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County Executive Vetoes County Legislature Budget

Posted on December 18, 2017 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. December 18, 2017:

County Executive Robert P. Astorino today vetoed a Board of Legislators budget that included a 2 percent tax hike.

The County Board of Legislators has until the end of the year to pass a 12-5 override the veto vote, which would require each of the three Republicans who voted for the budget, to repeat their YES vote. Those three Republicans are David Tubiolo, David Gelfarb and James Maisano. Any one of the three Republicans could (with a swich to a No vote” kill the Board of Legislator’s much ballyhooed 2% tax increase.

Gelfarb, who was not returned to office in the November elections would be the most likely to vote “No” since he will not be returning to face the consequences.

In his message to legislators, the County Executive emphasized that he delivered a balanced and fiscally prudent budget that meets the needs and obligations of Westchester residents – without increasing the property tax levy.

“Raising property taxes on the already overburdened taxpayer is the last thing we should be doing right now,” Astorino said. “For the past seven years, working in a bi-partisan manner, we have been able to adopt budgets that have fully provided for services and programs and did not rely on the county’s reserve funds. The board’s budget will hurt taxpayers.”

Astorino cited other flaws in the board’s adopted budget, notably their unnecessary draining of $20 million in reserve funds, which could adversely affect the county’s AAA bond rating.

And its omission of a legitimate, long-term and sustainable revenue stream from a proposed public-private partnership to operate the Westchester County Airport, which would have provided the county with $30 million in non-tax revenues for the 2018 budget as well as approximately $5 million in new revenue for the next 39 years.

When these factors are coupled with the liklihood of Congress changing the tax code to eliminate or limit the deductibility of local property taxes, the results could be devasting for many Westchester residents.

“With Washington about to cap state and local property tax deductions, the most irresponsible and hypocritical thing to do is to make matters worse by hiking our already sky-high taxes,” Astorino said.

Since taking office in 2010, Astorino has been committed to holding the line on taxes. During his tenure, in fact, the property tax levy actually decreased by 2 percent. The savings to taxpayers has been substantial.

If the county had raised the tax levy just 2 percent, the level allowable under the state’s tax cap, the cumulative cost to Westchester taxpayers since Astorino took office would have been $522 million or $1,700 for the median homeowner.

In the eight years prior to Astorino becoming County Executive, (under the Democrat County Executive Andry Spano) Westchester’s tax levy actually went up 60 percent.

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One of Greenburgh’s Finest: Richard Edelson

Posted on December 18, 2017 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. December 18, 2017:

Greenburgh is a great place to live in because of our residents. Our volunteers donate many hundreds of hours to the community -without expecting recognition or compensation because they want to help you have a better experience living in Greenburgh.

Sadly , Greenburgh lost one of our giants–Richard Edelson- this weekend. Richard was captain of the CERT team – a team of volunteers who have the skills to help emergency responders save lives and protect property. During storms and hurricanes, Con Ed power outages, fires or other emergencies Richard would arrange for temporary shelter for residents at our community center. If there was an emergency in the middle of the night Richard would be there for all of us. During carnivals and other community events – Richard would be out in the community with his CERT colleagues directing traffic so you could be safer. Richard trained other CERT volunteers to identify and anticipate hazards in the community, to learn how to prepare for disasters and much more. He was a frequent presence at the Town Hall working with the police on initiatives. He was at Town Hall on many weekends –thinking of ways he can help others.

Richard did much more. He was a member of our water district advisory board. He served as a member of a team of volunteers with management expertise who advised me in recent years – reviewing town budgets and providing me with constructive advice how to manage the town better and more efficiently. He helped oversee two important studies of different departments that will save taxpayer dollars. The recommendations of the studies are being implemented. Richard was also President of the Westchester Citizen Corps Coalition that was formed to help coordinate Westchester County CERT teams and he was also a certified CERT trainer- teaching many courses to potential CERT students through Westchester County. Richard was inducted into the Westchester Senior Citizen Hall of Fame last year because of his many volunteer activities.

Richard was also one of the main leads for many years coordinating the Westchester County Volunteer Responder Drill held each September in conjunction with the county department of Emergency Services in Valhalla.

Richard was always constructive. Never arrogant. He was very smart and nice. He will be greatly missed. And will always be appreciated. Richard was a role model for other citizens. He left the world a much better place, thanks to his dedicated service and hard work.

PAUL FEINER

County Legislature $1.84 B Budget Responsible Puts County on Right Track Again Boykin Writes

Posted on December 18, 2017 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. DECEMBER 18, 2017:

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

My colleagues and I on the Board of Legislators came together to pass a bi-partisan budget, by a 12-5 vote, that puts Westchester back on a responsible fiscal path after eight years of mismanagement.

This budget funds important services for Westchesters middle class families while attempting to address the fiscal mess and long-term budget hole of over $100M left by the outgoing Astorino Administration.

An increase to the tax levy of 2% equals roughly $11M in added funds to our Countys budget. Based on each municipalities varying state equalization rate this is approximately a $25-$35 per year increase to the average homeowner.

So for about the cost of a movie for two, you will fund the hiring of (Astorino-eliminated) engineers that will get to work on our crumbling infrastructure, hire needed public safety officers so our parks and roads are protected, hire curators to educate the public about our one-of-a-kind County park system, help provide affordable child care for Westchesters working families, and fund cost-effective programs that work to prevent domestic violence and other services to help individuals and families across the County.

As we heard from our independent auditors, the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, The League of Women Voters, and The Scarsdale Forum, our countys financial situation is not a good one – and the issues just keep compounding. (See the links below for those organization statements on the budget.)

We still have a lot of work to do but I am proud we were able to come together from both sides of the aisle to pass a budget that looks to finally get real with our finances so Westchester can have a brighter future.

Benjamin Boykin

Westchester County Legislator