Westchester County will offer employee retirement buyouts as it looks to reduce staff to partially offset a budget crisis brought on by the coronavirus shutdown.
County Executive George Latimer is set to announce details at a briefing this afternoon of a Voluntary Separation Incentive for employees who must agree to take the incentive by July 31.
There were no details available yet about what the offer will be, but the county usually offers a set amount for each year of employment.
RYE PLAYLAND: County park to stay closed through 2020 season
COVID-19 CLUSTER: Latimer emphasizes masks amid Chappaqua cases
JULY 4TH: Things to do in Westchester, Rockland for holiday weekend
Westchester is facing a budget deficit due to sales tax revenues seeing a dramatic drop as most of society shut down in a widespread government effort to try to slow the spread of the virus and resulting sickness, COVID-19.
Sales tax, which was expected to be the county’s main income this year, could fall more than $100 million off its projected mark in this year’s $2.1 billion budget. Latimer said the county will announce more actions to reduce its budget deficit by $40 million on Tuesday, in addition to $20 million in adjustments the county made through borrowing and relying on its rainy day fund.
The county’s adopted 2020 spending included 4,915 budgeted positions, over 700 more than the 2017 adopted budget. The budget also came with large raises for non-union management and some top aides to Latimer, although the county executive didn’t take a raise himself.
County lawmakers voted to increase their own pay 52%, to a base annual salary of $75,000 a year. Much of the increased spending came as the county expected to be flush with additional cash due to a 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax rate for most of the county.
Westchester received state approval to increase its sales tax to a total 8.375% in August, which gave it flexibility and left officials thinking they’d have fiscal stability this year after years of shaky budgets and dwindling reserve funds.
Total sales tax was projected to jump from $579 million last year to $740 million this year, according to the county budget. The extra revenue allowed for the county to increase spending by $200 million in total year over year but still came with a slight reduction in the total county property tax levy.
This is a developing story. Come back to lohud.com for more.
Mark Lungariello covers government and politics. Follow him on Facebook @lungariello and Twitter @marklungariello. For our latest subscription offers click here.
"employee" - Google News
June 30, 2020 at 10:10PM
https://ift.tt/2NGjwke
Westchester to offer employee buyouts to counter COVID-19 budget crunch - The Journal News
"employee" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3c4ygEc
https://ift.tt/2W5rCYQ
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Westchester to offer employee buyouts to counter COVID-19 budget crunch - The Journal News"
Post a Comment