White Plains, NY — On Tuesday, County Executive George Latimer shared with the Board of Legislators the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of Westchester County for the year ended December 31, 2017.  As expected, the report showed a deficit for 2017 of nearly $32.2 million.

Board of Legislators Chair Ben Boykin (D - Harrison, Scarsdale, White Plains), said, "This is an issue that the Board of Legislators and the County Executive inherited. It is going to take time to work through and stabilize the financial situation of the county.

We ended 2017 with a $32.2 million deficit, and are looking at a projected deficit for 2018 of $28.7 million; this is before any money is budgeted for a settlement with the county's largest union, CSEA, who have been working without a contract for seven years.

This is a structural problem caused by no property tax increases for seven years, a failure to provide money for the settlement of labor contracts, and the neglect of crucial county infrastructure.  This structural problem has been papered over in the past by one-shot revenue tricks and by walking away from critical talent needed to run the government effectively.

As Board Chair, I look forward to working with all members of the legislature and the County Executive in developing a plan to address our financial situation.  A resolution will take several years to implement, but we will solve this."