Astorino Offers Cuts to Reduce County Tax Levy and Workforce

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino unveiled his first budget today, calling for staffing cuts and reductions in spending to close what he sees as a multi-million dollar funding shortfall for 2011. 

Astorino's budget largely hinges on cutting staffing positions through buyouts and layoffs, and axing some health, social and recreational services. 

"This is a genuine opportunity for this county to spend less... and make structural changes," Astorino said. 

Astorino's proposed operating budget calls for $1.786 billion in spending for next year, a decrease of $33 million from the $1.819 billion budget of 2010. If no cuts were made, this year's budget would have increased by a projected $116 million.

The objective of the proposed budget is to reduce the property tax levy in the county by 1 percent to provide taxpayers some relief. On average, 20 percent of an individual's property tax payments go to the county.

The majority of the savings comes from the projected 465 county positions that will be lost due to buyouts and an additional 226 projected layoffs across all county departments, which is the equivalent to a 12 percent workforce reduction. Astorino said the average cost of a county employee was close to $110,000 with all added benefits. 

"Unfortunately, we could not have cut expenses and balanced the budget without having a reduction in the workforce," Astorino said.  "This is not a reflection on our employees."

Astorino hinted that there may be more measures needed to curb costs on labor, noting that pension costs, medical care costs, and contracted salary increases would continue to rise in the future. 

"We are far outpacing what we can afford," he said, while noting that he didn't think it was "fair" that taxpayers paid for county employees health benefits. 

Karen Pecora, the president of the CSEA Unit 9200 union, which represents county workers, said she wasn't happy with Astorino's tone or his proposed budget, although she admitted the details still needed to be sorted out. 

"The first thing we need to do is find where exactly the cuts are, we know the departments, but not the positions," she said.

She also hit out at some of Astorino's claims, mainly that the cuts wouldn't drastically affect services for county residents. She also criticized the numbers Astorino had put out about the average cost of a worker in the government.

"He said our average is $110,000. I'm not embarrassed to say, as a 20-year employee, I make $54,000 a year," she said. 

Pecora also noted that the scale of the cuts would severely impact the functioning of the county government. If Astornio's proposals are approved, there would have been 705 staff reductions from a year ago. 

"Our members are already working twice as hard," she said. "We have not missed a beat... but that is a lot of people to lose in one year."

Aside from cutting employees, Astorino's budget lays out some large cuts for social services, health, parks and public works. Most notably, there will be closures of county health and human services facilities. 

The budget calls for the closing of two homeless shelters, one in Greenburgh and one in New Rochelle. Astorino said that there was a large vacancy rate among county-run homeless shelters, and that the closure of the two facilities would still mean the county would have a roughly 20 percent vacancy in its shelters. 

Astorino is also calling for the closure of four mental health clinics, saying they competed with non-profit groups "that do the same thing."

The Health Department is also taking a big hit. It is losing more than 70 people from its workforce. As a cost saving measure there is a proposal to end subsidizing neighborhood health centers. Astorino said that money will instead come directly from the federal government as a result of the federal healthcare overhaul bill.

When asked if it was wise to unfund programs that will have to become dependent on the federal government, especially with House of Representatives Republicans claiming they will battle the healthcare bill's provisions, Astorino said that the money was basically guaranteed. He cited the Democratic majority in the Senate and President Obama wielding veto power in the White House.

Recreation and the arts are also being targeted. According to the proposed budget, Parks and Recreation will decrease expenditures by about 5 million, with a 54-member workforce reduction and the closure of pools at Playland and Spray Ridge in Greenburgh. Subsidies for fairs at Kensico Dam will also end, while Hilltop Hanover Farm, and other county-supported farms, will have their funding cut in a year. 

"No one wants to hear that their pet project's funding has been cut," Astorino said. "We're giving them a year."

The County Human Rights Commission, and a number of county-funded arts and young programs are also on the chopping block. 

Astorino noted that other savings could come from a possible merger between county police and the Department of Emergency Services. The DES will have its funding cut by almost 20 percent even if the measure isn't approved, with Astorino saying DES should become mostly grant funded. There will be extra income in the law enforcement division due to the Town of Ossining deciding to contract with the county for police enforcement. 

The budget will now go to the Board of Legislators for further scrutiny before it is voted upon by Dec. 27.

"I urge the board to take the right steps," Astorino said. "The politically expedient thing is to grab money from other areas, but that is putting a band-aid on a gaping wound."

Democrats took a cautious tone toward the proposed budget in their own scheduled press conference held immediately after Astorino's.

"The majority is dedicated to reducing the size and cost of government," said District 2 legislator Peter Harckham. "We need to scrutinize all 6,000 lines of the budget."

Harckham said there would be a need for legislators to take a hard look and assess if many of the proposed cuts would actually result in a cost savings for Westchester residents. He noted that often what looks like a simple cut could end up costing more in the future.  

"We are very committed to protecting the social safety net and the regional services that save us money in the long run," he said. 

District 8 legislator Alfreda Williams expressed her initial concerns. Williams serves as the chair of the Community Services Committee and was keen to dig into the specifics of cuts to health and social services. 

"We'll be looking very closely at the human services component of this budget," she said. "Children, the homeless and seniors are the most vulnerable in our community."

You can read more specifics on the proposed budget at:  www.westchestergov.com/budget