Edgemont Community Council Calls for Reconsideration of the Greenburgh Budget

The following Open Letter was read by Geoff Loftus, Edgemont Community Council president, at the Public Comment portion of the Nov. 9 Greenburgh Town Board Meeting: The Edgemont Community Council (ECC) met on November 7, 2011 and voted to ask the Town Board to please reconsider the 2012 Budget – as proposed we believe this budget has some fundamental issues:

The 2012 Budget requires a $1.8 million draw down from the fund balance to keep the increase in taxes down.

We would like to know the specifics and probability of the $250,000 sale of town property, as a similar item for $550,000 in the 2011 budget has not materialized. The 2012 Budget also assumes increases in revenues from rental fees but offers no explanation why these fees should more than double and triple.

The proposed Budget appears to inflate revenues by including hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant revenue for such items as conservation programs, a study of Hartsdale Avenue and community development, but with no corresponding expenditures required for these grants. Even if the town's contribution is zero, it must still spend the funds and that spending should be listed in the Budget.

The 2012 Budget calls for cuts in insurance. We remember when the town had to pay out a substantial sum when a tree killed a motorist on Central Avenue and the Town was under-insured. Also, the proposed Budget has substantial cuts in contingency lines which means the town may have to dip further into fund balance should anything unforeseen arise.

We believe the proposed Budget makes use of some questionable accounting approaches and assumptions instead of cutting costs and creating a reasonable fiscal path for Greenburgh's future. Instead, in this proposal, we still have:

• Redundant recreation departments with duplicative commissioners, staffs, facilities and costs.
• A Town-run after-school program when every school district already has its own program.
• A Town SWAT team when the county has one – no one else seems to feel the need of their own SWAT team.

The budget calls for a few job cuts, but the budget message says the jobs will be restored if the unions agree to Town demands. Problem is, the budget seems to assume the unions will agree because there's no provision for any increase in wages.

The ECC calls upon the members of the Town Board to reject this Budget and go back to work – to produce a budget that will move Greenburgh into a healthy fiscal future.

Sincerely,

Geoff Loftus
President, The Edgemont Community Council