Westchester lawmakers adopt $1.77 billion budget for 2008 but postpone decision on pay raises

By GLENN BLAIN  THE JOURNAL NEWS  (Original Publication: December 11, 2007)

WHITE PLAINS - Westchester lawmakers adopted a $1.77 billion budget for 2008 yesterday but postponed until next a week a decision on a controversial set of pay raises for certain county officials.

The Board of Legislators, bowing to criticism from open-government advocates, scheduled a special meeting for Dec. 17 to consider the salary and stipend increases - including a whopping 39 percent boost in the total compensation paid to board Chairman William Ryan.  "The legislators this morning felt that they wanted to give additional time to hear more of the input and opinions of people that may want to weigh in on this," said Ryan, a White Plains Democrat, about the proposed increases.

The move to delay the vote came after a weekend of intense criticism in newspaper editorials and from the League of Women Voters of Westchester, which assailed Ryan and the board's Democratic leadership for not being candid with the public about their plans for the pay increases.

The plans were not unveiled until Friday.  "This proposal was made public at the eleventh hour, providing little time for public notification and review," Mary Beth Gose, the league's president, read in a statement to the legislature yesterday. She termed Ryan's proposed increase "excessive." The controversy over the pay increases marred what was a relatively successful day for the legislature, as it adopted a budget that lowered by almost a percentage point the proposed property tax increase called for by County Executive Andrew Spano last month.

Under the spending plan approved yesterday, the proposed increase in the property tax levy - the total amount of money collected by the county through property taxes - was lowered to 3.89 percent from the 4.7 percent figure contained in Spano's budget.  "County taxpayers are buying an accountable government and essential services at a fair cost," Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, D-Somers, chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, said after the vote.
The budget now goes back to Spano, who can veto changes made by the board. However, Susan Tolchin, Spano's chief adviser, said last night that no vetoes were expected. "The result of this budget is a lowering of the tax levy increase, which is what we continually strive to do," Tolchin said. "At the same time, it is fiscally responsible."

Because each of Westchester 's cities and towns levies property taxes differently, it is difficult to predict the precise impact of the budget on homeowners. Generally, about 15 percent of an average resident's tax bill goes to the county. To help achieve their property-tax reductions, lawmakers voted yesterday to trim about $9 million in spending from Spano's original proposal. Those cuts included the elimination of four staff positions that were either vacant or newly proposed in Spano's budget.

Also among the cuts was a $4 million reduction in projected health-care costs for county employees. Lawmakers argued that Spano's projections were too conservative. They also trimmed expected liability costs by more than $1 million. Those cuts also helped offset about $4.2 million in new spending items that the legislature added to the budget last week.

Republicans, however, argued that Democrats did not cut enough. They proposed cuts totaling $16 million but saw their efforts thwarted by the board's majority. "They have not met the mark here, and I think they could have very easily," said Board of Legislators' Minority Leader George Oros, R-Cortlandt.  GOP lawmakers also criticized the proposed pay raises, especially those intended for Ryan and other legislative leaders.  "I think the stipends and many of the pay increases right now are really reprehensible," said Legislator Gordon Burrows, R-Yonkers.

Under the plan unveiled Friday, the stipend Ryan receives for serving as chairman would nearly double to $75,000. That's on top of Ryan's base salary of $49,200 - for a total of $124,400 a year. Stipends for other board leadership posts, including committee chairs and minority and majority leader posts, would also be increased.

At the same time, a separate proposal made Friday by Spano would also boost the salaries of key county officials, including Deputy County Executive Larry Schwartz and Tolchin, by about 3 percent. The county executive and county clerk would also receive 3 percent raises under the plan, but not until 2010, after the next election for those posts.

Ryan defended the increases, including his own, and expressed confidence that the board would ultimately approve them on Monday.  "It's not about me, it's the office of the chairman," Ryan said yesterday. "That particular compensation level is justified. ... This position is full time and more."