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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators. December 11, 2021. (Edited):

On Monday, the Board of Legislators voted unanimously to approve operating, capital and special district budgets for 2022 of $2,200,000 that strengthen the County’s finances, provide historic levels of support for human services in Westchester County, and expand the County’s investment in infrastructure improvements for the 21st century. The new budget is 190 Million dollars more than the $2,009,999,999 budget this year.

Among the highlights are:

·         $7 million cut in County property tax levy

·         No one-shot revenues for continuing operations

·         No borrowing to fund pension obligations or operating expenses

·         No use of reserve funds,( using covid aid to replace funds taken from the reserve to make up 2021 budget shortfall.)

·         $10.2 million increase in funding for childcare

·         $10 million from American Rescue Plan funds for Small Landlord Rehabilitation Assistance Program

·         More than $1 million to address food insecurity

·         Increases of as much as 16% for not-for-profit service partners

·         $600K in new funding for Youth Bureaus

·         Addition of Health Department personnel

·         Funding to support new telemedicine programs

·         Funding for new public safety initiatives

·         $50 million  for land acquisition and infrastructure improvements to support affordable housing, largest single-year commitment in County history

·         Funding for flood mitigation, including $11 million added by Board of Legislators for flooding along Mamaroneck Avenue from the Sheldrake and Mamaroneck Rivers

·         $35 million to continue process of converting bus fleet from fossil fuel to hybrid and electric vehicles and install EV charging capacity at County’s bus garages

·         More than $57 million to modernize waste water treatment facilities including more than $22 million in additional odor control at the Yonkers facility

Board Chair Ben Boykin (D-White Plains, Scarsdale, West Harrison), said,  “We have brought this County a long way from where it was four years ago. Then we faced low and dwindling general reserve funds, a string of budgets that relied on unsustainable one-shot revenues, decaying infrastructure whose repair had been deferred, a County government whose ability to respond to residents’ needs had been crippled by cuts, and that was before the challenges of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we’ve restored the County’s financial health and we are expanding our investment in Westchester’s future — not just by investing in our roads, bridges, parks, and transportation, but most importantly by investing in our people. These budgets put people first.”