Last week, it was reported that the county had worked out a much improved deal with the private company that handles its tax arrears and liens. It was so good, I called my post “Found Money”. Instead of $8 million, the new deal would raise up to $40 million, thus fiscally helping the county in myriad ways.

Some people are opposing this deal.

I received this email from PUSH Buffalo today:

Hello friends:

As many of you know, Joel Giambra and County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz want Erie County to sell its tax liens in bulk to a private company so they don’t have to collect the debt themselves and get a whole lot of cash up front to balance the budget. Sounds good, right? Well maybe not.

I urge you to contact your county legislator to make sure all of Erie County does not get on board a train wreck. When you call demand:

- That the County Legislature have the power to review, amend, and approve the contract
- That your legislator learn from years of bad policy and act as a voice of reason against shortsighted
- That county government open a public conversation about regional development

Three and a half years ago the City of Buffalo was in the same place. Selling 1,500 liens to a state agency with its financial back against the wall has proved to be a huge blunder and has hindered redevelopment in the city since. What’s been left in the wake of that deal is a spiral of abandonment and vacancy in some of the most distressed parts of the city and a hostage situation for the parcels that have significant development potential.

And while the County seems to be getting a better shake from the municipal debt collector Xpand, the volume of liens is staggering — 30,000 county wide. What’s worse, the deal on the table is simply a yes/no vote to give Giambra the ability to negotiate the contract without any process for amendment by your elected representative. With less than a third of those liens are in the city, this could spell a development nightmare for Erie County. Regional planning groups have concerns with the proposed deal and so should we.

What PUSH is doing (and Legislator Maria Whyte is lobbying along the same lines) is comparing apples with anvils.

They are trying to compare the county’s deal with a private entity - Xpand - with the city’s deal with MBBA, which you don’t have to go far to learn is a pretty lame deal, in retrospect. When the MBBA - a state agency - is stuck with a house that isn’t worth the amount of the lien, that agency has no resources to keep up the property or otherwise prevent the blight that has occurred.

By contrast, Xpand is a private company that isn’t generally in the business of giving money away. Xpand would buy the county’s tax liens for 105% of the amount, and keeps the interest and late fees. Because it’s a private entity, it has a huge incentive to actually pursue the money. MBBA has no such incentive; it exists tomorrow whether it collects a dime or not.

Furthermore, if the deal is blocked, as suggested by Whyte & PUSH, the county could very well end up in deficit at the end of the year. The legislators will have the unenviable job of deciding which pet projects, including neighborhood centers, clinics, and other services they’ll get to cut. On the other hand, if the deal goes through, it could provide the county with enough money to call off the hard control board.

When a town/village taxpayer doesn’t pay up, the vast majority of those property taxes go to schools and municipalities. The county is obligated to cover the unpaid amount to those local entities and go chase after the arrears.

Xpand is not MBBA, and this deal is in no way comparable to that one. I urge you to contact your legislator and ask him/her to approve this deal and take a solid step in the direction of fiscal solvency and surplus.

Convergence Media Group, LLC is the parent company of what is now known as WNYMedia.net. As alluded to here, we have big changes - good changes, positive changes - in store.

We’re working in conjunction with the geniuses at Schneider Digital to re-brand ourselves to better reflect what we’re going to be doing, and provide us - and you - with a better platform and improved, enhanced content.

And yeah, posting’s light because I’m busy.

Click here for a preview. Also, BfloBlog will soon become WNYMedia.net’s official sports section. Big doings, folks.

New Spree? It’s out.

Kuni’s? Awesome.

Legislator Cindy Locklear has an interesting post about a piece of legislative esoterica which may save Erie County money. She outlines the “Sales Tax Intercept” or “Reverse Revenue Sharing” option here:

Under this option, the state will keep a fixed portion (reported by senate majority leader Senator Bruno to be the county’s capped Medicaid amount for SFY 2006/2007) of all the county sales tax receipts and give the rest back to the county. “The county, in turn, will no longer make any Medicaid payments to the state” according to Tarron Bragdon, a researcher with the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

Analysts indicate that if a county’s sales tax rate of growth (exclusive of rate increases) is less than the annual Medicaid rate cap of 3%, this option may be cost effective and result in a lower local share for Medicaid costs. Bragdon states “In low sales tax growth counties, the future ‘cost’ to the county of the sales tax intercept is less than the future increase of capped Medicaid payments.”

However, this election, once made, cannot be rescinded. Further, the “window of opportunity” for evaluating this option and making the election is limited. Counties which determine to elect this option must do so by legislative adoption of a statutorily proscribed resolution which must be received by the NYS Department of Health no later than September 30, 2007. Once that date has expired, the option is no longer available.

It’s clear that we don’t have the complete picture to enable legislators properly to do a cost/benefit analysis of this idea, but it’s intriguing.

Buffaloi has the news on the historic workers’ compensation reform deal that was struck in Albany today.

I’m not talking about the substance of the deal itself, but of the meeting of the minds that brought it about:

It was big political win because the announcement was made by Spitzer surrounded by Joe Bruno and Shelly Silver, the legislative leaders who had drawn the Governor’s wrath over the appointment of a State Comptroller. The proposal has the backing of the AFL-CIO leadership in the state, and the NYS Business Council. That’s quite a feat.

Labor and Business? Spitzer and Silver/Bruno? “Quite a feat” is an understatement. It’s more like “the Earth flew off its axis and is hurtling towards the sun”.

New York’s super-expensive-yet-stingy workers’ comp system was listed among one of the major impediments to business growth upstate.

Nothing happens overnight. But maybe for the revival of upstate New York, it’s past dusk.

Draws 476 comments at BfloBlog.

If you have bookkeeping experience, or are a junior accountant with experience in governmental accounting, apply here for a job with the county Comptroller’s office paying in the mid-$30k.

His email address is hon_edwinabbah@myway.com.

Dear Friend.

I am Director Gen. Foreign Affairs Ministry; my office monitors and controls the affairs of all banks and financial institutions in Nigeria concerning foreign contract payments.

I have every files before me and the data’s will be to change to your name to enable you receive the fund into your nominated bank account as the beneficiary of the fund’s amount As it is my duty to recommend the transfer of these surplus funds to the Federal Government Treasury and Reserve Accounts as unclaimed deposits.

I have the opportunity to write you based on the instructions I received from the Senate Committee on Contract Payments/Foreign Debts to submit the List of payment reports/ expenditures and audited reports of revenues. Among several others, I have decided to remit this sum following my idea that we have a deal/agreement and I am going to do this legally.

MY CONDITIONS.

1. You will give me 35% of your contract funds as
soon as you confirm it in your designated bank account.
2. This deal must be kept secret forever, and all
Correspondence will be strictly by email / telephone, for security
Purposes.

3. There should be no third parties as most problems associated with your fund release are caused by your agents or representative.

If you AGREE with my conditions, l will advise you on what to do immediately and the transfer will commence without delay as I will proceed to fix your name on the Payment schedule instantly to meet up the mandate.

Waiting for your reply soon.
Yours Sincerely.
Mr. Stanley Lawson.

The Buffalo News’ Link section, (moved to Tuesday thanks to Oscar coverage), has a story billed as

SCORING WEB HITS: Loyal followers of Buffalo sports teams get a cyber feast at fun fan Web sites

Well, I was happy that some of the local fan sites would be getting some major paper attention, but no. The story was about the official websites for the Sabres, Bills, Bisons, and Bandits.

Not sites like this one, or this one or this one or this one, which are actually written by dedicated fans.

Why not pimp the local sportsroots, in addition to the teams’ corporate sites?

I thought this was amusing:

The most unique aspect of the site is the podcasting, which is part of the multimedia section. A podcast is an audio broadcast that has been changed into an MP3 file or any other type of audio file so that users can play it back in their computer or music device, such as an iPod.

But the significant bit about podcasting is the ability to subscribe to an audio rss feed - not merely that it’s an mp3 file.

Sleepy little Newfane makes the News. Nestled between Lockport and Lake Ontario, this is more or less farm country. So this must be the talk of the town:

Laptop computers issued by the Newfane School District to two school board members were used to cruise pornographic Web pages - in one case, more than 2,000 of them, according to a state audit of the district released Monday.
The laptops issued to Lois Farley and Richard Ruhmel, who no longer serve on the board, were among a dozen to undergo tests.

Eight - including one issued to Anthony LaRose, a current board member - had been used for such personal purposes as online dating, tax return preparation, shopping, travel, banking, games and music, and, in one case, to run a personal business.

“It is particularly troubling since three of the eight computers were assigned to board members,” who should set the tone in the district and “observe the highest ethical standards,” auditors wrote.

2,000 porn web pages on a school laptop. That goes over as well as a substitute teacher snorting coke in class. That was in Niagara County, too.

The State Comptroller’s office audited the Newfane school district and also found:

• Seven district employees were assigned two laptops each so they could use one at work and another for work-related duties at home. Auditors said they found that explanation puzzling.

Especially considering laptop computers are portable.

But it must be particularly difficult for school board members to explain away this kind of idiocy:

Auditors said Ruhmel’s laptop was used to access pornographic Web sites more than 150 times in 2002. They also said they found more than 2,000 pornographic Web pages listed on a history report of the laptop issued to Farley. The sites were accessed between May 2003 and December 2005.

“We reviewed only a fraction of the 5,000 picture files stored on this computer, and found hard-core pornographic images,” the auditors said.

There was a great scene in the Brit “Office” where Gareth tells Brent about the “history” in his browser, and Brent had never heard of such a thing and has a bit of a freak-out, asking Gareth how it is that one erases the “history” folder.

Not a wet eye in the place.

The Reporter:

Why anyone thought that this city needed a Pizza Hut is beyond comprehension. Did people here suddenly decide they were tired of the pies from Frenchy’s, La Hacienda, Jaco’s, Buzzy’s, Donatello’s, Goodfella’s, the Como, Ventry’s, the Pizza Oven and Sammy’s? “Let’s try that new Pizza Hut pineapple and ham!”

Don’t get us wrong, Pizza Hut has its place. Like Montana or something.

Anyway, as we all know, Palillo moved heaven and earth to block Benderson’s project, and the developer took it out to the Town of Niagara, where residents now benefit from the millions of dollars in real-estate taxes it provides.

The Pizza Hut was built smack-dab in the middle of enough vacant land to grow corn on — which, had it been done, likely would have made the people who ran the place feel more at home. In desperation, they all but gave their product away for free, stuffing the Sunday papers with two-for-one coupons and other temptations. Still, it had to be one of the least successful stores in the chain.

Why anyone would patronize a Pizza Hut anywhere is beyond my comprehension.

Buffaloi makes a great point - shouldn’t the only paper in town publish the entire text of Byron Brown’s State of the City address so that the people could read it unabridged?

Are in order.

Mike Miller has the roundup and the pics.

In the wake of this news, I’d like to know what current efforts are being made to locate and apprehend this person and this person.

They’ve been fugitives from justice for over 10 years. But I guess NATO is still applying some pressure. Even the Serbian media are putting pressure on these two stains to surrender.

Just goes to show you what I know. I thought the Rev. Al’s 15 minutes were up when the Tawana Brawley case was concluded.

Incidentally, has Steven Pagones’ judgment against Sharpton, Mason, & Maddox been satisfied even a little bit?

The link is here, and they have this category called “best local blogger”. So, um. Yeah.

Red gives his thoughts upon seeing the new Steel Winds windmills from Hamburg Beach, with Buffalo in the background.

I started thinking about the future of Buffalo. Not in the sense of what the city will evolve into - that’s something we’re all looking and working towards every day - but just how it will look, how it will feel. I’m telling you, when I saw those windmills across the lake, I saw a city that was poised for the future. A fleeting glimpse, to be sure, but still I got the feeling like stuff was starting to come together.

People who see hope, happiness, and progress in Buffalo are no longer as prone to being labeled as forlorn dreamers.

From the Buffalo News:

I happened to be thinking of the “Wizard of Oz” the other day and the similarities it has with Western New York politicians. Our elected officials need a brain, a heart and, most of all, courage.

That reminds me. How’s that Wizard of Oz theme park in Wheatfield coming along?

First, the brain. It will be tough to become a first-class city when our elected officials keep embarrassing us. We need officials who are willing to do what’s right even when no one is watching. It doesn’t take a genius to run the city, it takes a person who surrounds himself with the best and who wants the best for our children.

So far, I haven’t heard much grumbling about Byron Brown’s first year in office. I certainly haven’t seen anyone accuse him of being without a brain.

Next, the heart. We used to be a city swelling with pride. Remember the “Talking Proud” slogan? Remember when we reached out to help one another, and fought together like a team? Today, we point fingers at each other and let our leaders hide their heads in the snow.

Cheesy slogans and manufactured top-to-bottom pride-a-thons aren’t what make people proud. I think that Buffalo and Buffalonians still reach out to help one another and fight together like a team. October 13th, by way of example, brought that into sharp focus.

And courage! We need people to step up to the plate and give back to the community by running for political office. It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone, but it is necessary if we want to more forward. Let’s give someone new a chance this year when we go to the polls. We live in a great city with much history. It will take courage from all of us to make Buffalo a great city so we can truly say, “there is no place like home.”

We’re getting a new County Executive next year, we have a new Comptroller, and the Legislature is populated by mostly people who are in their first term.

How much did your car drop with the gubmint’s new, more accurate method of calculating a car’s real city/highway mileage? Check here.

My wagon dropped from 23/31 to 20/29. Still not too shabby for a 200HP turbocharged 4.

The sedan dropped from 22/30 to 19/27.

I can honestly say that the new estimate truly reflects the mileage I get from both vehicles.

But check the sainted Toyota Prius hybrid. It plummets from 60 city / 51 highway to 48 city / 45 highway. Still good, but it ain’t 60.

By contrast, a VW Jetta TDI drops more modestly, from 35/42 to 30/38.

Actually, this Sunday WBEN’s Dave Debo will be sitting in for the traveling professor, so give him a listen.

We all wish Matt Hardwick good luck at his Tae Kwon Doe tournament this weekend.

Before we get started, did you guys ever find out who sent those envelopes filled with anthrax back in 2002? Hmm.

I’m writing to you from a little place called Buffalo, New York. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? We’ve got some of your employees working here in the FBI, Border Patrol, Customs & Immigration, and other agencies. The region actually has no fewer than five road and rail crossings into a foreign country called “Canada”. It’s commonly thought of as being North of the US, but here it’s actually to the West.

What happens a lot is that people from our part of New York State go into this “Canada” pretty regularly for such things as Phantom of the Opera at a Mirvish theater, a Yankees vs. Blue Jays game, hockey or concerts at the Air Canada Centre, or sometimes just for plain old shopping. “Canadians”, on the other hand, many of whom speak our own English language, come to the Buffalo area to see the Bills play football, the Sabres play hockey, to go to the museum or a show on Main Street, and sometimes just for plain old shopping. While they also use money called a “dollar”, theirs is actually different from ours, and it is currently worth almost as much as our own. That means that Canadians like to come to our shops and malls and spend their “dollars” in our stores, chiefly because the prices are good, and our 8.75% sales tax is much lower than their 14% GST/PST combination.

Until now, Americans and Canadians have had to show proof of citizenship and photo ID at the border. Nine times out of ten, a driver’s license will suffice. Sometimes, a social security card or a voter’s registration gives you that added, “I’m a citizen” cache. Never before has it been a requirement that people hold a passport to cross the border.

But you guys have been pretty adamant about requiring us to use passports starting in 2008. These have a dual purpose of being both a photo ID and proof of citizenship.

The problem is that it costs an adult almost $100 to get one.

Now, I know you have the NEXUS program which is available for $50.

But in order to get NEXUS, you need to hold a passport. So, that’s $150.

I don’t know if you guys know, but Western New York isn’t a particularly wealthy area, and requiring octogenarian bingo players and blue-collar hockey fans to pony up $100 might be a blip for the federal government’s coffers, but is a hardship for many people who just want to cross a local bridge to maybe get some Ming Teh. On the other hand, the vast majority of Americans who don’t live within 50 miles of an international border crossing won’t be affected by this proposal in the slightest, except when they try to go down to Tijuana to get hammered and are turned away.

For some reason, you guys think that passports are better security than any other form of citizenship document. Well, I certainly agree that it’s better than a certified birth certificate, which currently differs from jurisdiction from jurisdiction, but what about just stamping our drivers’ licenses with “US CITIZEN” or “NON-US CITIZEN”?

If the fear is security, a passport doesn’t substitute for a vigilant guard’s training and instinct. Passports don’t come stamped with “al Qaeda member” in them.

If the issue is citizenship status, then follow Schumer’s lead:

[Schumer’s] legislation would require a pilot program to test the use of an enhanced driver’s license as an alternative to a passport. It also would force the Department of Homeland Security to certify by Jan. 1, 2009, that it met strict guidelines for security and the efficiency of commerce and limit the cost of identification cards.

Or maybe Louise Slaughter’s:

Her proposal calls for the Department of Homeland Security to complete a pilot program in Washington State and British Columbia with an enhanced driver’s license, exempt children 16 or younger, cap the cost of the pass card at $20 and expand existing frequent traveler programs.

$20 is a far cry from $100 or $150. Also, you guys are talking about exempting kids under 15 from the passport requirement, as if that were some sort of “concession”. Kids’ birth certificates come in just as varied shapes and sizes as adults’. Furthermore, it’s not the kids who are spending the money here and in Ontario. It’s the parents. If the parents don’t feel like shelling out $200 to get a passport, then chances are that junior isn’t going, either.

Seriously, any rational person can tell you that this region doesn’t need a hit like the one that would come with a passport requirement for US-Canadian road and rail travel. Just when things are starting to look up, this would devastate us. Furthermore, there are many alternatives out there, and I can’t understand why you won’t consider implementing them. I know you’re busy figuring out whether Ted Kennedy should be on the no-fly list or not, but this is dramatically important to Western New York.

Please listen to our elected representatives, listen to our people, and act accordingly in a way that maintains security while not devastating our economy.

Love, BP