Really Bad Property Assessment Policy
March 1, 2014
The Walrus recently learned that former Town of Somers Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy was appointed as executive director of the Westchester County Tax Commission by County Executive Rob Astorino, a fellow Republican. The job, which enjoys a six-year term, pays $132,155 a year.
Ms. Murphy told a local media outlet that she was “…very grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Westchester, I was supervisor for 16 years, and I certainly dealt with tax issues during my tenure there. It brought exposure to multiple levels of government. “
The Westchester County Tax Commission ostensibly serves as the repository for the assessment rolls from the county’s multiple taxing jurisdictions; is tasked to provide advisory services to municipalities concerning assessments and assessment procedures; and produces an annual report to the county Board of Legislators.
Off hand, I’m thinking this person is absolutely unqualified and not fit to serve in this position. But, that is the nature of a system where officials are often elected to office based on a ‘beauty contest’ enhanced by a campaign war chest of dubious origin; then those ‘elected officials’ are free to appoint political hacks into positions which can have dramatic impact on society.
This pretty much says it all, another quote attributed to Ms. Murphy from her tenure as Supervisor in the Town of Somers: “We have a good way of reporting our tax bills, and did not see a desire for it by the constituency. The town has a very good reputation for its tax rate.”
According to what source? And on what standing?
The old “Home Rule” defense rears it’s head again. And, it was a great idea in pre-revolutionary war days. Sometime after the Civil War, Home Rule became obsolete, yet we still follow that logic in 21st century New York State?
Wondering why Westchester County has won the prize to become the highest property tax location in the U.S.? It’s entirely due to Home Rule and the incredible waste and duplication of services which result.
Most egregious? The folks in the wealthy white suburbs who are willing to pay through the nose to fund their quasi-private public schools, town and village police, etc. but who balk at the idea of providing any support at all to County taxes which in turn support social safety net services for their less fortunate neighbors.
Liberal
February 9, 2014
When the Walrus was a young pup, he was introduced to a number of new words and concepts.
One of those new words was “Liberal”.
The Walrus learned that people who were categorized as Liberal were those who:
– Are not opposed to new ideas or ways of behaving that are not traditional or customary;
– Believe that government should be active in supporting social and political change;
– Are broad-minded and tolerant of different views and standards of behavior in others;
– Are politically and/or socially progressive, supportive of gradual reform, particularly political reforms which extend democracy, distribute wealth more evenly, and protect the personal freedom of the individual.
Today, it seems as though some people have bastardized the meaning of Liberal. These folks seem to want to demonize those who identify as Liberal!
I’ve enjoyed the past 6 decades of my life thinking that: While change is always difficult for us humans, looking at situations in new and different ways is productive, healthy and sometimes truly beneficial.
I’m very sad that some of my fellow Americans are unable or unwilling to embrace this philosophy, but I guess in a free society, that is their prerogative.
More on: Education Funding Inequities in New York State
February 9, 2014
We have some 700 public school districts across New York State, and as Governor Cuomo pointed out recently in an interview, “It’s not about more money gets us more results. Because if that was the case, our students would be doing better than any students in the country, because we are spending more than anyone else.”
No one could successfully argue that the K-12 public education system in New York State is either (a) effective, or (b) efficient.
Designed and governed under assumptions which were likely correct in the 19th century, we continue to operate our schools as though we live in a world where the horse is the primary means of transportation; where oil lamps and candles are used for illumination after dusk; and where young people are needed early and late each day to do chores on the farm.
An article published on February 7, 2014 in The Journal News (http://www.lohud.com/article/20140207/NEWS/302070065/City-rural-schools-say-they-re-underfunded) helps to illustrate some of the complexities in state funding formulas which seem to have disparate negative impact on small city and rural school districts which are more likely to be both ‘high need’ and ‘low resource’.
Digging further into the mystery of school funding in New York State led me to the NYS Association of Small City School Districts, and the December 2013 newsletter, http://scsd.neric.org/newsletters/2013/2013%20SCSD%20Newsletter%20december%202013%20FINAL.pdf.
One of the outcomes of ‘The Campaign for Fiscal Equity’ was a promise made in 2007 by our elected officials in Albany that state funding would be adjusted to take into account both the availability of local resources and the relative “need” of students in each district.
As Governor Cuomo pointed out, we are already spending the most of any state on education, and our overall results are mediocre.
Indeed, it is not how much we are spending, but how the money gets spent. If our elected officials want to constrain education spending, they need to pass legislation which removes costs from the system. One way to accomplish that would be through school district consolidation to remove redundancies and spread fixed costs over a broader base.
Another way to accomplish holding the line on spending would be to divert aid from wealthy, high-performing districts and re-direct that aid to low-resource, under-performing districts.
When it comes to educating our young people, there really doesn’t seem to be any “starve the beast” solution on the horizon.
Let’s pay attention to this issue now, because if we don’t fix it now, it will only continue to fester and act as a drag on the economic and fiscal viability of New York State.
More on Dysfunction in NYS
February 5, 2014
An article about health insurance policies purchased through the New York State health exchange (an outcome of the Affordable Care Act) appeared on the front page of our regional newspaper (The Journal News) on Sunday, 2/2 – http://www.lohud.com/article/20140201/NEWS/302010057/Westchester-Medical-Center-won-t-accept-ACA-patients
The reporter had canvassed all of the acute-care hospitals in the Lower Hudson Valley and found that all would accept coverage offered through the exchange except one: Westchester Medical Center.
The reporter explained that the CEO of Westchester Medical Center had said the insurance exchange reimbursements were too low to cover the costs of the services it offers as a teaching hospital.
“We want to participate,” CEO Michael Israel said. “We have not been offered rates that we can live with.”
Westchester Medical Center (WMC) was originally a subsidiary of Westchester County Government, and it was reorganized in 1997 as a “Public Benefit Corporation”, one of about 1,000 of these ‘shadow government’ entities which exist across the state. (See a report issued by the NYS Comptroller in December 2013 — http://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/pubauth/PA_employees_by_the_numbers_12_2013.pdf
Since this conversion, Westchester Medical Center (WMC) has been no stranger to controversy.
WMC is very similar to Erie County Medical Center (ECMC): Both are teaching hospitals; ECMC has 569 certified beds; WMC has 652 certified beds; both were formerly subsidiaries of County Government; and each has converted to a Public Benefit Corporation.
One marked difference between ECMC and WMC shows up in the category of personnel and payroll.
In the year ending 12/31/2012, ECMC reported 3,436 employees and a gross payroll of $154 Million. WMC reported 3,928 employees and a gross payroll of $280 Million.
ECMC paid a bonus to 61 employees, totaling $245,381. The highest individual bonus reported was $15,000. That seems reasonable and fair, assuming there was some criteria employed to gauge the performance above and beyond the salary paid. The CEO at ECMC total compensation was reported at $698,000.
WMC paid a bonus to just 13 employees, totaling $940,338. The CEO at WMC total compensation was reported at $1,375,000 including a bonus of $339,000. Even the next in command at WMC was paid more than the CEO of ECMC: total compensation $800,000, including a bonus of $150,000.
As CEO Michael Israel points out in a subsequent article published in The Journal News (2/4/2014) http://www.lohud.com/article/20140204/NEWS02/302040083/Rejecting-ACA-health-policies-Westchester-Medical-Center-under-state-scrutiny?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|s
““I don’t think it’s wrong or objectionable to want to be reimbursed an amount of money to cover the costs of treating our patients.”
Well said, Mr. Israel.
The remaining question is: What sort of accounting shenanigans took place to allocate all (or a portion of) Israel’s compensation – and the other 12 who received extraordinary bonuses – to the cost of treating patients?
The Ultimate in Irony?
February 3, 2014
A stated primary purpose of the Affordable Care Act is to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health insurance.
Over the past 2 years, we’ve watched and heard elected officials at various levels of government fabricate stories to try and convince us that having a government-legislated mandate which gives us access to affordable health insurance is bad.
The Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY is a “NYS Public Benefit Corporation.” As such, it serves as a regional healthcare referral center, mandated to provide high-quality advanced health services to the residents of the Hudson Valley and the surrounding area, regardless of their ability to pay. WMC also serves as an academic medical center involved in research and education that enables advanced care and prepares future generations of physicians.
According to a report published in April 2012 in The Journal News, the medical center spent $11.8 million in 2010 to compensate 44 executives, with Michael Israel, the CEO, at the top of the list at some $1.4 Million.
Now, in a Kafkaesque twist, this over-compensated CEO of a public benefit health care provider has proclaimed they will not accept any coverage plans offered through the NYS health care exchange! (The Journal News, February 2, 2014).
The Journal News has done an admirable job following and reporting on the perpetual shenanigans which seem to plague Westchester Medical Center. Yet, leadership at WMC seems to continue to ignore the reason they enjoy the benefits of public subsidies from the local, county, state and federal governments.
Here it is: the ultimate Catch-22:
1. You have insurance.
2. The Public Benefit Corporation which was created (and continues to exist) to, “manage a health care system which will provide health care services and health facilities for the benefit of the residents of the State and the County, including to persons in need of health care services who lack the ability to pay..” won’t accept your insurance.
Folks, you just can’t make this stuff up!
Zero Sum Game
January 12, 2014
Our elected officials love to make noise about ‘holding the line on taxes’ — whether at the federal, state, county or local level.
In the private sector, we know there are 2 ways to improve fiscal efficiency. One way is to increase revenues, either by selling more products or raising prices on existing products. Another is to reduce costs.
The public sector is much more complex, because of the layers of government which often overlap and have some redundancy.
One thing is clear: if the federal government cuts back on safety net services to reduce costs, the need for those services is still there. Provision of services (or some substitute) thus rolls down to the state, county or local level. In the jargon of economists, that’s known as the ‘Zero Sum Game’.
I live in the City of Mount Vernon in lower Westchester County NY.
Westchester has a very large share of residents who are among the wealthiest Americans. Some call their Westchester residence home, while others use their Westchester property as a secondary or tertiary residence. Because of these very wealthy families who own extraordinary properties, Westchester has one of the highest median property values in the United States, and is ranked 1st of the 3143 U.S. counties in order of median property taxes.
What they fail to mention is that most properties in Westchester County are taxed by 3 different entities: The County (18%); the municipality (22%); and the school district (60%).
For me and my Mount Vernon neighbors, the estates of the landed gentry might as well be on another planet.
Those of us who live in Mount Vernon are seeing the effects first hand of what happens when politics gets in the way of reality. We experienced a very contentious and hard-fought battle for the office of County Executive in the second half of 2013.
The incumbent, Rob Astorino, campaigned relentlessly on his Tea Party platform of No Tax Increases!
Despite the fact that county property taxes in Westchester typically represent less than 20% of the total property tax burden, the sound bite of No Tax Increases, combined with a consistent message that his opponent – in his role as Mayor of New Rochelle – had raised taxes on New Rochelle property owners, Mr. Astorino gained the support of a number of factions, including some elected officials, and he was re-elected.
Now, because the County has not increased taxes, it has cut funding for vital services, and guess where the vital services are most needed?
Cities like Mount Vernon, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Peekskill are left holding the bag. No funding from the County for services? City taxpayers pick up the tab in their City budget, instead of spreading the tax burden across the broader County tax base and allowing property owners in all areas to share the cost of services which tend to impact most on lower-income areas.
A recent report ranked 4 Westchester towns — including Briarcliff, Lewisboro, Irvington and Pleasantville — as some of the safest areas in New York State to live. Those folks can well afford to pay for great schools, plenty of police, etc. in part because they don’t get burdened with covering the costs of services in less affluent communities.
Here in Mount Vernon, we have an elected City Council member who was a vehement supporter of Rob Astorino in his re-election campaign, loving the promise of no tax increases. Now, the City taxpayers are facing an 8% City tax increase in order to maintain some semblance of vital services which the County will no longer provide due to budget cuts.
Our City Council member is visiting somewhere in the Twilight Zone, creating her own illusions of reality, and she has supporters who believe in her?
Let me warn you folks: Don’t drink any of her Kool Aid! And, be very careful of the messages you hear on the election trail!
Walrus Feeling Guilty
October 4, 2013
With all of the attention on the shenanigans in Washington and the in-depth moment by moment reporting, I thought the Walrus might sit this one out, but various forces have caused guilt.
Congress certainly has the authority to challenge the Affordable Care Act. Why don’t they just challenge the ACA in Court? Why are they messing with the greatest economy in the World?
Oh, wait. They did challenge it in court. In the Supreme Court. The highest court in the land. On June 28, 2012, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion upholding the constitutionality of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” finding that the federal government can require people to purchase affordable health care insurance coverage or face an income tax penalty.
So, we have a law which was approved by the House of Representatives, approved by the U.S. Senate, approved by the President of the U.S. and affirmed by the Supreme Court.
But, wait! We also have a splinter group of dubiously elected officials (i.e. the Ayatollah John Boehner, Cruz Control, Private Ryan, Eric “T.P.” Cantor – and others who shall remain anonymous for now).
These creatures have determined (in September 2013) that the only appropriate way for the Congress to arrive at a Continuing Budget Resolution which would keep our federal government running is to open a debate on a law which was enacted in 2010?
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are many times I wish that I could just put all of the clocks and calendars around the world on pause. Just give me a few days to catch up on all of the loose ends, and then I would restart the clocks and calendars as though those few days I had to myself were invisible and inconsequential. Sort of like a short “working vacation” in the Twilight Zone.
Boehner and his Band of Merry Men apparently have gone beyond the Twilight Zone and have jumped all the way down the rabbit hole, desperately trying to drag the rest of the country with them.
I have to wonder – how does the Supreme Court feel about this behavior?
Bad Behavior at Campaign Central
September 22, 2013
Somehow, Rob Astorino was elected to the position of Westchester County Executive in 2009. Since then, Mr. Astorino has accomplished nothing worth noting, other than a consistent and flagrant disreguard for the laws of New York State and the United States of America.
Now, Mr. Astorino is showing his true colors, attacking his Democratic Party endorsed opponent in the upcoming election for Westchester County Executive, and manufacturing reasons why his silly lawsuits against the federal government are a good idea, despite the fact that none of them have been successful.
Manufacturing his own facts, and drawing on his highly polished skills perfected during his long career as a radio broadcast journalist, Mr. Astorino and his Band of Merry Men are closely following the national model employed by Boehner, Ryan, Cruz and their ‘brothers’ using highly-charged emotional messages backed up by imaginary ‘facts’.
For some unfortunate reason, there seems to be a cohort of gullible — or perhaps dishonest? — New Rochelle residents who are willing to put their own character and reputation on the line to spread false facts.
Meanwhile, Noam Bramson, who has a solid track record of doing the right things to support and benefit the long-term success of all people in the County, is having to deal with the spillover effects of a divisive and dirty attack campaign from Mr. Astorino.
Some days, I wonder if America has been dragged down the rabbit hole by Alice and Astorino, and it’s all just a weird dream which will end with a nice cup of tea?
The Marijuana Dilemma
September 4, 2013
Back when the Walrus was just a pup, the great George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Another version is printed as “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”
However we weave the words, the concept is that we can look back at history, and use the outcomes from various actions to inform what might happen in the present should we repeat an action from the past.
It could be a military action: The outcomes from the Vietnam War could have provided a lesson to the U.S. in 2001 that invading foreign countries over ideological and/or religious principles is an absolute exercise in futility. Instead, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and now is contemplating military sanctions against Syria.
It could be an industrial action: The outcomes from the Love Canal saga in Niagara Falls, NY where the NYS Health Department proclaimed this as a “national symbol of a failure to exercise a sense of concern for future generations” could have provided a lesson to the U.S. in 2005 when the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was substantially amended.
Instead of using the mistakes of the past to inform us in the present, the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 contains a provision that has come to be known as the “Halliburton Loophole” — an exemption that excludes gas drilling and extraction activities (popularly known as ‘fracking’) from requirements in the SDWA by making the chemicals found within fracking fluid a “trade secret” – thus exempting them from any regulatory oversight.
It could be a social action:. Prohibition – implemented in 1920 as a result of the 18th Amendment – came about from presumably well-intentioned activity championed by The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). They believed that banning alcohol would reduce domestic violence, child abuse, and crime.
By the time Prohibition was repealed (1933) by ratification of the 21st Amendment, it should have been clear that even an amendment to the U.S. Constitution wasn’t going to change human propensity toward relaxation and enjoyment.
Prohibition didn’t work at the basic human level, and it helped to create an off-the-grid economy which brought all of the activities of manufacture, distribution and retailing of alcoholic beverages out of the legitimate economy where it was regulated and taxed, into a shadow economy which ostensibly was controlled by organized crime and bootleggers.
Before Prohibition, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages was regulated and taxed, providing a net positive benefit to government operations; after, the enforcement costs spiraled while revenue disappeared.
Prohibition of alcohol was repealed in 1933, yet 80 years later, we continue to make growing, distribution and consumption of marijuana a criminal activity.
As a nation, we are spending somewhere near $6 Billion annually to attempt to enforce archaic regulations pertaining to marijuana related activities.
We receive no income taxes, no sales taxes and no revenue taxes related to marijuana production, distribution or sales. There is plenty of legitimate research which shows that marijuana is less harmful. – In fact, more salubrious – than alcohol.
As a taxpayer, I say, “stop wasting my tax dollars on pointless enforcement; legalize, regulate and tax marijuana; and reduce my property and income tax burden attributable to archaic and foolish laws and regulations!”
“A Plutocracy Ruled by Self-Centered Jerks?”
August 27, 2013
I spotted this headline, and couldn’t resist clicking on it. The intro says,
“Two studies released last week {August 2013} confirmed what most of us already knew: the ultra-wealthy tend to be narcissistic and have a greater sense of entitlement than the rest of us, and Congress only pays attention to their interests. Both studies are consistent with earlier research….”
This does seem to ring true for the most part. I think there are those rare individuals who were raised in privilege — maybe 3rd generation blue bloods? — who have minimal affectations and are really decent people.
As I’ve heard said, ‘they were raised right.’
The truly self-centered seem to be the pirates who rose from a proletariat family to economic aristocracy on their own – hell-bent on becoming rich and powerful – no holds barred.
My poster child for this syndrome is Joseph Cassano, who grew up in Brooklyn, where his father was a policeman. He earned a political science degree from Brooklyn College in 1977. No blue blood here!
In 1987, American International Group (AIG) hired Cassano as Chief Financial Officer for their Financial Products group.
By 2000, Cassano had risen to the position of CEO of the AIG Financial Products group, which had developed a very lucrative business selling Credit Default Swaps to various Investment Banks as protection against their potential losses on mortgage-backed securities.
Some said that Cassano was at the very center of the Great Recession due to his leadership of this lightly-regulated AIG subsidiary which seemed capable of writing its own rules on how it assessed risk; on how it priced risk; and how it compensated executives.
It has been reported that between 2000 and 2008 — the year he left the company — Joseph Cassano’s compensation from AIG was more than $300 Million.
Cassano walked away free, absolved of any improprieties by federal prosecutors.
Meanwhile, U.S. taxpayers injected $182 Billion into AIG to prevent it from destroying our American financial system.
What a fabulous inspiration for young people on how to achieve the American Dream!
walrus51 