To the Editor,
Both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and County Executive Rob Astorino got it wrong. Cuomo’s placing blame on local lawmakers is outrageous. As a former Mamaroneck school board president (1978 to 1984) and past trustee of the village of Larchmont (2002 to 2016), I can attest to the fact that residents get the biggest bang for the buck from our local taxes. Housing prices continue to rise in Westchester and people want to live here. Our proximity to New York City, our outstanding schools, safe communities, hardworking employees who keep snow off the roads and keep our infrastructure, aging as it may be, in working order, and emergency responders—police, fire and ambulance corps—are without parallel.
At the same time, many officials in our local municipalities earn little or no money. In my own case, I served the community for 20 years without one cent of salary or benefits. And the residents of our communities understand this as they elect leaders and pass school budgets. With one stroke of the pen, the governor and state legislators could significantly reduce local property taxes by removing the need for counties to pay a portion of Medicaid, something no other state in the union requires. At the same time, the county executive, bragging about not raising county taxes, has cut services for
the most needy and borrowed money to pay expenses that should be annual costs. In so doing, he has left it to the next generation of Westchester County residents and the next leaders of county government to figure out how to pay those costs.
Local leaders have been working together to merge services and reduce costs for many years. By invoking a 2 percent property tax cap, the governor has made their jobs almost impossible. Using the county budget as a political tool, the county executive has made it almost impossible to provide quality services in our county without tricks like outsourcing our airport. Outsourcing often leads to reduced services with no proper oversight.
I, for one, gladly pay my local taxes for the outstanding services they provide for the residents.
Marlene Kolbert,
Larchmont
