Astorino clashes with HUD
The stalemate between Westchester County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over the affordable housing settlement saw limited progress last week, but the two sides are still far apart.
County Executive Rob Astorino met with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan July 27 to address the department”™s most recent rejection of the county”™s “Analysis of Impediments,” a document intended to outline obstacles to fair housing choice. The rejection, which came July 13, was HUD”™s fifth for the settlement.
Astorino said that with the latest rejection HUD has stopped funding Community Development Block Grant projects in local communities, putting more than $6 million in funding at risk and possibly forcing the county to cut 18 jobs.
He called Wednesday”™s meeting, which went a half hour over the scheduled time, candid and constructive, but still expressed frustration with HUD and Donovan. Astorino said HUD”™s recent rejection is aimed solely at forcing the county to increase the number of three-bedroom units above what was called for in the initial agreement signed in 2009.
“HUD wants us to attack communities and dismantle local zoning and that is not something that we should be doing,” Astorino said. “For them to insert new terms into an agreement that was agreed to two years ago is unfair and we”™re going to fight it.”
Those new terms represent HUD”™s recent demand that half of the 750 agreed-upon units contain three or more bedrooms. Astorino said that “automatically makes the price tag of this go from $51 million to $100 million.”
The two sides agreed to speak further about the matter on Tuesday to see if an agreement could be reached. “We are really pretty far apart on some key issues,” Astorino said.
Moody”™s lowers county”™s bond outlook
Last Monday, Moody”™s Investors Service affirmed Westchester County”™s AAA bond rating but lowered its outlook for Westchester from “stable” to “negative.”
Moody”™s said the negative outlook reflected the county”™s “ongoing structural imbalance that has driven reserves declines that may limit the county”™s financial flexibility and ability to respond to mid-year revenue or expenditure fluctuations.”
The other two ratings agencies, Standard and Poor”™s and Fitch Reports, both reaffirmed the county”™s AAA rating in reports that were released July 25 and July 20, respectively, and gave the bonds a “stable” outlook.
Concerns over the Moody”™s report sparked a back-and-forth between Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and the county Board of Legislators, which Astorino blamed for dipping into the county”™s reserve fund to restore spending cuts during last year”™s budget negotiations.
Westchester has a general reserve fund of some $160 million, down from $201 million in 2006, according to a release from Astorino”™s office.
“In my State of the County message last April, I said that the county was ”˜fortunate but fragile,”™” Astorino said in the release. “As the legislators look ahead to the 2012 budget, I hope they will heed this warning.”
In response, board Chairman Ken Jenkins criticized the executive. “When Astorino said last year”™s budget would create a $166 million deficit, and we actually returned $67 million to (the) fund balance, he ignored the news and kept up his line that the ”˜sky is falling.”™”
Moody”™s spokesman David Jacobsen said the agency would continue to monitor the county”™s outlook over the next 18 months.
