COVID-19 206 tested +; Info on April tax bill; Landscaping rules; County Center to become hospital on April 17; Volunteers wanted to help small businesses; complete census (we get more financial help if you do); info on unemployment insurance link
Summary of yesterday’s conference call with County Executive on coronavirus crisis: NEW DATA; UPDATED INFO ON APRIL TAXES; UPDATED INFO ON LANDSCAPING; COUNTY CENTER to become hospital on April 17; SBA loans (volunteers wanted); complete census (we get more financial help if you do); INFO ON UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE--WHAT YOU CAN DO IF YOU CAN’T GET THROUGH
Westchester Data
Westchester Cases: 12,351(+784)
Greenburgh (unincorporated: 206); Ardsley: 26; Dobbs Ferry: 59; Elmsford: 21; Hastings: 29; Tarrytown: 53
New York State Cases: 102,863 (+10,482)
Westchester Hospitalized: 418 last reporting
New York State Hospitalized: 14,810 (+1,427)
Statewide Deaths: 2,935
Westchester Deaths: 71
- Delays continue in the State pipeline on case numbers and municipal breakdowns. The above figures could be a few days old.
APRIL TAXES--BOARD OF LEGISLATORS AMENDS PROPOSAL--REDUCES PENALTIES, WON’T REMOVE IT FOR LATE PAYMENTS
- The Board of Legislators passed an amended version of the County Executive’s legislation on property tax payments, out of committee today. This was done in consultation and the support of the Town Supervisors. The bill now reduces the late penalty as opposed to removing it, includes town taxes and provides no provision to show a hardship. It is anticipated that the Legislature will hold a public hearing on the proposal on April 14th and could approve the legislation on April 17th.
- You can review the bill here: file:///C:/Users/ssb3/Downloads/Attachment-22608.pdf
EXCEPTION TO STAY AT HOME POLICY--STATE SAYS LANDSCAPING ESSENTIAL
- Although we are still waiting on solid final guidance regarding landscaping from New York State, the Department of Agriculture and Markets did state that landscaping for maintenance and pest control purposes has been designated as essential.
COUNTY CENTER TO BECOME A HOSPITAL ON APRIL 17
- The temporary field hospital with 120 beds to be located at the Westchester County Center, will be completed and able to receive patients on April 17th. Admissions will be coordinated with White Plains Hospital.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED TO HELP BUSINESSES APPLY FOR SBA LOANS
- The Economic Development group is setting up a program to help businesses apply for SBA loans. It is seeking 50 volunteers to assist in intake interviews. The program is expected to be in place next week. Please ask volunteers to contact Bridget Gibbons at economicdevelopment@westchestergov.com
PLEASE RESPOND TO CENSUS
- The County has a Census response rate of 40.6% so far. Funding to the town, school district, fire districts, first responders depends on our population. The census numbers will impact the amount of funds we receive in grants for 10 years!
ARE YOU HAVING TROUBLE APPLYING FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE?
I have been getting numerous calls from residents who tell me that they call the NYS Dept of Labor almost non stop and get no response after losing their jobs. Some wait hours on the phone. I hope this information helps.
The
New York State Department of Labor waived the seven-day waiting period for unemployment insurance and is implementing a filing system that spreads out filings over multiple days of the week, based on the first letter of a filer’s last name. The system is as follows:
A - F : MondayG – N : TuesdayO – Z : Wednesday
Missed your day? You can file on Thursday or Friday.Filing later in the week will not delay payments or affect the date of an individual’s claim. All claims are effective on the Monday of the week in which they are filed.For specific instructions on how to file online, go to
www.labor.ny.gov/ui/pdfs/Unemployment-Filing-Instructions.pdf.
This is some info I received from NYS
Between 3/23 & 3/28, DOL’s phone system recorded 8.2 million calls, compared to 50,000 in a typical week– a 16,000% increase.
The online filing system received 3.4 million visits, compared to 350,000 in a typical week.
DOL is addressing this by trying to reduce call volume and increasing capacity.
Some measures include – having claimants call on specified days based on their last name. Automating more process to reduce the need to call.
DOL has 700 staff at the call center. Hundreds of additional staff are being trained to add to call center capacity.
Call centers hours have been expanded and now include Saturday. And DOL added 20 additional servers to support the website has capacity.
PAUL FEINER