WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. February 18, 2005. CLARIFICATION, 11:25 A.M. E.S.T.: Mayor Joseph Delfino, taking a break at intermission of a performance of Bye Bye Birdie  Thursday night to talk with WPCNR and address a range of issues,  announced he was calling on the state to create two different Equalization Rates in response to the rising tide of huge tax certiorari settlements filed and won by city businesses.

He said the Westchester County Municipal Officers Association have created a bill with the Chairman of the County's Assessors are to create two equalization rates, one for commerical property and one for residential property to protect tax payers from the impacts of  ever-growing certiorari (tax refunds to businesses who prove they have been overappraised).

Mayor Joseph Delfino of White Plains, center talking with Paul Wood, White Plains Executive Officer at right at Westchester Broadway Theatre peformance of Bye Bye Birdie Thursday evening. Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

Mayor Delfino said the bill has been created by the Westchester County Municipal Officers Association with the help of assessors in order to protect homeowners from bearing the brunt of certiorari settlements that drastically lower commericial owners who sue for refunds from inflated assessments.  The City of White Plains has settled three major certiorari suits in the last two months totaling $3.78 Million,  which may result in the raising of property taxes on White Plains residents to make up the shortfall, and increase substantially  the school tax levy because school taxes are based on total city assessed value.

The Mayor said the bill would raise the equalization rate for commerical property owners and lower it for residential property owners, to discourage commericial certiorari filings by not making them as attractive to file. He did not go into details.

The Mayor said he and the New York State Conference of Mayors, (he indicated were supportive of the bill), intended to present  the legislation to the legislature at their meeting in Albany February 25. Asked if he had a legislator to sponsor the bill in Albany, the Mayor said he hoped State Senator Nicholas Spano would sponsor it but had yet to discuss it with him. 

Mayor Delfino said he expected "a tough fight," but that it was the best way to deal with certioraris. The Mayor said he was concerned about the certiorari situation as was the Westchester Municipal Officers Association, and that is why the officers have worked with assessors to create the new bill.

Commenting on the commercial certiorari tide in White Plains, he said "we've ridden on their backs (commercial owners) for years with over assessments, now it has come time to pay the piper. Nobody wants to reval (reassess all properties), so two different equalization rates seems a reasonable answer."

The Mayor, stopping by WPCNR's table at WBT addressed a range of issues, also mentioning that President George Bush's new budget calling for deep cuts in Community Development Funds has caused him to advise White Plains City Departments they may have to cut programs using Community Development monies.