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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators. November 19, 2008: The Board of Legislators press office has released the following analysis of the County Law Department and Department of Human Resources Budgets in County Executive Andrew Spano’s 2009 Budget proposed last week:
Focus on Proposed 2009 Budget Hearings: Law Department; Human Resources Department
Law Department
The county’s Law Department manages all the civil law business for the county and its departments. Its proposed 2009 budget of $13.35 represents a 2.2 % decrease from last year’s budget. Staffing will be reduced by one position, from its current level of 111 to 110 in 2009.
“The implementation of HAVA, the new requirements regarding E-discovery, an increased focus on pursuing child support claims and environmental consent orders with the state are driving the Law Department’s work load increase,” said County Legislator José Alvarado, Chair of the Budget & Appropriations Committee. “The proposed increase in the hourly rate charged to all county departments for law services from $135 to $139 to raise departmental and interdepartmental revenues by $450,000 is appropriate.”
“I am pleased to see that the increase in case loads has been met by growth in productivity by staff and that the impact felt by taxpayers has been reduced by cutting costs,” said County Legislator Bill Burton, Chair of the Legislation Committee which has oversight responsibility for the Law Department. “The amount of frivolous litigation concerns me. We need to be more vigilant about that.”
Department of Human Resources
The Department of Human Resources recruits, trains and supports the civil service workforce staffing for Westchester County, the Westchester Medical Center and over120 local government agencies, including fire departments, police departments and school districts for all municipal governments with the exception of the cities of Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon and White Plains, which have their own civil service commissions.
The Department just this past weekend successfully administered the civil service exam for police officers to about 6,000 applicants. The department’s proposed 2009 budget of $5.788 million represents a modest increase of less than $200,000 over its 2008 budget, adding one staff position to centralize administration of the Family Medical Leave Act, which has undergone numerous modifications and enhancements.
“While I certainly stand behind the goals of the Family Medical Leave Act, it has become too cumbersome to master and manage department by department. As a result, we are forced to add a position to county staff at taxpayer expense to implement an ever evolving federal policy.” said County Legislator José Alvarado, Budget Committee Chair.
“The Human Resources Department is a good example of how county government saves local municipalities money by providing quality service on a regional basis,” said
Click here for an At-A-Glance overview of each department’s proposed budget.
