LWV Breakfast Sparks Discussion of Budget Challenges

It was standing room only Friday morning at Hector's Village Cafe in Mamaroneck. The League of Women Voters invited Larchmont Mayor Joshua Mandell, Town of Mamaroneck Supervisor Valerie O'Keeffe and Village of Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum to outline the issues facing their municipalities and their priorities for the coming year.

Elisabeth Rabow, president of the Larchmont-Mamaroneck League of Women Voters, issued a challenge to the local leaders to reduce local impact on climate change and carbon footprint.

All three municipal leaders talked about pressures to contain budget costs in the face of rising expenses from commitments like pension plan contributions and local services.

O'Keeffe recounted her frustrations with keeping costs down. "We try to keep the budget as flat as possible," she said. "But the cost of services and local taxes will go up even if the budget stays at zero." O'Keeffe attributed this dilemma to the mandated costs and responsibilities placed on local municipalities by Albany.  

"We're thinking of chopping into things," O'Keeffe said. Not specifying what services could be cut, she instead invited the public to weigh in at upcoming public budget sessions held by the Town Board.

It seems like dealing with personnel contracts is the key factor in controlling budget costs.

"Three of four contracts are ending during my term, " said Larchmont Mayor Joshua Mandell. According to Mandell, projecting the true impact and cost of contractual expenses during negotiation periods is a crucial factor in controlling budgets for municipalities, even more so than taxes.

Mandell said the current focus in Albany on capping property taxes "puts the cart before the horse." While all the attention goes to putting 2 percent limits on property tax growth, little attention is paid to the 15-20 percent increase in pension contribution costs many municipalities are facing, Mandell explained.

Local municipalities should be freed from having to offer new employees the same benefit packages and incentives current employees may have, argued Mandell. Now that market forces have changed, careers in the public sector are a more competitive option, and benefit packages should change to reflect that reality.

Mayor Norman Rosenblum of the Village of Mamaroneck echoed a similar sentiment. "Government must start operating more like private business," said Rosenblum.  Limiting exposure to lawsuits and certiorari claims are a key challenge for the Village, he added.

"For a long time, the Village of Mamaroneck was a lawyer's dream," said Mayor Rosenblum. He praised Village Attorney Christie Derrico for changing the culture of the attorney's office and working to reduce insurance deductibles and settle lawsuits that would likely lead to costly settlements.

Rosenblum said he would not allow the Village to be exposed "to possible bankruptcy" in the face of inevitable and potentially costly legal defeats.

Rosenblum's remarks triggered a flurry of questions about the recent Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club settlement decision. Local attorney and activist Theodora Saal asked about the impact of the settlement agreement on the futures of Hampshire Country Club, Orienta and Beach Point Beach clubs.

Rosenblum responded that the village had very little chance of prevailing in a lawsuit against MB&YC based on the existing laws at the time of their application for expansion. That outcome made settlement the most sensible option, he said.

"You can continue [these cases] and spend money to fight," said Rosenblum, "and still lose in the end.

Future applications would be governed by existing laws, and the MBY&C decision, said Rosenblum, would have "no effect" on the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program.