November 15, 2012 - WestchesterGuardian.com

Page 18 THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, november 15, 2012GOVERNMENTSectionNew Rochelle 2013 Proposed Budget ReleasedNEW ROCHELLE, NY—NewRochelle City Manager CharlesStrome III released his proposedbudget for Fiscal Year 2013 on Friday,November 9, 2012. In the midst ofthe prolonged economic recession, thebudget calls for a real estate tax levyincrease of 5.57%, requiring an overrideof the State tax cap legislation, butpreserves most of the services the Cityprovides.“Adopting a budget within the taxcap legislation produces a $1.5 millionshortfall that can only be met with thetype of programmatic and personnelcuts that I cannot recommend,” saidEMERGENCY SERVICESGREENBURGH, NY -- “Con Ed’sresponse to Sandy in Westchester waswholly inadequate—a managementfiasco” said Westchester AssemblymanTom Abinanti (D - 92 nd AD) as hecalled for an immediate change inConEd’s management team followedby the decertification of ConEd forWestchester County.“In the short run, we need newConEd management who will workwith local governments to clean up andrestore power to our communities,”Strome. “In a debilitated economicenvironment, we continue to besubject to State-imposed mandatesfor pension, health insurance andemployee binding arbitration costs thatare impossible to be funded under theparameters of the tax cap legislation.”Many of the City’s historicalmajor revenue sources, such as salestaxes, mortgage taxes, building permitsand State aid, have been negativelyimpacted by economic conditions,necessitating greater reliance on thelocal property tax or other revenuesources, Strome noted. Under the taxcap legislation, the allowable increasestated the Westchester Assemblyman.“In the long run, we need to unplugConEdison and replace it with a newpower provider for Westchester only.”Abinanti sent a letter toWestchester County ExecutiveRobert Astorino dated November 9,2012, requesting that the County ofWestchester Public Utility ServiceAgency (COWPUSA) immediatelyinitiate proceedings beforethe New York State Public ServiceCommission to decertify Con Ed into property taxes will not even coverthe $1.75 million cost of Stateimposedpension increases.“The 5.57% increase to the tax levyequates to a tax rate increase of 6.99%because our tax base fell by another$3.6 million this past year,” addedStrome. The proposed tax increase forthe average homeowner is $206, orabout one percent of the total tax bill.The budget does not call for anyemployee layoffs but proposes toeliminate curbside loose-leaf pickup,cut police staffing by two vacant positionsand reduce firefighter manningat certain times. All of these reductionsAssemblyman Abinanti Seeks To Unplug ConEdAsserts ConEd’s Westchester Response A FailureWestchester County. He noted that“ConEd’s response to Sandy is justanother example of ConEd’s longterm neglect of Westchester’s residentsand businesses.”“While we were fortunate toescape the devastation in other partsof the metropolitan area, we havebeen way behind in power restoration,”stated Abinanti. “ Con Ed’sdaily reports show that Westchestercustomers, who constitute less than10% of Con Ed’s customers, havewere recommended in the recentlyissued report by the Citizen’s Panel onSustainable Budgets.“The City will continue to provideour extraordinary level of service toour citizens,” Strome concluded. “Thisbudget proposes an appropriate blendof property tax increases and expenditurereductions that will carry usthrough these challenging economictimes.”Copies of the proposed budgetare available in the City Clerk’s office,at the New Rochelle Public Libraryand on the City’s website www.newrochelleny.com/2013proposedbudget.consistently been 40-60% of the totalremaining outages.”Abinanti notes that Con Ed’sresponse was “a poor plan, poorlyexecuted.” He commended ConEd employees on the street, but said“there have been far too few of them.”He highlighted Con Ed’s continuingfailure to coordinate with local governmentswho have been far ahead of ConEd in their storm response. He criticizedCon Ed’s failure to inform thepublic and meet the public’s needs.Assemblyman Thomas J.Abinanti, Esq. represents the communitiescomprising the 92 nd AssemblyDistrict.The City Council will conduct budgetreview meetings in November andhold a public hearing on December4th in advance of the adoption of a taxrate in December.THE ALBANY CORRESPONDENTSharpton’s Senate Shape-upBy CARLOS GONZALEZALBANY, NY – TheRev. Al Sharptonhas canceled an“important” meetingoriginally scheduledfor Noontime Saturday withminority leaders to discuss “thefuture of the New York StateSenate.”“Due to the fact that mycalling for an important meeting ofleaders to discuss the future of theNew York State Senate has becomea media circus, coupled with theresponsibilities of many leaders indealing with the challenges to theirconstituents posed by HurricaneSandy and this week’s Nor’easter,I will be rescheduling Saturday’smeeting to a future date,” Sharptonsaid in a statement just released byhis office.The meeting will take place aweek later in private.Sharpton’s National ActionNetwork sent out an email invitationyesterday calling for themeeting at Harlem’s famed Sylvia’srestaurant and was expected to beattended by leading union officials,former, current, and prospectiveNYC mayoral and public officeofficials.Though the meeting announcementand leadership shape-up maybe premature (as all the votes haveyet to be counted), Democratsappear poised to take control of theNYS Senate by one seat.Insiders have questionedSharpton insinuating himself intoa potential leadership battle for anoffice he’s not elected to. Sharptonresponded to those critics.“When we have this meetingwe will discuss the importanceof the State Senate leadershipreflecting the will of New Yorkvoters, which means if thereare a majority of DemocraticSenators, that leadership shouldbe Democratic,” said Sharpton. “I understand the importance ofthis discussion because I was verymuch involved in ensuring the willof New York voters was respecteda few years back, when I counseledthen Senator Hiram Monserrateto remain with the Democraticmajority.“My message at that meeting,and in private discussions leadingup to the meeting, will be to honorthe vote of New Yorkers, and ifthat vote places Democrats in themajority, Democrats should havethe leadership.”Four years ago, four of the 32elected Democrats withheld theirsupport for Sen. Malcolm Smith,then the Democratic leader. Smitheventually won over the supportof the “Amigos” as a Puerto Ricoconference by offering them plumcommittee assignments.This year, the IndependentDemocratic Conference, an effectivecoalition of four break-a-wayDemocrats who caucused independentlysince December of 2010, isspearheaded by it’s leader SenatorJeff Klein (D-Westchester / TheBronx). The IDC recently declaredthey will not return to unite withSenate Democrats should its leadershipremain in the hands of itsminority leader, John Sampson(D-Brooklyn), or it’s campaigncommittee chair, Michael Gianaris(D-Queens).Add a new independentDemocrat, Senator-elect SimchaFelder of Brooklyn, into to the mix.It’s unclear if Felder will caucusContinued on page 19