County Executive Rob Astorino Addresses the New Rochelle Republican City Committee
Westchester still has the highest taxes in the Country despite efforts by County Executive Rob Astorino to pare down the budget. Astorino said he along with Republicans on the County Board of Legislators were doing their part to hold the line and keep costs down. But because of mandated Medicare and pension costs, savings had to be sought elsewhere in the budget. An “overly aggressive Federal Government,” he said, has been pushing for a housing settlement by trying to get the County to change the zoning. The Federal government is also trying to force landlords to accept Section 8 housing. He also spoke of the recent court decision on this housing and cited Nan Hayworth as the only elected official helping the County.
An interesting question by John D’Alois was posed. He asked how the County came to withdraw from ICLEI. Astorino answered that after his appearance on the Sean Hannity show he was flooded with emails about the central planning and zoning by the UN. The money funding for ICLEI was stopped.