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Board of Legislators Chairman Mike Kaplowitz a Democrat and Vice-chairman Jim Maisano, a Republican have announced that they have the support of a majority of their colleagues on the Board of Legislators to continue in their leadership positions for the 2016-2017 legislative session.  The bipartisan power-sharing arrangement that has been in place for the past two years led to the most productive legislative term in many years.  Chairman Kaplowitz and Vice-Chairman Maisano began serving on the Board of Legislators together in 1998.

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(WHITE PLAINS, NY) At a press conference at the Board of Legislators, members of the Board’s Families Task Force announced the creation of a Families Bill of Rights and will use it as a guide for 2016 priorities.  The BoL Families Task Force has concluded a series of public meetings in various parts of the county where they received input on what families in Westchester need to stay, grow and thrive here. 

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(WHITE PLAINS, NY) Earlier this week, the Board of Legislators voted to make Westchester the latest community to become a New York Climate Smart Community. The resolution, introduced by Legislator Catherine Parker, aims to find energy efficiencies and cost savings available to municipalities and promote economic growth in the expanding green technology field.

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(WHITE PLAINS, NY) The Westchester County Board of Legislators adopted the 2016 budget today stretches Westchester County’s operations to the thinnest of all time and remains structurally unbalanced according to numerous independent opinions as a result of accounting gimmicks, one shot revenues and suspect revenue projections.  The budget most significantly relies on an aggressive assumption for sales tax revenues with a 4% growth rate. The Citizens Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) and the County’s independent auditors stated that the sales tax revenues are too aggressive and cited that Nassau and Suffolk Counties and many of our local municipalities budget for roughly 1 – 2 % growth in sales tax revenues. CBAC recommends that the 2016 budget for sales tax be reduced by $10 to $15 million.  The Democratic Caucus had proposed an alternative that involved the proceeds from the sale of the Austin Avenue building and over $4 million in energy efficiencies that are still available.  

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(WHITE PLAINS, NY) As the Board of Legislators goes through the additions and deletions phase of the budget process, several members of the Board have released a plan to restore services provided by many non-profit agencies, realize millions in energy and electricity savings and continue to operate without raising any taxes.  The estimated restorations totaled slightly over $6 million and were offset by nearly $17 million in additional non-tax-hike revenues.  The $17 million of revenue was comprised of $12.5 million from the sale of a property in Yonkers and over $4 million in savings that can be achieved through energy efficiencies.  Many of these suggestions were voted down during a recent meeting of the Budget Committee.