County lawmakers approved a $1.7 billion budget for 2014 that will keep the tax rate flat and restore a child day care program through $900,000 in subsidies.
The Westchester County Board of Legislators agreed on the budget after 1 a.m. Dec. 10, following budget negotiations that stretched 14 hours from the previous afternoon and evening. The budget passed 16-1 with only Legislator Judy Myers dissenting. The Rye Democrat heads the board”™s Budget and Appropriations Committee.
Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester, commended lawmakers on the budget and said the county needed to continue its momentum to add jobs and help existing businesses grow.
“By delivering this on-time budget in a bipartisan way, county leaders are showing that Westchester is indeed open for business,” Gordon said.
Board Vice Chair Lyndon Williams, a Mount Vernon Democrat, touted the budget for its dedication to safety net programs such as eviction prevention, domestic violence education and new immigrant resources.
“Beneath the wealth and prosperity in Westchester, there is homelessness and residents with mental health issues,” Williams said.
The money added to the day care program called Title XX will mean 180 slots for children from working families, after three years when the program was frozen and no new applications accepted. Unfreezing the program was a point of contention in previous budgets and the amount of subsidies to add to the 2014 budget was a point of debate between members of the board prior to the vote this month.
Democratic Majority Leader Peter Harckham said during the public hearings on the budget, residents and child care advocates sought to create more Title XX slots.
“This will help to keep low-income parents working and contributing to Westchester”™s economy rather than needing more expensive social services,” he said.
County Executive Robert P. Astorino proposed the budget last month with a zero percent tax increase. The budget approved by the board added spending, but will still keep the tax rate flat and maintain the county”™s reserve money, or rainy day fund, by trimming departmental budgets and adding higher revenues. Astorino has 10 days to sign the budget into law. He is expected to veto several additions to the budget, but the board will likely be able to override any veto. A supermajority of 12 votes is needed on the board to override a veto. The county executive is not expected to veto the added day care funding.
The bipartisan support for the budget represents a turnaround from last year”™s approval process, which ended with most of the Democratic caucus storming out before the vote and later calling into question its legality. Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, one of two Democrats who formed a coalition with Republicans during last year”™s budget vote, said he was happy with the support from both sides this time around.
“We didn”™t get everything we wanted in the process, nor did the county executive, but we worked together to put forward a plan that best serves the people of Westchester County,” Kaplowitz said.
One aspect that did not change from Astorino”™s proposal was the use of a pension amortization program, in which the county essentially defers part of its anticipated $96 million contribution to the state pension fund. Under a state plan, municipalities can essentially borrow from Albany for its obligation to the fund, then pay back the borrowed amount with 3 percent interest over a 10-year period. When Moody”™s Investors Services downgraded the county”™s bond rating last month ”“ from its highest rating, AAA, to AA1 ”“ it cited “structural imbalances” in budgets from the amortization as a factor in its decision.
Some lawmakers during budget negotiations had proposed reducing the deferment by $650,000, but the board did not support the measure.
Large scale layoffs were not part of the budget, but the slimming down of department budgets may result in several lost of positions but a net increase of staff countywide. Still looming with county laborers is the lack of a contract for the Civil Service Employees Association, the last of eight public labor unions to agree to a contract. One point of contention in the contract process has been Westchester seeking larger employee contributions to health care premium costs.
Until recently, county employees did not contribute to their health care coverage. The other unions agreed after negotiations to contribute to their plans, with employees in 2014 expected to pay $4 million of a projected $95 million health care bill for Westchester.
When Astorino held a press conference last month announcing his proposal, he said the average salary of a county worker is $76,414, higher than the average Westchester private-sector salary of $65,185. In addition to base salary, Astorino said, Westchester pays as much as $45,000 more per employee each year due to health care and other “fringe costs.”
“Our county workers do a terrific job,” Astorino said at the time. “The problem is they are very expensive. So together, labor and management sat down to work out contracts that are fair to our workers and fair to our taxpayers.”
Although the county tax levy will remain flat, the impact on individual tax bills can vary by municipality based on assessed property values and equalization rates. County taxes make up about 20 percent of a Westchester property owner”™s tax bill. School districts account for about 60 percent of a total property tax bill.
