What a difference a few weeks make
-
- November
- 26
You gotta hand it to Bill Ryan, chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators. As the last “presenter’’ of a proposed budget to his own board’s Budget & Appropriations Committee hearing this afternoon, Ryan got his fellow board member’s flipping—flipping and flipping back and forth through their foot-high 2009 budget books. While the monster budget proposal mostly belongs to the Spano administration, one important part belongs to the lawmakers—their own operating budget for next year.
Ryan, under heat from a lot of sectors, including within his own board, announced he had cut his previous budget, prepared shortly after Labor Day, by almost $300,000. He also did away with some controversial job titles (some paid $96,000 to $103,000), a lobbyist position and some stipend money, and reallocated funds to some part-time positions.
Next stop: The board has to review everything that was presented them by all commissioners, department heads and Ryan himself, and decide whether to add any money back in on Monday, Dec. 1. Final cuts to budget lines are due by Dec. 8, the day the board wants to approve a final 2009 budget.
My colleague, staff writer Gerald McKinstry, will have more in tomorrow’s paper and in the days ahead.
Stay tuned……it’s exciting when elected officials not just hear the cry from flattened taxpayers, but may also be listening.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 4:01 pm by Laurie Nikolski.
| 
Email This Post
