Westchester County Passes $1.8B 2017 Budget

WHITE PLAINS, NY — The Westchester County Board of Legislators passed a $1.8 billion budget for 2017.

The spending package is the seventh consecutive county budget that carries no tax increase, a spokesman said.

All 10 members of the bipartisan coalition of seven Republicans, two Democrats and one Conservative supported the budget.

There will be no reductions to the county work force. Rather, six positions will be added to the county police and four engineering positions will be added to the Department of Public Works.

Prior to passage of the budget, there was a unanimous vote of a resolution requesting the county executive open a bidding process for a private operator to take over the Westchester County Airport.

County Executive Robert Astorino’s original budget proposal included $15 million from a first-time payment by Oaktree Capital Management, which he had wanted to manage the airport as a public/private partnership.

That deal was not one that the legislators wanted, so it didn’t come to fruition. They preferred to have a bidding process to select a private company, according to lohud.com, in which Oaktree Capital can participate.

If the county doesn't come up with a new company to take over the airport, through the bidding process, the $15 million will come from the fund balance, a spokesman said.

Board Chairman Michael Kaplowitz, D-Somers, said the budget process was challenging.

“They 2017 budget not only protects taxpayers by not raising taxes for a seventh consecutive year, it strengthens social programs that many Westchester County residents rely on as well as adding critical prositions to our county police and engineering positions in the Department of Public Works to help address a major backlog of capital projects,” he said.

Photo credit: Courtesy.