Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino told business leaders Friday that state government policies were adding to high property taxes and making it difficult to do business in New York.
Astorino, a Republican exploring a run for governor this year, said as much as 85 cents out of every property tax dollar Westchester collects are for state-mandated expenses like the state pension fund and obligatory contributions to early education programs.
“We”™re the ATM for Albany with our property taxes,” Astorino said during a Business Council of Westchester networking breakfast at Tarrytown”™s Tappan Hill Mansion.
Although Astorino said he won”™t make a formal decision whether to run for governor until February, his comments to business leaders served to contrast him from Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his potential opponent.
Astorino even took a jab at the governor during a jokey slideshow presentation when he showed a photo of comedy duo Cheech & Chong who he said had applied for jobs at the county health department.
“I forwarded their résumés to the governor”™s office,” Astorino said. Cuomo announced Wednesday that the state would allow medical marijuana use.
Astorino said not enough was being done for economic development statewide and criticized the governor”™s “circuit breaker” on property taxes, saying it only offered tax relief to people of a particular income threshold rather than broadly addressing the property tax problem. He also said he supports not only Indian Point Energy Center, the Buchanan nuclear power plant Cuomo wants to see closed, but he is favor of building another power plant in the state.
“We got to have something,” Astorino said, noting opposition to fuel-powered plants. “There”™s just not a lot of hot air and wind to go around.” Astorino suggested the new plant could be built in Massena, N.Y., a town in St. Lawrence County that believes a nuclear facility would help revitalize its economy.
The county executive said the only way to improve the business climate in the state and in turn spur economic development was to reduce the tax burden so that small businesses stay afloat and large businesses do not go elsewhere.
Astorino said that during his time in office, as many as 27,000 private sector jobs have been created in Westchester.
“The county does not create jobs,” he said, “but it can be a catalyst and a broker.”
Astorino spoke of new New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, who is proposing increasing taxes on the wealthy. He said that though he wished de Blasio well, a more expensive New York would mean good things for Westchester. The county executive said he has already met with representatives of two city-based companies about the possibility of relocating to Westchester.
“I never thought the mayor of New York City would be a major player on our economic development team but this is happening,” he said.
Astorino won re-election with 56 percent of the vote last November, a convincing win for a Republican in a county where Democrats have a nearly 2-to-1 voter registration advantage. He attributed his victory to the policies of his first term, during which the county budget went from $1.8 billion to $1.7 billion. When Astorino came into office in 2010, it was on a platform of cutting spending at a time when some suggested eliminating the branch of government altogether.
“Dismantling the government is not the answer but services need to be paid for,” Astorino said.
In his first term, county staff was reduced by 14 percent and seven of eight employee unions agreed to contribute 10 to 15 percent of their health benefits cost for the first time. (The eighth union, the Civil Service Employees Association, has yet to agree to a new contract with the contribution a point of contention).
