‘The proposed salary increases are over the top and insulting to the thousands of unionized employees who make Westchester County work each and every day.’ CSEA Westchester President Karen Pecora
By Dan Murphy
As the Westchester County Board of Legislators continues to move forward with plans to vote themselves a 52% salary increase, rank and file democrats from across the county are asking for the county board to reconsider their massive pay hike and cut their proposed salary increase in half—to 25%.
“County legislators haven’t had a salary increase in 15 years, so they do deserve something,” said a local democratic leader. “If you add up the cost of living, or inflation for 15 years, then the increase would be around 25%. That’s a bit more acceptable to all of us in Westchester.”
One example that Westchester legislators have given as a reason to support their own salary bump from $50,000 to $75,000 per year is that in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, county legislators are paid more than $75,000 per year.
But another Westchester political insider told us that, “I can give you another example of county legislators in Rockland and Putnam counties who make less than the $50,000 that westchester legislators make now.”
Raises for County Commissioners and other high level positions in Westchester government were already factored into County Executive George Latimer’s proposed 2020 county budget. But the raises for the county board were not included in Latimer’s budget, meaning that county legislators must come up with spending cuts to offset the $425,000 that their increases will cost, or raise property taxes.
Latimer’s budget plan includes a tax decrease for Westchester homeowners, of $1 Million. In a budget of $1.7 Billion, Latimer’s $1 Million tax decrease is small, (less than one tenth of 1%) but more symbolic. County legislators might have to cut into Latimer’s proposed tax cut to get their own raise.
A Yonkers Democrat said, “The way that the county board went about this, passing it after the election, was wrong. There should be some public input and basis for the tax increase. You need to give the public a justification for the increase and include them in the process because it’s taxpayer dollars.
When asked why Latimer didn’t take the pay hike, the same Yonkers democrat said, “I think it shows that he’s not opposed to the pay raises for legislators and others in county government, but he wanted no part of it for himself. It was a smart move and it shows that he’s not driven to line his own pockets.”
The other interesting wrinkle to this story is that while Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins will get a large pay raise, County Executive Latimer did not take a salary hike, resulting in Deputy County Executive Jenkins now making more than the county executive.
“It’s strange, but the only reason I can give is that George is thinking, if he runs again for County Executive, he doesn’t want the salary increase used against him. And George is running again, based on my conversations with him and based on him not taking the raise. So anyone who believes he’s not running, think again,” said a Sound Shore Democratic leader.
Local unions and members of Westchester Indivisible have also spoken out about the salary increases. Representatives of CSEA Westchester County Unit 9200 released a statement, with President Karen Pecora saying, “We believe that everyone — regardless of whether you’re union, non-union, or elected – is deserving of a fair salary. However, the proposed raises for legislators and management are highly excessive compared to the incremental raises our members and members of other county bargaining units negotiated. It took seven years for our union to settle a contract that calls for modest annual increases. The proposed salary increases are over the top and insulting to the thousands of unionized employees who make Westchester County work each and every day.”
Westchester Indivisible members spoke out against the salary increases at the county board budget hearing meeting earlier this month.
Salary increase for politicians coming in around the 2019 holidays are not unique to the county board. In Harrison, Supervisor Ron Belmont proposed a 19% salary increase for himself in Harrison’s 2020 budget, which does stay under the property tax cap. Belmont’s proposed $30,000 increase would bring his salary from $153,000 to $185,000, making him the highest paid Mayor or Supervisor in Westchester, earning more than County Executive Latimer (but not his Deputy) and more than members of Congress.
Belmont also earns a state pension of $125,000 per year, based on his many years of service as Harrison Recreation Supervisor. Some have used his pension as a reason not to support his salary increase, but the two are unrelated. A discussion on whether ‘double -dipping’ or earning both a salary and a pension on the taxpayers dime, is for another day.
“I felt it was time and my board members also thought it was time,” Belmont said, after changing his budget plan to include his salary increase after he was re-elected. “I realized that I needed a raise. We spoke about it and realized it was time.” The Supervisor’s salary in Harrison had not been raised in 14 years.
Harrison Democrats criticized the pay hike. Councilwoman-elect Lauren Leader said, “If he had done this before the election, I think he very may well have lost.”
Harrison Councilman Frank Gordon, who lost to Belmont for Supervisor said, “He cannot be trusted to safeguard the public interest over his own interests. This is a blatant money grab.”
In Peekskill Common Councilmembers and Mayor Andre Rainey voted themselves a pay raise, but the dollar amounts are significantly less than other Westchester politicians salaries. Mayor Rainey’s salary will jump from $13,000 to $18,000 and councilmembers will earn $12,000 per year, up from $8600.
