County Legislature Candidates Reacts to Moody's Downgrade

Patch received a letter from David Gelfarb, candidate for the District 6 seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators, about the July decision of Moody's Investor Service to qualify the county's AAA bond rating as having a "negative outlook."

While Westchester County received a AAA rating from all three major rating agencies (Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch Reports), Moody's report criticized the County for its use of reserve funds to balance its budget, according to a release from the Westchester County Executive's office.  

Here is Mr. Goldfarb's letter:

The recent decision by Moody’s to revise the County’s bond outlook from stable to negative is as disappointing as it was preventable. Although the County Legislature’s Republican minority repeatedly warned of the risk in relying on wishful, and exaggerated, revenues from sources such as the County sales tax and Playland, the majority continued its pattern of reckless and ill-conceived spending.

Democrats in the legislature chose to override 247 vetoes by County Executive Astorino on the 2011 budget, giving Moody’s 247 reasons to worry about our financial health.

Families intuitively understand that you cannot increase spending while decreasing income, unless you choose to deplete your retirement savings. This is, in effect, exactly what the Majority did with the County’s reserve fund, failing to heed warnings about the consequences of $30 million in excess spending this year alone. In fact, the Majority has chosen to raise spending 26% over six years, all the while drawing down almost half of the County’s reserves. To pin the blame for our current situation on County Executive Astorino, who warned precisely about this risk to our credit rating, is nothing but rank political posturing and finger pointing.

We cannot continue to promise financial prudence in a trying climate while simultaneously raiding the County’s fund balance. Nor should we accept playing politics with such an important issue.

As a Councilman, I helped bring fiscal sanity and lower taxes to the Town of Rye through responsible savings and cuts.

County Executive Astorino has a clear plan to improve our bond outlook, which includes spending reductions, and I intend to put my experience to work in implementing it.

David Gelfarb

Rye Brook, New York

Candidate, County Legislature, District 6