Westcheter County Clerk Tim Idoni, with Administrative Services Director Larenna Robertson
Idoni Emphasizes Professionalism and Efficiency
Many elected officials like to run on slogans saying they’re fighting to cut taxes or lower government costs. Here a long-time Westchester County elected official and current County Clerk Tim Idoni has produced just that record. His Office budget for Fiscal year 2025 is coming in at $6.933 million. When he took office under his predecessor’s final budget in 2006, they were spending $9.243 million. In future budgets, had Idoni simply left 2006 spending level with the Consumer Price Index factored in, the current budget would be $14.735 million.
Idoni brought a former city manager’s mind into an elected position as Clerk. Idoni earned a graduate degree in public management from New York University’s Wagner School, then pursued a career in city and non-profit management until being recruited to run for Mayor in his hometown of New Rochelle in 1991. He spent fourteen years in that position and then the past nineteen as County Clerk, revolutionizing operations here and statewide from a paper-laden bureaucracy into a sleek, automated management system. He has reduced the office staffing from the 2006 level 110 positions to its current staffing of 60 (55 currently filled), a cumulative cut of 45.5%, saving millions per annum. Based on the year 2006 spending, he has saved $ 47,295,930 through 2023.
Idoni stated, “We went to work to not only cut a bloated bureaucracy but made the office faster, more efficient and easier to access. We have succeeded on all fronts. No longer should our county government be an employment agency, driven by patronage and slow reaction time to resident and business needs. The millions we’ve saved have gone to keep property taxes down and provide more funds for better services in other County departments. The services we’ve improved have made thousands of lives and businesses easier. That’s the way it should be.”
Background
Idoni learned the tools of his trade first in the Village of Bronxville as an assistant to the Village Administrator beginning in 1980. Late in 1981, he moved to the City of New Rochelle as Director of Emergency Services and was promoted to Deputy City Manager in 1983 at age 27. There he received the training of a lifetime, learning how to prune staffing costs, run information technology offices, and cutting operational budgets as city managers often live and die on keeping taxes down for their bosses, the elected body.
In late 1985 he moved on to Village Manager of Ardsley, where the quaint village had a wonderful residential quality and a village operation seemingly based in the early 1930’s. He moved quickly to modernize the operations and won an International City Management Award (one of only ten world-wide) in 1989.
In 1990, he returned to New Rochelle to take on a debt-ridden nonprofit housing corporation teetering on financial collapse, reorganized its operations and stabilized its finances, while building and renovating over 200 affordable housing units. In 1991, he was recruited by a bi-partisan group to run for mayor of New Rochelle, after discovering its economic development efforts were failing far short of its goals and its financial condition precarious. In his election year, the city ran a $4 million operating deficit and the outgoing City Council exacerbated the problem by budgeting $6 million in sales tax revenue not previously authorized by the State Legislature. When the State legislature failed to permit the sales tax increase, the city was in a $10 million hole. Along with the city management team, Idoni and his City Council developed plans to climb out and by the end of 1994, it was back on its feet.
Idoni ran for County Clerk in 2005 after recognizing the Clerk’s office was in dire need of professional caretaking. He recognized that the office had attempted to fix backlogs in paperwork and filings by continually adding staff, reaching an all-time high of 124 staffers in 2004. He immediately went to work, discovering the State of New York had yet to authorize electronic recording of land records nor electronic filing of legal documents, despite the federal government and most other states allowing such methodology. He led the efforts through his professional organization, the New York State Association of County Clerks (NYSACC), to write and pass state legislation allowing for such modernization. It also resulted in the elimination of dozens of taxpayer funded positions, which Idoni achieved through a sensitive attrition program based on retirements rather than layoffs. Now 92% of all legal documents are filed electronically and close to 72% of all land records are e-recorded under the award-winning Property Records Electronic Portal the clerk’s office designed.
For these efforts, Idoni, his staff and the office have received one national and 12 state-wide awards, including a lifetime achievement award from his colleagues at NYSAAC.
How did It happen?
Idoni insisted on hiring professionals who understood technology and the law, rather than political friends. He recruited his latest first deputy seven years ago from the County Law Department, reducing outlays for outside counsel by hundreds of thousands of dollars. His previous deputy proved excellent in program management of information technology projects, again savings hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He insists on annually reviewing every program and, in fact, every position, especially when a vacancy has occurred. The team would review each position to ascertain whether it is necessary to keep work productivity satisfactory. He implemented professional work rules and insisted on one very simple theme: come to work on time and do your job.
When one former union leader once questioned whether he was a micromanager, he responded, “The taxpayers shouldn’t accept anything less.” And at a County legislature budget meeting one year he was questioned by a legislator why he cut a position or two every year he responded, “It’s my belief the County can no longer be an employment agency.”
Users of the office have praised the improvements over time. The Mobile office implemented by his predecessor, which now has been expanded beyond passports to include business licenses, DD-214 veteran’s discharge papers and notarization services, has gone from 6-8 stops per year to 35-40, weather permitting, Spring to late Fall. Each and every town and city and most villages receive at least one visit.
Idoni’s staff and the County Information Technology Department designed the Westchester Records Online (WRO) system where residents can access almost all records without leaving the comfort of their home or office. It saves users time and money (fuel, parking fees and gas fumes) from having to drive to White Plains to do necessary research. The system also won a state-wide award for its innovation.
The Clerk spends a lot of time researching and deliberating legislation with State officials and his fellow county clerks, which will continue to modernize the oldest government service in the State of New York. (The Westchester County Clerk was first put to work in 1683, to organize land records administration).
In 2024, bills were passed calling for a new Transfer of Deed upon Death law, permitting the recording of a revocable deed used to hold real property (saves time and money in probate). The Clerk is working on his system to allow for the new Judicial Security Act, allowing for the redaction of personal information from real property owned by judges and their family members. Hard work also went into the new State system for registering notary public licenses.
Idoni is looking forward to another year of innovation and cost cutting. Turning age 70 this March, he has announced he will not be running for re-election for another four-year term this year.
