New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson today elaborated on his plan to show real leadership for Westchester taxpayers by helping local municipalities and school districts save money by focusing on shared services. At a press conference in Mt. Pleasant with local elected officials, Bramson contrasted his approach to lowering government spending to Rob Astorino’s. Bramson laid out a detailed plan for how he would make shared services a top priority for Westchester County, allowing taxpayers to save money and providing better service.
“We don’t have to eliminate villages or consolidate small districts, we just have to make it easier for them to work together,” said Bramson. “That takes County leadership. It’s not enough to hold a forum six weeks before an election, when action on shared services is urgently needed every day of the year. This isn’t pie-in-the-sky, either. It’s simple, straightforward, practical — and we’ve done it before.”
At the press conference, Bramson laid out a step-by-step strategy for achieving significant cost savings through shared services within his first year in office. He also highlighted the fact that that during Rob Astorino’s time in office, Westchester taxpayers had paid out more than $800 million for increases in property tax levies, including a nearly 25% increase in Astorino’s own property taxes.
At the debate between Bramson and Astorino earlier this week, Astorino argued repeatedly that addressing the total cost of property taxes was not his responsibility, and that he would focus only on the 1/6 of the typical tax bill that goes directly to County government.
“Unfortunately, like Republicans in the House of Representatives, Rob Astorino refuses to take responsibility or to take action. His “Tea Party with a Smile” philosophy says to all of us – that’s not my problem, that’s your problem. Local leaders are ready, willing and able to rise to this challenge, but they need a partner as County Executive who will stop paying lip service to taxpayers and start providing real solutions,” Bramson concluded.