In his annual State of the County Address, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino renewed his promise not to raise county taxes, instead pointing to three private partnerships.
“Government is limited to the amount of capital and expertise it has on hand,” Astorino, a Republican, said in his address on April 20. “So we have looked to entrepreneurs to join us in public-private partnerships, and there is significant progress to report.”
Astorino vowed in his eighth address as county executive that for as long as he holds the county’s top political position, he would maintain his seven-year trend of not raising taxes, adding that in order to keep that promise, the county has had to be imaginative. “You also need to grow revenues,” he said. “And if it’s not going to be taxes—and it’s not—you have to look somewhere else.”
Photo/Andrew Dapolite
Over the last several years, that governing philosophy has led the county to look at long-term property leases with private companies as a source of that revenue.
Earlier this month, Astorino and the Democrat-led Board of Legislators unanimously agreed to sign 60 acres of county property—known as the North 60—to Fareri Associates for 99 years. Fareri plans to convert that property into a $1.2 billion biotech center, amounting to the largest public-private partnership in Westchester history. In his address, the county executive reiterated the anticipated benefits of the project: $9 million in new real estate taxes, $7 million per year in rent, and 12,000 full-time and temporary jobs. And he repeated a statement from last year’s address: that the North 60 development would help position Westchester alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Silicon Valley as a leader in innovation.
But other Astorino plans to lease county property have faced significant opposition from county lawmakers.
In November, the county executive announced plans to lease Westchester Airport to a private company for 40 years through a program run by the Federal Aviation Administration. Astorino said that participating in the program would allow the county to sidestep a federal law which requires that all revenue generated at the airport gets reinvested back into the airport; and he estimated that Westchester could generate at least $140 million in revenue from the airport deal that could be used for other areas of the county.
Discussing the potential lease during his address, Astorino said, “The idea is to create a long-term revenue stream so that money is coming into the county’s budget for decades to come.”
But lawmakers scrutinized Astorino for trying to forego a bidding process when initially presenting the plan to lease the airport property to Oaktree Capital Management, an investment management firm.
“There was no way that the Board of Legislators would approve a deal of that scope and duration without first requesting bids from other operators,” said Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz, a moderate Democrat from Yorktown, in his response to Astorino’s address.
Democratic Majority Leader Catherine Borgia, of Ossining, further criticized the county executive in the Democratic response to Astorino’s State of the County address, calling the initial airport deal a shortsighted solution to “his own fiscal mismanagement.” She also criticized the Astorino administration for embracing the values of President Donald Trump, a common theme amongst Westchester Democrats and likely to be a focal point of this year’s county executive race.
As a result of the lawmakers’ push, the county is now accepting bids; and it is expected to make a final approval in the fall.
The partnership that seems to be the furthest along is the leasing out of the county-owned Rye Playland amusement park, an agreement Astorino touted as an example of successful corporate partnerships. He said the plan to lease and renovate the park, initiated in 2014, is nearing fruition. “Shovels are in the ground; and while the work is going on, Playland will be up and running on May 13 for its 89th season,” he said.
As part of the 30-year lease with Standard Amusements signed in May 2016, Westchester and Standard will invest a total of $60 million into the park for capital improvements. The county will collect an increasing portion of Standard’s profits over the lease’s period. Westchester recently cleared a final hurdle in the deal, winning a court decision against the city of Rye, which sued the county for cutting the city out of the decision.
Meanwhile, the county executive has his own lawsuit in the works. He repeated his criticism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to close the Indian Point Energy Center by 2021. Cuomo, a Democrat, announced the upcoming closure in February; and earlier this month, Astorino asked the Board of Legislators to back him in a lawsuit against Cuomo for not conducting a review of the environmental and economic consequences of the shutdown.
In his address, Astorino reiterated his call for the board’s approval; specifically, that of the board’s Democrats. “There is no excuse not to support it,” he said. “This isn’t about whether Indian Point closes; it’s about how it closes.”
Kaplowitz previously said that the board would not back the suit, calling it “dead on arrival.” For board approval, the lawsuit would need to acquire at least one Democratic vote, as Democrats hold a one-seat majority on the Board of Legislators.
Early in his address, Astorino made a plea for bipartisanship in the county in a time of increasingly hostile political dialogue. “No single individual, group or party has a monopoly on the best ideas and the right way to run things,” he said after referencing the contentious 2016 presidential election which has started to bleed into Westchester politics. “Westchester works best when we work together.”
