The Westchester County Association (WCA) today issued public comment on the proposed 2009 County Operating

CONTACT: Amy Allen The Westchester County Association, Inc. (914) 948-1168 or (914) 943-7433 aallen@westchester.org For Immediate Release LEADING BUSINESS ASSOCIATION CALLS FOR REDUCTIONS IN PROPOSED 2009 COUNTY BUDGET Pay Hikes To Commissioners Should Be Rejected WHITE PLAINS, NY December 1, 2008) -- The Westchester County Association (WCA), the county’s leading business advocacy group, today called for changes to the proposed 2009 County Operating Budget including the elimination of proposed salary and benefit increases for department heads and commissioners. In response to the severity of the economic meltdown impacting the private and public sectors across New York State, the WCA said that it is incumbent that Westchester’s county government further reduce expenditures in its proposed $1,773,479,195 budget for 2009. Under the proposed budget, the county tax levy would increase 2.97 percent, although the specific tax impact will vary from community to community. William Mooney Jr., president of the WCA, noted that in the proposed budget “the loss of projected revenue, primarily mortgage tax and state aid, is not offset by an appropriate decrease in expenditures. County businesses and residential taxpayers should not be expected to pick up the tab when their own revenues and incomes are shrinking dramatically.” He added: “Given today’s economic ...