Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino today unveilled a $1.689 billion 2012 budget proposal that will layoff 210 county workers, make various cuts to parks and other services and maintain a zero increase in the tax levy.
But the numbers alone don’t tell the full story of the economic landscape for next year’s budget and the Astorino’s press conference was just one step in active and contentious process.
“This is obviously my second budget and it follows the same principals that I used to govern and we used for our first budget and that is to provide tax relief for essential services as well as for providing economic growth,” Astorino said.
Although the tax levy would remain the same at $548 million, Astorino’s proposal represents a budget-to-budget decrease of $100 million.
Some of the cuts in the proposal include:
- Layoffs of 210 employees and 367 total job eliminations.
- Reducing spending for parks and recreation by 5 percent, to $48 million. This means staffing would be eliminated and building will be closed at the Cranberry Lake Preserve, Croton Point Nature Center, Read Wildlife Sanctuary, Lenoir Preserve, Marshlands Conservancy and Trailside Nature Museum. Rye Playland will remain open and golf fees will increase $2, with the exception of the Hudson Hills Golf Course. Funding for ethnic festivals, concerts at Lasdon Park, the Battle of the Bands and the Fourth of July Fireworks would also be cut.
- The county Health Department’s budget would decrease 3 percent to $160 million. This means the county would end its contracts with the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Hudson River Healthcare in Peekskill, and the Open Door Family Medical Center in Port Chester for a savings of $1.9 million.
- The budget would also eliminate the county’s funding for the Cornell Cooperative Extension, which amounts to $990,000, and reduce ArtsWestchester Grant by $750,000, or 50 percent.
The County Board of Westchester has until Dec. 27 to approve a final budget for 2012.
Sounds like in your world, we'd live in a "pay as you go society". If you can't pay for it, you don't get it, ie, healthcare, legal, housing, food, etc. But that's okay. You are probably middle class and have been "turned" to think that none of the problems in this nation are caused by the hugh unequal distribution of wealth, but by all the "illegals" and millions of phantom folks on welfare. Tell me, what are your sources of news and what were the last 5 books you read? Gee, it's time to stop writing, and go down to the range, fire a few rounds from my Yugo SKS and Saiga AK47, then come home, read some stories from "Raw Story.com", and "the American Conservative", make sure my membership to the NRA and ACLU is paid up and take a map.
There you go. For how many decades has this park been used to enrich the politically connected? The county should get out of the amuzement part biz. Better yet, someone ought to inspect the books going back 50 years and account for where all the money has gone. Anyway, the entire state seems corrupt. Just look at the MTA.
When times are tough is that a good time to erode your primary asset? If I let my house go to ruin does that increase its value? Depreciating the quality of life here in Westchester will effect us all. Property values will decline (and along with that, tax revenues) and the steady erosion of services will cause people to turn elsewhere to raise their families - even more so if we next turn our attention to cutting school funding. How absurd that I cannot take a walk on Playland Beach. I'm sure that Mr Astorino could if he so desired. How is it a good plan to allow our parks, which have taken years - or even decades- to cultivate, to become spoiled and open to abuse? What a shortsighted, wasteful policy. Also, please realize that there will now be 210 more families with an out of work breadwinner. They will be collecting unemployment (don't forget our abysmal job market) and availing themselves of services which we all pay for. I just can't get behind the idea of throwing people out of a job as a positive thing for us.
Also allowing both the Democratic and Republican party chairs to be Commissioners of the Board of Elections is a complete joke. Putting these two party hacks as the chief election officials and the arbiters of fair elections is a sham. Is it any wonder that the last two elections have been ineptly run? Nothing will ever really change until the tolerated curruption of contractor campaign contributions and crony appointments is recognized and rebelled against by the voters. Until then the faces will change but the game will remain the same.
Why do you have to end a perfectly legitimate statement with a sarcastic remark? What the reports say and my impression of the people running those rides over the years are different. I saw lack of care everwhere when I used to go nevermind the packs of teens left unchecked. Now to your sarcastic point. How is $3 per household no big deal for Playland but according to Dem. Greenburgh "For Greenberg, raising child-care fees on the working poor even just a few dollars a day could double that cost and force families to utilize other social programs like welfare". How is this possible? Are we all not a bottomless pit of tax money? Apparently every household in the county cannot afford the $3 so your rationalization doesn't hold up. See below my comment on subsidizing everything. I don't use either but I'd rather subsidize child care. If Playland can't sustain itself or be profitable entity ( like county golf) it should be leased out or sold off. IMHO