Westchester County lawmakers passed a $1.8 billion budget for 2015, avoiding layoffs and keeping the tax levy flat but drawing criticisms for a reliance on borrowing and deferred pension spending.
The budget was passed by a 10-person majority of the 17-member Board of Legislators, with three Democrats joining all seven Republicans to vote in favor of the spending plan. The legislators”™ final budget reduced the amount that will be borrowed to pay back-tax settlements to $5 million from the $8 million proposed by County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican.
“This is a smart and responsible budget that protects the interests of all county residents,” Astorino said in a press release following the budget vote. “It strikes the right balance between taxes and services.”
The budget increases spending by 0.5 percent, part of which will be offset by increases in revenue such as an anticipated 4 percent jump in sales taxes. The compromised budget included an additional $687,000 to Title XX, the county”™s subsidized day care program that covers families making up to three times more than the federal poverty level.
The budget will defer $15 million in mandatory pension contributions, a move that drew criticism from most board Democrats. The county will pay $76 million of its total $91 million pension obligation but will use a state amortization program that essentially allows a municipality to borrow from Albany for its contribution to the fund, then pay back the borrowed amount with interest over 10 years.
Legislator Alfreda Williams, a Greenburgh Democrat, said the borrowing would affect budgets in future years. “We are kicking the can down the road ”“ not the long-distance road, but the very, very short road,” she said. She also criticized the budget for delaying needed repairs and foregoing strengthening social programs in favor of keeping the tax levy flat.
Legislator Ken Jenkins, a Yonkers Democrat, said the budget proposal “should have been dead on arrival.” “It was structurally imbalanced when it came down to us,” he said. The administration had said during the budget process that the alternative to deferred pension payments and borrowing would be mass layoffs of up to 200 employees. Jenkins said there were other options, including increasing the tax rate ”“ a 1 percent increase, he said, would have avoided the $5 million in borrowing.
When Moody”™s Investors Service downgraded the county”™s bond rating last year ”“ from its highest rating, AAA, to AA1 ”“ it cited “structural imbalances” in budgets from prior amortization as a factor in the decision. Democratic Legislator Peter Harckham, of North Salem, said Astorino “is financing his zero perfect budget with our children”™s credit card.”
Even legislators who supported the budget said that the decisions made for 2015 would affect future budgets. But Republican Sheila Marcotte, a representative from Tuckahoe, said that the mandate from residents was clear ”“ that they didn”™t want tax increases. “We have done our best to deliver that,” Marcotte, the board”™s Budget Committee chairwoman, said.
Although the amount of county taxes to be collected will remain flat at $545 million, the impact on individual tax bills can vary based on equalization rates, which differ from municipality to municipality. County taxes may increase or decrease on individual tax bills based on the varying rates between communities and changing assessments.
County taxes make up roughly 20 percent of an average property owner”™s bill ”“ with 60 percent coming from school district taxes and the remainder coming from city, town, village and special district taxes. The Westchester budget does not affect those other aspects of a property owner”™s bill.
Legislators also approved $276 million in the annual capital budget for work that includes infrastructure repairs to county buildings and roadway work.
