Astorino Proposes 2018 Budget For Westchester

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Robert Astorino proposed the final budget of his tenure as Westchester county executive that, for the eighth straight year, will not raise the county tax levy, though county Democrats said it hamstrings George Latimer, the county executive-elect. The proposed $1.8 billion budget increases spending by less than 1 percent: $1.838 billion in 2018 compared to $1.825 billion in 2017.

“This is a budget that protects taxpayers, preserves essential services and promotes economic growth,” Astorino said. “It maintains the focus of all our other budgets, which is to run county government smartly and efficiently while keeping Westchester affordable.”

Astorino said the proposed budget maintains essential services.

The budget for the Department of Social Services, which administers the county’s safety net programs, is proposed to increase by $8.5 million to $598 million. Funding for day care will go up $2 million to $37 million, allowing the parent contributions to remain at the current level of 27 percent.

The number of low-income day-care slots will increase, and the number of slots for Title XX program, which is for families whose incomes exceed state and federal guidelines, will hold steady.

Funding for nonprofits and libraries will be held at current levels. Fees for golf at county parks will increase $1 on weekdays and $2 on weekends.

Also there will be no increase in tuition at Westchester Community College.

Astorino said that unfunded mandates from the state and federal government will consume 75 cents of every dollar of the 2018 budget, or $1.4 billion.

The largest of the mandates, which cover a variety of health and social services programs, is the county’s contribution to Medicaid — $210 million.

The future of the Westchester County Airport is key to making Astorino’s budget proposal work.

Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation was chosen to operate the airport as part of a $1.1 billion public-private partnership.

The budget was crafted to assume the lease with Macquarie will be approved and will add $30 million in revenue for 2018.

Approval of the lease requires 12 votes from the Board of Legislators.

BOL Chairman Mike Kaplowitz issued a statement on the proposed budget that said he and his colleagues will work cooperatively to produce a balanced budget that protects taxpayers but also provides the essential services Westchester residents need.

“The county executive’s proposed 2018 budget is unbalanced by $30 million relying on an unapproved airport privatization plan,” he said. “It also reduces personnel who are critical to the delivery of essential services.”

Kaplowitz said the already strained engineering division of the Public Works Department is being reduced by 20 percent. The county Parks Department will lose all four of its park curators.

“Additionally, this budget reduced the incoming county executive’s staff by 25 percent — positions that County Executive Astorino has enjoyed for the past eight years, effectively hamstringing the administration of County Executive-Elect Latimer,” he said.

Kaplowitz said there are two objectives he and the other legislators will be working on: restoring the critical personnel needed to keep county government running and closing the $30 million budget gap “that imperils both the county’s reserve fund and our good credit rating.”

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