Public Hearing Set for May 2 on White Plains 2022-23 Budget
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By Bailey Hosfelt
A public hearing is set for May 2 to discuss the White Plains 2022 to 2023 budget.
The City of White Plains submitted a proposed $210.3 million budget to the Common Council early last week ahead of its regularly slated meeting on April 4.
Mayor Tom Roach briefly previewed the proposed budget during the meeting, which includes a property tax increase of 1.86 percent. This will mark the 11th fiscal year White Plains developed an annual budget in accordance with the state’s tax levy cap.
Roach anticipates the property tax increase will impact owners of a medium-assessed home by $58 annually, or $4.83 cents per month.
While White Plains’ two previous budgets were greatly impacted by revenue losses resulting from the pandemic, the proposed budget summary notes that the 2022 to 2023 budget for the city’s general fund benefits from many of these revenues increasing to near pre-pandemic levels.
Offsetting these increases though are the loss of federal relief dollars from the American Rescue Act of 2021, gasoline and energy price increases and other inflation-related pressures on expenditures.
“The budget provides for reasonable and realistic revenue and expenditure estimates and a real property tax rate necessary to achieve a balanced budget,” the summary reads.
“As you know during COVID, we did not step back,” Roach said. “We hired more police and firefighters and are planning on doing more now, maintaining the services and quality of life people in our city have come to appreciate.”
Roach said the Common Council is beginning the budget process now, and there will presentations from commissioners and budget directors in the near future.
“We will work our way through it, and then we will vote,” Roach said. “I just wanted to give people an idea of where we’re starting.”
Bailey has journalism experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties and New York City on topics related to LGBTQ+ issues, women’s rights, climate change, the environment, and local politics. They have been a full-time reporter with Examiner Media since July 2021. Read more details from Bailey’s bio here. Read Bailey’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/baileyhosfelt/
