THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR

WPCNR CORONAVIRUS UPDATE. From Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. November 10, 2020:

 Most of us are aware of the danger of large, indoor gatherings when it comes to COVID.

They are where super-spreading happens. But viral spread is not limited to large group settings. I want to stress that small, indoor gatherings also pose a very serious risk.

Small gatherings are a significant source of spread. As COVID cases rise, we recommend limiting the size of any indoor gatherings you host or attend.

Thanksgiving dinners can be celebrated most safely if you limit the group to only your immediate household. If you are going to spend time with people outside of your household, there are steps you can take to mitigate risk:

Be outside as much as possible.

If indoors, wear a mask at all times that it is possible to do so. Open windows to increase ventilation if you can.

Keep six feet or more of distance and limit the amount of time you spend at indoor gatherings.

COVID spreads among strangers but it also spreads among friends. As the numbers continue to rise we must all double down and take this surge very seriously.  

Photo of the Day: A billboard outside the Javits Center in NYC reminding us to Mask Up (Photo by Nina Dudko) Here’s what else you need to know tonight: 

1. The statewide positivity rate rose above three percent yesterday. In the micro-cluster focus areas, the positivity rate was 5.59 percent. Excluding these areas, it was 2.56 percent. Of the 128,036 tests reported yesterday, 3,965, or 3.09 percent, were positive. Total hospitalizations were at 1,548. Sadly, we lost 32 New Yorkers to the virus. 

2. The State’s investment in New York-based medical suppliers is already yielding results. When the Trudeau Institute and Adirondack Health wanted to expand rapid testing in the North Country, they had trouble getting the supplies and equipment they needed.

So the State connected them with Rheonix, an Ithaca-based manufacturer that Empire State Development has invested in. Thanks to this collaboration, the Trudeau Institute and Adirondack Health opened a brand-new lab in Saranac Lake that will be able to process up to around 160 COVID tests per day and yield fast test results for residents. The State’s investment in Rheonix is part of a series of strategic investments in strengthening New York’s medical supply chain. 

 3. As we continue the fight against a surge in COVID-19 cases, we can’t let flu season make matters worse. New York has launched a Flu Tracker, which displays daily and weekly flu data and provides timely information about local, regional and statewide flu activity. Take a look—and please get a flu shot if you haven’t already.  

4. In response to rising infection rates in the region, Syracuse and Albany Universities will switch to remote learning. The University of Albany switched to online learning today and Syracuse will switch next week. Yesterday, the State announced a Yellow Zone in Onondaga County, placing pandemic-related restrictions on the Syracuse area.

  Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: On the eve of her 30th birthday, Ariel Cordova-Rojas came across an injured swan while biking through the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last week. With the ranger station closed, Ariel, a former employee of the Wild Bird Fund, took quick action to help the bird and used the New York City subway as her ambulance. Ariel and the swan rode the train up to Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn, where they met two Wild Bird Fund employees and brought the swan to the nonprofit’s clinic in the Upper West Side. The bird is now receiving care thanks to Ariel’s intervention.  

Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo 

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. November 10, 2020:

Westchester County Executive George Latimer today proposed a $2.091 Billon 2021 County Budget that was balanced with no carryover of the dire deficit piled up in 2020.

This was made possible in part by federal covid-19 Aid that was not entirely used and carried over to 2021, preserving the present level of the County’s reserve fund, after it was spent for balance what is believed to a major portion of the deficit caused by Covid and County economic lockdown.

The estimated $80 Million deficit in sales taxes created by the devastating impact on sales tax revenues of the coronavirus combined withn the county’s optimism of the effect of the 1% sales tax increase revenues budgeted for ($147 Million) in 2020  was made up by several positive steps the county took to precut 2020 expenditures the last 5 months.

The “Voluntary Separation Incentive” proposed by the county executive resulted in 226 persons leaving county service August 1. Cuts of positions of approximately 55 persons (presumably taking the retirement program offered by the county in August in reaction to the plummet in county revenues) created part of the savings.

Increased mortgage taxes balanced some of the revenue due to the unprecedented boom in high priced real estate all summer long, but that was not quantified in today’s presentation. But is up strongly due to the increase in real estate prices for upscale homes.

The key to balancing the 2020 deficit was the Covid Aid the County received for Covid expenses. The county spent part of it for covid related expenses, hunger relief, the Business First progra health department expenses.

Fortunately for the county, all the Covid money was spent. The remainder went to the County Reserve Fund, which enabled the county to replenish  the Reserve Fund at the 2020 level, Mr. Latimer indicating that part of the existing 2020 Reserve fund was used to finish 2020 balanced.

The budget assumes there will be  a 20% cut in state aid. The budget in the official press release says “As a result this (2021) Budget must rely on drawing all of our projected increase.”

( Editor’s note: the projected increase in the reserves was created, by leftover covid surplus, sent to the 2020 reserves.)

Mr. Latimer said: “the county was able to secure direct Federal assistance under both the Families First and CARES Acts. This allowed the county to fund the additional costs that have arisen due to the pandemic as well as maintain essential county services.”

Going forward, Mr. Latimer said the county was budgeting $696 Million in sales tax revenues in 2021, (about $80 Million less , he said)than the  approximately $147 Million budgeted for 2020).

The estimated sales tax revenue in 2021  actually is in line with what the sales tax revenues should finish 2020 at according to WPCNR estimates at the last state sales tax report in October.

Latimer said the county expects to make $662 Million in 2020 through December, which he points out in the county budget news release as being $80 million below the $742 Million projected in 2020 that did not materialize.

The budget increases economic development money, housing assistance, and food insecurity programs by $5 Million each. There are no layoffs, no furloughs, no service cuts and no borrowing for pension funds.

The Capital Budget in the 2021 budget that appropriates $231.8 million in new appropriations for capital projects, the news release on the budget states. It includes $112 million to improve the environment including a food scrap recovery facility, 100 Hybrid replacement buses and electric vehicle charging stations.