Westchester Closing in on Final 2023 Budget Featuring Another Tax Cut
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Westchester residents will have one more chance to comment on the county’s $2.3 billion general budget this week as county officials eye next Monday to wrap up work on next year’s spending plan.
When submitted last month, County Executive George Latimer proposed a fourth consecutive property tax levy cut, this time about $6 million. While there may be final items deleted or added before deliberations are complete, he doesn’t expect wholesale revisions proposed by the Board of Legislators before next week.
The final public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at the Board of Legislators chamber at the county office building in White Plains.
Latimer said in addition to having another tax reduction, fully funding law enforcement, including the departments of correction and probation, and adding positions for Hilltop Hanover Farm in Yorktown and Kingsland Point Park in Sleepy Hollow are among his top priorities.
“We are not going to come up with some different strategy where we underfund law enforcement, and it’s very important because there’s a perception out there, certainly at the state level, that the Democrats are soft on crime and they don’t support the police,” Latimer said. “We’ve been very clear that from a financial standpoint, we fund the police because of the work that they do and the services they provide and how important they are.”
In all, Latimer proposed $260.9 million in funding for public safety, said county Budget Director Larry Soule.
Another eight positions have been earmarked to address Hilltop Hanover Farm, although two of those positions already exist, Soule said last week. The county intends to add four positions for Kingsland Point Park, he said.
About $238 million will be dedicated to the county Department of Health and the Department of Community Mental Health as effects from the pandemic continue to put demands on those departments.
Latimer said while the 2023 budget shows openings for about 5,000 county employees, the overwhelming number of those positions will not be filled above the current staffing of 4,530. He wants funding to be in place in the event department heads need to have an additional post filled.
“If I don’t have the budgeted position ready to go, it could take up to two months for me to get it authorized, funded, transfer funds, where if I have it ready to go, then you can plug it into these slots,” Latimer said.
Soule said the county is on target to add another $65.9 million into its fund balance, elevating the level of the reserve fund to about 19 percent of the operating budget.
Latimer explained that with potential unknown fiscal hurdles that might have to be navigated, including predictions from some economists that the United States could fall into a recession sometime next year and guarding against unforeseen emergencies, it is prudent to have a robust fund balance.
Because the county gets a reliable source of funding through the property tax, it is somewhat less vulnerable than the state in the event of an economic downturn.
“At this point, I think the budget that we have before the board can accommodate what is likely to happen later in the year,” Latimer said. “But who knows? If we deal with something more serious than what they’re telling us, anything can happen. We’ll have to deal with it then.”
Latimer proposed a $662 million capital projects budget in October. The key capital features for next year are close to $200 million to upgrade the county’s seven wastewater treatment plans; $125 million for environmental conservation and flood mitigation, including $95 to help convert the Bee-Line bus fleet to hybrid or electric vehicles; and $90 million to encourage the development of more affordable and workforce housing.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/