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WPCNR VOICE OF MR. AND MRS. AND MS. WHITE PLAINS. December 27, 2008: In the interest in focusing on issues as the city enters 2008, the economy and the alarming increase in property taxes that city residents face in the coming year, have created some issues that the city and the school district leaders perhaps should be paying more than lip service.
I have isolated a few of them at the right, and offer them up to get the public take on them. Simply vote in terms of priority in your mind. The issues should purely be considered from what would White Plains benefit the most from to keep the city “moving forward” as our officials love to say as an excuse for not doing anything about disturbing trends. You may vote for more than one issue, voting once each day.
Here they are:
REMOVE THE GEDNEY DUMP CANCER-CAUSING TOXINS NO MATTER WHAT– According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, the DEC has determined that White Plains is going to have to remediate the TCE carcinogens leaking into the Mamaroneck River.
The form of that remediation has not been decided yet, but the key decision has been made, it has to be cleaned up. City officials have ignored this problem since 1976 when first discovered. Should the TCE’s be removed anyway, regardless of whether the DEC is lenient in determining the scope of their remediation?
Cut the City Budget 5% ($8 Million) — As pointed out exclusively by WPCNR in the last week, the city, school and county property taxes are escalating to where persons living on incomes not pacing the 4% city tax increase of last year, are rapidly having their taxes outpace their growth in income. If they are on fixed incomes and own homes, more could be at risk of defaulting on their mortgages.
The rate of tax increase for a median home in White Plains for city and schools approaching $2,000 to $2,500 increased taxes a year in 2008-2009 (In five years this will amount to your paying $10,000 more in taxes over what you pay now if the present budgets kept on their meandering 4%, 7% a year increases.
Should the city cut its budget by 5% ($8 Million)? A former Executive Officer of the City of White Plains estimated that for every $1 Million in expenses the tax rate would have to go up 3%. An $8 Million cut would result in an 25% reduction in city taxes.
Cut the School Budget 5% ($9.2 Million)– It is intriguing that the School District is eliminating the Annual Budget Committee review of their budget this year and calling just two public forums to have the public participate in forming the budget. This is like having callers to WFAN manage the New York sports teams. This should be an interesting exercise.
As a target, would the city citizens want a 5% budget cut (a mere $9.2 Million), which would enable the district to keep the budget under $190 Million? That would cut the school tax increase (at the current rate of spending to less than a $100, instead of the $500 increase you received this year if you owned a $700,000 home. It is a target.
Lower Parking Rates. Extend Meter Time Limits. Lower Fines — We, those trapped in White Plains, are used to the Draconian conversion of the Department of Parking into a profit center. Should the rates lower a little to 50 cents an hour instead of a dollar an hour? With higher ticket rates? Should it all be reexamined in light of a shrinking economy? Would lower parking keep White Plainsians shopping in White Plains instead of going to Port Chester where my wife is now, shopping with her daughter? Would citizens respond to lower rates? Or should we keep them where they are? Raising them is another possibility to lower taxes. But the question here is, should they be lowered. If you agree vote in poll at the right.
City Takeover of Illegal Housing Sites — The city has paid lip service to the illegal, overcrowded tenement houses owned by modern day Uriah Heeps, Dickensian flouters of zoning laws, apparently allowed to exist because many of them may be major political contributors to both parties.
Should the city, when a landlord’s property is found to be in violation of housing standards, initiate a takeover of the property, compensating the landlord for the property but taking it over and becoming the landlord? The landlord of course, being paid the assessed value of the house? It would assure that residents would not be gouged and landlords be deprived of their ill-gotten profits off the poor. What does Mr. and Mrs. White Plains think? Of course, political contributions would decline.
EXAMINE OVERCROWDING OF WHITE PLAINS HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM, Bring in Greenwich Hospital Expertise, New Facility.— Due to obviously misguided efforts by the health officials, allowing the closing of United Hospital in Port Chester and St. Agnes Hospital as losing money, White Plains Hospital Medical Center has been embarking on a never-ending expansion program to handle the health load.
This has been good for White Plains Hospital but possibly not so good for sick persons.
This has created perpetual crowding at the E.R., plus longer ambulance runs from surrounding communities. Should the city work to involve Greenwich Hospital in splitting the emergency room load or establishing a Westchester satellite Emergency room closer to White Plains? Many White Plains and surrounding communities choose Greenwich Hospital for ambulatory and elective procedures. Why not ease the White Plains Hospital Medical Center crowding with a plan instead of an expansion into a mega-emergency room that will probably not be able to handle the patient load when completed?
Establish City Commuter Tax — The city is desperate for revenue with sales taxes softening perhaps due to the economy. There is also a definite possibility that the assessments will be down this year causing a catastrophic loss in assessed property. Last year it was even, thanks to the last gasp of the housing market boom.
Real estate is down 10% in White Plains this year. IF assessments decline10%, this will be a disaster from a property tax standpoint. The last time the city assessments dropped approximating 10% was in 1994-1995 when assessments dropped 8.1% from $390 Million to $359 Million.
Last year the city assessments were $290.2 Million. A 10% drop with mean a $30 Million drop in assessments to $260 Million.
This would cause the school district to raise their tax rate to $560/ $1,000 of Assessed Value, from $503/$1,000 of Assessed Value this year to generate the same $145 Million in property taxes they’re receiving this year on their $184.4 Million Budget. They raise that one dime, and the increase per thousand will be more. This would mean that Lloyd Tasch, the city assessor becomes the most important man in White Plains over the next 35 days. (All the more reason to cut the rate of growth dramatically in the 2009-2010 School Budget.)
As a perpetual revenue shot, should the city install a commuter surcharge payable to the city by persons working in White Plains who are not residents? With a population we are told that swells by several hundred thousand during the workday a $100 a year Commuter Tax on 150,000 workers living outside of White Plains would generate $15,000,000. A $200 Year Commuter Tax, $30 Million. This could be split with the School District. Should this be explored?
Establish Commercial Services Tax to Penalize Certiorari Filings — Because a separate Commerical Tax Rate legislation proposed by Assemblyman Adam Bradley has been stalled in Albany, because the senate will not pass it, according to Mr. Bradley and State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer.
The city might consider, as Polk County Tennessee has done in dealing with unfairly low assessed properties on government lands, imposing a Commercial Services Surcharge across all businesses and business loaners in the city, with the option of increasing it to deal with new certirorari settlements affecting the tax rate.
Should the city examine this as a remedy to pay for services that are provided the business community with revenues from property taxes, when property taxes are artificially lowered by equalization rates. The first CSS (Commercial Services Surcharge) could be imposed in 2009-2010 to counteract the certiorari excesses of previous years — the vast amount of which have been reaped by some of the largest most successful properties in the city.
Increase City Sales Tax Another 1/4% — The Mayor has said he plans to ask Albany for the extra 1/4% in sales tax that Assemblyman Adam Bradley refused to go for in the legislature last year. Mr. Bradley balked at going for a full 1/2% as the Mayor had asked. Should the city go for this, it would mean about $6 Million for the city. The Mayor estimates it as $10 Million, but WPCNR sees that as over optimistic. Still $6 Million is not small change. Shall we tell Mr. Bradley to go for it for White Plains?
Televise All Common Council Meetings/ Special Meetings and Work Sessions — Should the Common Council introduce a resolution to assure that all their meetings are televised or electronically available on the internet (as they are in progressive cities like Fort Lauderdale, Florida)? (And of course provide the technology upgrades to do so?
Establish Fines for Political Action Committees’ Failure to Disclose the candidates campaigns that benefited from PAC-raised money — the Democratic Party suit agains the Year 2001 Committee to get them to disclose what candidates received their funds in the past years is coming to a head with Judge Francis Nicolai ordering the committee to open their books (whatever that means). Should the Common Council introduce City Charter Legislation fining political action committees restrictive penalties for failure to disclose recipients and accounts of how their money was spent for candidates up for city election — prior to election day?
Establish Relief, Marketing Plan, Credit Loosening for City Real Estate Market — Though White Plains realtors say the White Plains market is holding its own, the advantages of White Plains are now more critical than ever to point out to homebuyers. Should the city embark on a monetary relief plan to aid realtors hurt by the real estate market downturn, apply pressure on banks in the city to star credit moving out to White Plains homebuyers, and start a publicity campaign touting White Plains real estate value?
