Members of the Yonkers City Council met for an organizational meeting Jan. 2, where rules were adopted and committee assignments were made. Councilman Anthony Merante, who has been a certified public accountant since 1987, had the support of a majority of the City Council to serve as Budget Committee chairman. Supporting Merante was Majority Leader Corazon Pineda-Isaac, Councilmember John Rubbo and Minority Leader Mike Breen.
Merante, a Sixth District Councilmember stated: “I’m proud to have received bipartisan support for this chairmanship. Yonkers faces many challenges ahead in funding our schools and services that our citizens expect. I intend to use my knowledge and expertise as a CPA for 33 years to insure we are spending taxpayer funds wisely. I look forward to working with the mayor, council president and my fellow council members in this capacity.”
The Budget Committee is responsible for reviewing any item of a fiscal nature, which is to be put to the floor of the council for a vote. The committee has seven members comprised of the entire City Council, and requires the city’s budget director or commissioner of finance to appear before the committee to answer members’ questions about any spending proposals. When the mayor releases the budget, it is sent to the Budget Committee for review.
The committee also schedules budget hearings requiring department heads to come before it to query their spending requests and to answer committee members’ questions. These hearings are held in the Council Chamber and are televised so the public has an opportunity to witness the proceedings and gain further insight into the budget process.
