County BOL Passes Budget, Astorino Threatens Veto
The Westchester County Board of legislators announced Monday that they had passed a bi-partisan 2018 budget by a vote of 12 to 5.
According to the BOL announcement, the budget includes funding for social programs as well as parks curators, engineers, and other county staff that were in jeopardy with County Executive Rob Astorino’s proposed 2018 budget. The budget also includes a 2 percent boost in revenues, less than half of the allotted tax cap of 4.4 percent, but which raises property taxes for the first time since Astorino took office. According to the BOL press release, these funds are needed to help cover over $30 million of anticipated revenue shortfall, some from the pending Westchester County Airport deal, which independent auditors advised the BOL to delete.
“Our financial situation is not a pretty one, but I am proud this legislature was able to come together in a bi-partisan manner to pass a budget that manages the County’s finances responsibly for the people of Westchester,” said Majority Leader Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining). “We just received another negative outlook from the credit rating agencies; we needed to get real with our finances and the proposal given to us was far from that.”
“Years of fiscal mismanagement have put our county in an untenable position,” said Legislator Ben Boykin (D-White Plains). “As we heard from our independent auditors and the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, the issues just keep getting worse. I am happy we reached an agreement with legislators from both sides of the aisle to get to work on this mess.”
Despite the bi-partisan effort, Astorino released the following statement after the BOL announcement: “There’s no reason to raise property taxes on the already overburdened residents and businesses of Westchester. I proposed a budget that was balanced and provided sufficient revenues for county services. For that reason, I will veto the budget and its tax increase approved by the Board of Legislators.”
Latimer Sets Public Hearings Schedule
In related news, County Executive-elect George has established the public hearing schedule for each of his six new subcommittees. The hearings are open to the public. Speakers at these hearing will be limited to three minutes apiece. Written comments can be submitted directly to the committees, by e-mailing them to LatimerTransition2017@gmail.com, in lieu of appearing at the hearings.
Criminal Justice Committee will meet Dec. 13, 6 p.m. at White Plains Library, 100 Martine Ave., White Plains.
Health and Mental Health Committee will meet Dec. 13, 7 p.m. at Yonkers Riverfront Library, 1 Larkin Center, Yonkers.
Social Services and Human Rights Committee will met Dec. 14, 6 p.m. at White Plains Library.
Administrative Services Committee will meet Dec. 18, 6 p.m. at Mamaroneck Library, 136 Prospect Ave., Mamaroneck.
Economic Development Committee will meet Dec. 19, 6 p.m. at Mt. Kisco Library, 100 E. Main St., Mount Kisco.
Operational Services Committee will meet Dec. 19, 7 p.m. at White Plains Library.
