The Democratic majority of the Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) presented its 2012 County Budget yesterday, delivering a promised 0% increase in the County Tax Levy and restoring 187 jobs to the County workforce that had been cut in the County Executive’s proposed budget.

After a day and night of negotiations with members of the BOL’s Republican caucus and with County Executive Astorino, the BOL’s 2012 County Budget was passed in a special meeting early this morning by a vote of 16-1. It now goes to the County Executive for consideration.

―After listening to several hundred residents in our three public budget hearings and then bringing their ideas and concerns into a careful analysis of the numbers, we have been able to create a budget for 2012 that is right for Westchester,‖ said BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). ―This budget preserves essential investments in our infrastructure and prioritizes the maintenance of important programs that protect public safety, public health and the environment.

The BOL’s 2012 County Budget contains a $1.698 billion spending plan, which is a decrease of more than $91 million from the 2011 County Budget. Also, the BOL’s spending and revenue plans are balanced without using fund balance, which will help protect Westchester County’s AAA Bond rating.

―The only way we could justify bringing back 187 County jobs to the 2012 budget was to offset expenditures and find the funding within the confines of the existing budgeted numbers,‖ said BOL Majority Leader Peter Harckham (D-Katonah), who noted that additional revenue in the BOL budget includes additional revenue projected at nearly $8.5 million ($4.8 million from the Department of Social Services), over $1 million in reimbursements generated from health center funding and over $8 million in health care savings. ―Bottom line is we have put $8.48 million of additions into our 2012 budget by creating $8.48 million in deletions,‖ said Harckham.

The strong degree of fiscal responsibility in the BOL’s 2012 proposed budget is also ―right for Westchester,‖ noted Jenkins.

―We adopted a budget with a 0% increase in County Tax Levy, and there will be no use of fund balance,‖ said Jenkins. ―It is our intention to protect County’s AAA Bond Rating, and the Board’s actions and financial decisions in 2011 are projected to return $15.8 million to fund balance, and I’m sure this will be viewed positively by the financial community as well.

The community-minded investments that the BOL deems to be ―Right for Westchester‖ include capital project funding for bridge repairs and flood mitigation, plus maintaining the six County Nature Centers and restoring funding for the Greenburgh Nature Center, the County’s deer management program and Cornell Cooperative Extension.