Westchester to Receive $1.5 Million in Tobacco Settlement

Westchester County will receive $1.5 million as part of the $550 million tobacco companies settlement, according to officials, significantly less than originally anticipated.

The county was thought to receive about $11 million under the decade-long agreement, which the tobacco companies fought paying. But due to certain fiscal decisions made years ago, Westchester’s take was reduced.

“The county’s share would have been much higher, but the county cashed out 86 percent of its interest in the tobacco proceeds during the years when Andrew Spano was County Executive,” said Ned McCormack, Westchester County Communications Director and Senior Advisor to current County Executive Rob Astorino, in a statement.

He added, “Every dollar is welcome, but most of the county’s share was spent years ago.”

According to Governmental Accounting Standards, the $1.5 million must be applied to the county’s 2015 operating budget, which McCormack said projected to carry a deficit.

The budget gap the county is forecasting for this year is $29 million, roughly $25 million of which is the “result of lower sales tax revenues caused by lower gas and energy prices and more retail sales being transacted online.”