Westchester County’s Board of Legislators passed its $1.8 billion operating budget for 2016 on Monday, restoring about $8.4 million in funding to county nonprofits, parks, planning, public safety and board of elections departments that had been threatened with cuts.
Those possible cuts, which threatened programs and jobs, had led to weeks of activism both in public meetings and online by nonprofits and their supporters.
In a 10-7 vote, the board passed the budget 13 days ahead of its Dec. 27 deadline, making it the sixth straight year with no increase to the county tax levy. Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino’s original proposed budget released on Nov. 13 called for a 20 percent reduction in funding to nonprofits, which would have led to the elimination of several programs and positions.
The board, led by Budget and Appropriations Committee Chair Sheila Marcotte, a Republican representing District 10 (Eastchester, New Rochelle and Tuckahoe), began its review of the budget Nov. 16. Three days later, before the first of three public hearings on the proposed budget, nine coalitions representing more than 500 Westchester nonprofits held a press conference-turned-rally in support of restoring funding. More than 200 people turned out for the public hearing that night supporting the #KeepWestchesterThriving hashtag created by Nonprofit Westchester.
Of the $8.4 million in restored funds, roughly $2.4 million were given to nonprofits, Nonprofit Westchester Executive Director Joanna Straub said.
“Between committee meetings and public hearings, we spent many hours and days listening to hundreds of people about county operations and the needs of our nonprofit partners,” Marcotte said. “I am happy that to a large extent we were able to restore many programs and positions.”
The Child Care Council of Westchseter, Inc., Executive Director Kathy Halas, an outspoken critic of the proposed cuts, said in a statement late Monday she was pleased with the outcome. For her organization, the passed budget will maintain $1.4 million in Title XX funding and will restore funding for the child care subsidy specialist position, which would have otherwise been eliminated.
“Together, we made it clear that quality early care and education is a priority not only for families who want their children to reach their full potential, but for the business community who will count of today’s children to be tomorrow’s workforce,” Halas said.
Not all were pleased with the passed budget. County Legislator Alfreda Williams, a Democrat representing District 8 (Elmsford, Greenburgh, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown), who voted against the budget, said it is not balanced and does not provide the same financial flexibility that past budgets have allowed for, adding that it will not cover expiring union contacts, the settlements for which she estimated could reach $20 million.
The budget expects a 4 percent growth rate in sales tax revenue next year, which she called an “aggressive assumption,” especially in comparison to the 1-to-2 percent sales tax revenue growth many county municipalities budget for, according to independent auditors. Her concerns over sales tax were also echoed by County Legislator Catherine Parker, the Democrat who represents Mamaroneck, Rye, Larchmont and portions of New Rochelle and Harrison in a separate statement.
“While we have a ‘balanced’ operating budget with no tax increase, the 2016 budget is structurally imbalanced and will create significant financial challenges for the county and taxpayers in the future,” Williams said. “It … will wind up spending more money than Westchester County has at the moment.”
The $216 million capital budget, also approved by the Board of Legislators, will help fund the roughly $1.3 billion backlog of approved capital projects, Williams added.
Following the Westchester County Board of Legislators’ vote Friday to restore nonprofit funding in the proposed 2016 county budget, officials from Nonprofit Westchester and the League of Women Voters of Westchester called on a moderate sales tax increase in 2016 out of concerns of whether the budget “provides sufficient revenue to ensure fiscal health” going forward. No such tax increase was adopted; Astorino has maintained since taking office in 2009 that he would not implement any tax levy increase.
Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz, a Democrat representing District 4 (New Castle, Somers and Yorktown), said that although he voted in favor of the budget and called it a “vast improvement” over Astorino’s proposed budget, he was concerned about the budget’s viability going forward because of an estimated $10 million sales tax shortfall in 2015.
“There are some elements of the budget that will require close supervision throughout the year,” Kaplowitz said. “We saw diminished sales tax revenue this year because of plummeting fuels costs which will leave us short of what we anticipated. As a result we will likely have to use dollars from our fund balance to make up that shortfall. I am afraid that we may find ourselves in a similar position next year.”
On Wednesday, Kaplowitz said the county sales tax rate, which currently is the fourth-lowest in the state at 7.375 percent, was considered being raised to 7.9 percent after a zero percent growth rate in 2015. That bump would have brought in roughly $75 million to the county, which would have been shared with school districts and municipalities; for every percent that the county tax rate does not grow means an annual loss of roughly $5 million in funds, he said.
A one percent property tax increase that would have cost each household roughly $17 was also being considered.
Kaplowitz said Astornio promised not to veto the budget. He is expected to sign it into effect later this month.
