RyeCity REVIEW THE
September 14, 2018 | Vol. 6, Number 38 | www.ryecityreview.com
County budget shortfall currently at $18.2M
After 17 years, residents of Westchester remained etched the minds of their loved ones. On Sept. 11, the county held its annual 9/11 memorial service at The Rising in Valhalla. For more, see page 9.
The 2018 Westchester County budget projected shortfall been significantly decreased due to several areas of savings, but a large looming union contract has yet to be decided. File photo
Bridge delay opens floodgates ahead of primary By JAMES PERO Staff Writer After safety concerns led to a postponement of the Westchester-bound portion of the new Tappan Zee Bridge, the roadway was expected to open this week, but not without political controversy. According to a statement from the Tappan Zee Constructors, a consortium of builders responsible for carrying out work on the bridge, after concerns over the old bridge’s structural integrity— the former Tappan Zee sits almost directly next to the newly named Mario M. Cuomo Bridge—the Westchester bound lanes scheduled opening on Saturday, Sep. 7,
was moved to Tuesday, Sep. 11. Engineer’s say that a faulty joint on the old bridgenear the Westchester bound span of the new bridge raised safety concerns large enough to warrant the opening’s postponement. The first span of the bridge opened almost exactly a year ago with Cuomo touting the $4 billion project’s timeliness and its success staying on budget. In addition to delaying the new span’s opening, safety concerns regarding the old Tappan Zee Bridge structure have also given way to hints of political scandal after the Journal News uncovered documents that the opening may have been rushed by Gov. An-
drew Cuomo, a Democrat, who is in the middle of a hard-fought re-election primary. On Thursday, Sept. 13, Cuomo will take on progressive candidate Cynthia Nixon—an actress who starred in the HBO series “Sex in the City”—who is running against the governor in order to carry the Democratic line in the November general election. According to letters obtained by the Journal News in a Freedom of Information Law request, Jamey Barbas, the Thruway Authority’s project director, encourages work on the bridge to be finished by Aug. 24, despite potential for “traffic incidents or damage.”
On Sept. 7, Cuomo held a ceremonial opening and ribbon cutting for the new span replete with an appearance by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, of Chappaqua, and symbolic BRIDGE continued on page 11
According to projections given last month, Westchester County’s budget deficit currently hovers at $18.2 million, more than $14 million less than initially projected. Minutes from an Aug. 6 Committee on Budget and Appropriations meeting show that due to savings in several areas, the county Budget Director Larry Soule estimated the 2018 budget gap at a little more than $18 million—a number far below the $32 million he initially projected earlier this year. Among the factors contributing to the smaller shortfall are favorable sales tax revenue—$7 million more than expected— lower than projected healthcare contributions and savings from other renegotiated contracts. A major potential factor in the shortfall remains the outstanding contract with the Civil Service Employees Union, CSEA, the county’s largest labor union. According to the county’s Budget Office, the CSEA contract could widen the shortfall by as much as $40 million due to retroactive pay raises and increased healthcare costs. The union has been operating under the terms of an expired contract since 2011.
Due to revenue shortfalls lawmakers are now forced to consider raising taxes through the property tax levy. County Executive George Latimer, a Democrat, has said a tax hike is currently not on the table. Under his predecessor, former County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican who was elected in 2009, taxes were never raised. Astorino lost re-election to a third term in office in 2017, when he was defeated by Latimer; Latimer took office in January of this year.A shortfall may also increase the likelihood that the county will be forced to draw on its fund balance. According to Soule, for the fiscal years of 2017 and 2018, lawmakers are looking at a 61 percent blow to its fund balance if those funds are used to fill in those shortfalls. Such a reduction could directly affect the county’s AAA credit rating from Moody’s, a financial service and credit rating agency. That rating affects the county’s ability to borrow and issue bonds at preferential interest rates and could prove increasingly important as the Federal Reserve continues to increase borrowing rates. -Reporting by James Pero