminates the most expensive health care benefits provider.

The contract, the source says, holds the wage increases to 2% for 2008-2009, 2% in 2009-10 and 2-1/2% in 2010-11, the third year. In the third year, the 2-1/2% does not kick in until February 1 of 2011. The wage agreement is in line with the increase awarded the Civil Service Employees Association (500 employed in the School District) two weeks ago, which also agreed to drop the largest health care provider.

The District and the Teacher Union negotiating team also reached a compromise teacher payment of health benefits with the Teachers Union shifting the way teachers pay for their benefits from a fixed dollar amount to a fixed percentage of the total premium amount. Teachers will pay 8% of their health care premium in 2009-10, and in 2010-11 it will move to 9%. WPCNR has been informed there is no cap on the percentage of the dollar increase. The increase in dollar amount on the 8%, WPCNR has been advised, is less than $100 the first year.

The health care provider the teacher negotiating team agreed to drop was Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

The School District has not returned a request to confirm or elaborate on these basic “meetings of the minds.”

Umemployment Rises in Westchester AND WHITE PLAINS in May

Posted on June 18, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR BIZ JOURNAL. From Johny Nelson, New York State Department of Labor. June 18, 2009 (Edited): Private sector employment in the Hudson Valley Region decreased by 17,300, or 2.3 percent, to 741,300 for the 12-month period ending May 2009.

Employment gains were recorded only in educational and health services (+3,500)

In White Plains, with a employment force of 31,600, 2,100 are reported without jobs at the end of May, according to the NYS Department of Labor, an umemployment rate of 6.5%, up from 4.9% in April when it appeared the White Plains market was stabilizing.

In Westchester County 34,500 persons in the county’s 495,000 labor force were without jobs at the close of May, a rate of 7%. That’s up from 6.5% in April. This is the highest county unemployment pool in 17 years. In 1992, the employment level hit 6.5%.

The Hudson Valley Region continues to be adversely affected by the current economic downturn, as evidenced by this month’s 2.3 percent over-the-year decline in private sector employment. Outside of educational and health services, all industry sectors continue to show over-the-year job declines. The severity of the downturn is further reflected by the record high unemployment rates recorded in recent months. With a flurry of layoffs anticipated in the comings months, the local job market is expected to worsen.

Suppression of Settlement by School District Illegal — Surprise, No Penalty.

Posted on June 18, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. June 18, 2009: This withholding of the settlement terms is illegal according to Robert Freedman, the New York State Executive Director of the Committee on Open Government., who confirmed this to WPCNR Thursday morning. Freedman told WPCNR that there is no on-the-books penalty of any kind to the district or the union for violating the Freedom of Information law on this matter. The organizations can suppress the agreement and get away with it.

The effect avoids public discussion the agreement and gets the agreements passed and tidied up with no opportunity for the public to express opinions on the effect the agreement will have on the district..

WPCNR has a call in to the school district for release of the terms.

Kerry Broderick, head of the White Plains Teachers said , even so, Freedman’s opinion not withstanding, she would not release the details of the agreement (the Memorandum of Understanding).

Broderick said “as far as I’m concerned, we’re still in fact-finding. Give us a week for the teachers to think it (the agreement) through. There are some very delicate issues. Why can’t we have one week? We’re tired of being filleted in public.” She added that she wanted the opportunity to discuss the terms of the contract with the teachers with integrity without them being pressured. “I don’t know they may vote it down,” she said.

Freedman, contacted by both The Journal News and WPNCR ( Journal News Reporter Keith Eddings originally contacted Freedman and deserves credit for discovering the revelation), told both news organizations that there was no reason to keep the contract terms secret because it was his understanding “it’s gone out to hundreds of people (teachers, for their approval).

Freedman told WPCNR , “No. 2 there’s nothing that could be released that would impair either side’s knowledge or ability to negotiate, they both have the same information because negotiations are over.”

Freedman said there is no case law compelling any two organizations to release terms of a settlement in a timely manner, because by the time a case could be filed the agreement would have been ratified for some time.

Asked about efforts to compel timely release of settlements, Freedman said there has been some legislation introduced but it has not made progress yet.

The Empire Center of New York, Freedman said has proposed such legislation.

Lise Bang-Jensen, of the Empire Center, (www.empirecenter.org) testified before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the New York Legislature in February on “Collective Bargaining Agreement Secrey,” and concluded with this telling observation, based on a Suffolk County Grand Jury finding of “an abject lack of transparency regarding the issue for which school districts spend the overwhelming majority of their funds – salaries and benefits for the employees.”

Ms. Bang-Jenson testified,

The grand jury urged the state Legislature to enact a law requiring school districts put copies of tentative contracts on their web sites at least one month prior to a vote by their school boards.

That is an excellent idea. In addition, advanced disclosure of tentative contracts should include:

the net financial impact of all provisions, including annualized and cumulative costs of proposed changes in salary schedules, benefits and work rules;
a breakdown of any savings attributed to union concessions or “givebacks”;
proposed salary increases on an annualized and cumulative percentage basis, with a separate breakdown of average percentage increases including step and longevity increments; and
an estimate of the projected impact on taxes over the life of the contract.

No law currently prevents local governments from releasing such details after union negotiations conclude. Unfortunately, in the absence of affirmative disclosure requirement, it appears that many local officials are inclined towards secrecy rather than transparency on such matters.

Westco Names Local Actor/Director Seniors Winners of the 2009 SONNY SCHOLARSHIPS

Posted on June 18, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From Westco Productions. June 18, 2009: A White Plains High School senior and a senior from Port Chester High School are recipients of the 2009 Sonny Katz Scholarship Awards from the White Plains-based non-profit theater company, Westco Productions. The awards are from a scholarship fund named in honor of the late Seymour “Sonny” Katz, who had been a founding member of Westco’s Board of Directors. “Sonny” was best known as the White Plains City Marshall for more than 35 years.

Zach Sorrow, White Plains High School

Sergio Marroquin of Port Chester High

Recipients of this year’s scholarship awards of $1,000 each are Zach Sorrow, age 18, of White Plains and Sergio Marroquin, age 17, of Port Chester.

The Sonny Katz Scholarship Fund was established in 2006 by Westco to benefit students who will be studying the performing arts in college. Westco is celebrating its 30^th season of providing quality entertainment for children and adults.

The Scholarships are given in honor of Seymour “Sonny” Katz a native of Port Chester, graduate of Port Chester High School, who lived and worked in White Plains for more than 50 years. He passed away in 2008 at age 86.

Zach Sorrow, a graduating White Plains High School senior, will be attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to major in theatre. Zach has been in almost every school musical since sixth grade. He has studied voice for the past three years, and last year, attended a summer acting conservatory with the New York State Summer School of the Arts. He was selected to represent White Plains High School in the NYSSMA All-State Mixed Chorus last December.

Zach assistant-directed the high school’s production of The Laramie Project, was on the Varsity Swim Team, and has been actively involved with student government since 9th grade. He has accumulated over 300 hours of community service, primarily through the Midnight Run, a non-profit organization that provides aid to the homeless/poor in Manhattan.

Sergio Marroquin, who is graduating from Port Chester High School, is planning to attend Westchester Community College in the fall of 2009. He intends to major in theater. Sergio’s performing career began in the 5^th grade, when he starred as Hamlet in a school production of the Shakespeare play.

Shows he has done since include Cabaret, Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, and Seussical. Sergio is proficient at creating music using computer software, and hopes to minor in some aspect of music in college. He also plans to explore possibilities of becoming a drama teacher so he can introduce young people to the performing arts.

This year’s scholarship awards breakfast will be held on June 28, 2009, at Westco’s rehearsal studio in the ArtsWestchester building, 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains.

For information on the scholarship fund, call Westco at (914) 761-7463. (www.westcoproductions.org).

City Assessor: Homeowners Taxes DOUBLE in Decade.Commercial Taxes Decline 9%

Posted on June 17, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE CERTIORARIAN. June 17,2009: White Plains Assessor Lloyd Tasch in an op-ed piece appearing in The Journal News today debunked the Westchester County Association and the Builder’s Institute statements opposing the Commercial Assessment Ratio bill awaiting action in the New York State Senate, as “untrue.”

The bill is being introduced by State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer and was sponsored in the Assembly by White Plains’ Adam Bradley. Bradley and Oppenheimer have yet to defend their bill which has been attacked by the Westchester County Association and the Westchester County Executive on the grounds that it will raise taxes on commercial property owners and co-op and condominium owners and hurt Westchester in attracting businesses to the region.

Tasch, President of the Westchester County Assessor’s Association repeated his statements he made to WPCNR last week, that the County Association lobbying effort last labeling the CAR bill as “shifting the tax burden from homeowners to commercial property owners,” writing today, “This is untrue.” He also points out the glaring need for such a bill, reporting that the Westchester County Tax Commission reports that through the use of the certiorari process and the unfortunate effects of the equalization rate, county commercial property owners pay 9% less taxes than they did 11 years ago, while county homeowners today taxes have doubled.

Tasch points out to the Westchester County Association that “what this bill does is mitigate further shifts of property taxes from commercial properties onto the backs of homeowners.”

Tasch points the certiorari drain, exclusively chronicled the last five years by WPCNR, that “since the early 1990s,commercial properties have been the beneficiaries of huge tax windfalls as a result of the flawed methodology and the application of equalization rates in commercial tax certiorari proceedings..” charging “the balance (between commercial property taxes and homeowner property taxes) has been disrupted to the detriment of the homeowner.”

Responding to Westchester County Association news releases alleging owners of condominiums and cooperatives would pay more expenses if this bill were passed, Tasch notes cooperatives and condominiums “typically pays 50 percent less than that of a similarly valued residential home.” Tasch dismisses the County Association press releases claiming taxes of condo and condominium owners would go up if the bill passed this way: “The proposed CAR bill will not increase their assessments, but it will help mitigate future certiorari losses (from condo/coop grievances) if and when litigated.”

Tasch reminds the Westchester County Association of just how tax friendly being a commercial property owner in Westchester has been the last decade, writing that the Westchester County Tax Commission annual reports show that “county commercial property owners paid 9 percent less than they paid 11 years ago, while residential taxes have doubled.”

Tasch writes hopefully, “The CAR bill will help prevent further erosion of the commercial tax base, and bring some sanity and fairness back to the tax certiorari process. Certiorari attorneys, The Westchester County Association, local chapters of the Builder’s Institute and commercial taxpayers are naturally opposed to this bill. What about homeowners, who represent 73% of this county… We believe that the Senate will not fall prey to the scare tactics of raising taxes by self-interested parties.”

Tasch notes that contrary to reports that the bill is being introduced as a surprise, that the bill was originally introduced in 2005.

Tasch closes with this comment,noting that in New York City commercial property owners pay five times the taxes residential property owners pay and in suburban Nassau County where commercial property owners pay twice the taxes (because there is a separate commercial assessment ratio in effect in those areas)

Tasch writes: No wonder residential taxes in Westchester are the highest in the nation.

Adam Bradley, the sponsor of the commercial assessment ratio bill and Senator Suzi Oppenheimer have thus far not contacted WPCNR in defense of the bill in the face of Westchester County Association attacks on the bill and County Executive Andrew Spano’s call for the State Senate not to pass the bill for fear it will hurt Westchester ability to attract business.

Teacher Union Head Calls Tentative Settlement with School District a “Win-Win”

Posted on June 17, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. June 17,2009: Kerry Broderick, President of the White Plains Teachers Association confirmed that she had reached a tentative “meeting of the minds” with the Superintendent of Schools late Friday night on the terms of a new contract.

Ms. Broderick declined to reveal the relationship between wage increases and benefits she and the Superintendent agreed upon, saying she wanted the teachers to mull and understand the contract prior to a union vote on the contract scheduled for Monday evening. Broderick said the school board would vote on the settlement next Monday also.

Kerry Broderick: Settlement a “Win-Win” WPCNR News Archive Photo

Broderick described the meeting of the minds as a “win-win” for both sides, the school district and the teachers union..

The teachers union had been seeking salary increases to offset the17% increase in the costs of medical benefits that the teachers have absorbed the last two years sincetheir previous contract had expired in June 2008.