White Plains City Budget Passes With 5 to 2 Vote
By Silas White and Pat Casey
As the White Plains Common Council passed the city’s 2017-2018 budget with a vote of five in favor and two against, the most notable issue confronting the city, as viewed by the budget, is the slowing of revenue from sales tax, which decreased by about $700,000 from the previous year’s budget.
During discussion by councilmembers before the vote, Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona said she would not support the budget because it did not place the needs of the community first.
“Although this budget acknowledges we are in an economic recovery and it takes into account fiscal pressures on all levels of government, it doesn’t address many areas of concern,” Lecuona said. She noted decreasing and flat revenues in areas that at one time had been staples of White Plains government revenue, such as mortgage tax and sales tax. “These have not rebounded,” Lecuona added, “and property tax revenue is flat.”
She also said the increase in Parking Department revenue, up 5% and representing 20% of the city’s revenue was unacceptable, causing difficulty for downtown businesses.
Lecuona also singled out White Plains Chief of Staff and Corporation Counsel, John Callahan, saying his two jobs created a conflict of interest when negotiations might happen between the City and the Council, especially as he supervises the department commissioners and then advises the Council on legal matters.
Councilman John Martin disagreed with Lecuona, saying he felt there was no conflict of interest. He also contested Lecuona’s assertion that it was unacceptable to bond new purchases of rolling stock, offering that this is just the thing a municipality should bond for.
Councilwoman Beth Smayda also said bonding for rolling stock was appropriate, pointing out that White Plains does not borrow for cash flow, and that the budget process in White Plains was conservative and sustainable.
Smayda also countered a claim by Lecuona that the budget repairs to the White Plains Public Library Plaza were merely of a cosmetic nature, noting that she had sustained an injury walking in the plaza and that there had been others hurt as well. “I’m a glad these are being fixed,” Smayda said.
Also commenting on the library fixes, Councilman Dennis Krolian said, “Cosmetic costs such as the fountain and library plaza cost money the city does not have to spare.” He thanked an anonymous donor who had given $1 million to the library, a revenue figure included in the current budget. He also questioned government decisions on road repair expenses.
“It is obvious from the budget and everything we see that costs have increased. We also see a flat level of revenue, particularly sales tax. With increased costs and flat revenue, we have a swollen debt burden,” Krolian said. “I am going to be voting against this budget.”
Mayor Tom Roach said the Moody’s outlook for White Plains is a “stable” Aa-1, and that while there was some debt, White Plains is in much better shape fiscally than many other municipalities.
Addressing the struggling sales tax, Roach said online sales are a trend that will not stop and that the way to counteract that is to increase foot traffic by building more residences in the White Plains downtown and by converting former office and industrial space to residential use. “We have moved with the tide,” Roach said. “When you bring in new residents the jobs follow. This is what we should do and we are doing it.”
Councilwoman Nadine Hunt-Robinson agreed that generating more foot traffic in the downtown would bring more revenues into the city.
Councilman John Kirkpatrick said he was impressed that the budget had yet again been able to hold to the tax cap, keeping property taxes low.
