By Dan Murphy
Following weeks of budget hearings, public advocacy meetings, trips to Albany and a final piece of additional state aid, last week the City of Yonkers 2018-19 Budget was adopted with a 7-0 vote by the Yonkers City Council. The amended adopted budget submitted by Mayor Mike Spano includes $8.8 million in additional state aid, increased funding to the Yonkers Public School District, contains no cuts in services or layoffs, and eliminates most vacant positions.
A 6.2 percent property tax levy increase helped balance the city budget.
“After numerous discussions with our state leaders about the financial needs of our city, I was able to submit an amended budget to our City Council that contains additional funding to our schools and avoids layoffs,” said Spano. “I thank Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his staff for recognizing the discrepancies in funding to Yonkers and their help in restoring positions and services vital to our residents.”
The $1.19 billion budget eliminates most vacant positions in both city government and in the Yonkers Public Schools. But the positive piece from the budget is that no city employee lost their job. “No layoffs” quickly became the mantra of this year’s Yonkers budget, with union leaders, State Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Shelley Mayer, the mayor and City Council all looking for a way to avoid handing out pink slips.
“The Yonkers Board of Education trustees look forward to adopting the 2018-19 district budget on Tuesday, June 19, 2018, without the need to lay off any staff,” said Board of Education President the Rev. Steve Lopez. With the adoption of the City of Yonkers 2018-19 Budget by the City Council, the Board of Education can move forward with a $615.6 million budget for next year.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edwin Quezada said he will provide the trustees with a balanced budget without layoffs.
“Months of advocacy by relentless stakeholders with state and local officials paid off,” he said. “The sustained progress our district has made improving instruction, students’ academic achievement and graduation rates was validated by the support we continue to receive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The governor’s actions signify his understanding of the hard work being done by everyone in Yonkers.”
The trustees and superintendent also extended their gratitude for the commitment made by Spano, Stewart Cousins, Mayer, Assemblymember Gary Pretlow and the Yonkers City Council.
“Our wholehearted thanks go to Mayor Spano for his unyielding support for education in Yonkers, which is continuously bolstered in Albany by our State Delegation,” said Board of Education Vice President Judith Ramos Meier.
Quezada added: “A new, strong coalition laser focused on Yonkers education was formed this year through the extensive advocacy undertaken by the Yonkers Council of PTAs, Federation of Teachers, Council of Administrators, CSEA and Teamsters working hand-in-hand with the trustees. Moving forward, I am confident the leadership of this new coalition will continue to join forces to sustain quality education for all children in Yonkers.”
The unanimous vote by the City Council to approve the budget came as a surprise to some, but in the end, showed a unified front.
“The Republican caucus went through the budget line by line in an effort to avert layoffs and minimize the impact to the taxpayer,” said City Council Republicans in a joint statement. “While the adopted budget includes an increase in the tax levy of 6.2 percent, there will be no reduction in city services to our residents. The average home will see their annual property tax bill increase by approximately $560 or $46 per month.”
Mike Breen, City Council minority leader, said: “This budget process has been a long journey. The most important part of our job as a council is to pass a budget. Reaching into our taxpayers’ pockets is something I don’t take lightly, and I’ve never wanted to balance the budget on the backs of our workforce with layoffs. This council is now looking for the means to address budget issues early on before a budget issue becomes a crisis.”
“Two months ago, the City Council received a proposed budget that included 185 municipal layoffs and 251 layoffs in the Yonkers Public School system,” added Councilman John Rubbo. “Over the last eight weeks, we combed through every line of this budget and in working with our colleagues, Mayor Spano and his finance team, we were able to restore all of those positions. I must be clear: I am not happy with this tax increase. It affects me, my family, my friends and neighbors who have decided to make this great city their home. This vote allows us to move forward while working toward efficiencies in our government. Yonkers is better today than yesterday, and we will be better tomorrow.”
“My colleagues and I worked very hard to get to the point where the adopted budget includes no layoffs or cuts in services to our residents,” stated Councilman Anthony Merante. “We made every effort to cut expenses and have put pieces in place that will put additional needed information in the council’s hands during the year and for future budget deliberations.”
City Council Majority Leader Michael Sabatino added: “The budget was unanimously approved. As the budget chairman, I want to thank all involved in the budget process – the mayor, Budget and Finance Departments, our state delegation and all the staff members. I also want to thank the governor, the state Department of Budget, and especially Speaker Carl Heastie. This was a very difficult budget to resolve. I want to commend all my colleagues on the council for making the hard decision necessary to save all the jobs that will maintain city services and our school system. It is a not a perfect situation but one that will keep our city moving in the coming year. I look forward to working with my colleagues and reviewing recommendations to re-evaluate how the budget is executed and to be diligent about oversight of the budget moving forward.”
