Latest / This Week in Westchester: The Podcast / TWIW 46: November 9, 2026

Transcript

TWIW 46: November 9, 2026 · This Week in Westchester: The Podcast

• 0:06
  Intro: Welcome to This Week in Westchester, the podcast, your weekly audio briefing from Westchester County government.
• 0:13
  Intro: Each week, County Executive Ken Jenkins breaks down the decisions, investments, and initiatives shaping life across Westchester.
• 0:21
  Intro: Clear information, real progress, one place to stay informed.
• 0:26
  Intro: Now, here's This Week in Westchester.
• 0:29
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Good afternoon.
• 0:30
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I'm Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, and today is November 9th, Monday, November 9th.
• 0:37
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: This is this week the briefing, but we have a special this week, the briefing in Westchester.
• 0:43
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Today we're submitting our proposed$2.7 billion 2027 operating budget.
• 0:49
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: This is a fiscally responsible spending plan that maintains essential services, prioritizes the needs for county residents, and remains within the New York State property tax cap, despite mounting financial pressures from Washington.
• 1:04
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We closed at a projected$113 million budget gap through disciplined cost reduction measures across all county departments.
• 1:15
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Westchester economy performed better than projected, and that coupled with extremely stringent department budgeting and eliminating 160 vacant positions, we achieved the necessary savings to close the majority of that gap.
• 1:29
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We achieved this without resorting to employee layoffs or drawing down from our financial reserves, not a single dollar.
• 1:36
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: As we braced for the impacts of the Federal funding cuts that were delayed until after last week's elections.
• 1:44
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We held the line on our vacant positions, other than for our county's youth and secure youth detention facility, Woodfield, and we will get into that in just a second.
• 1:53
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We eliminated those 160 vacant positions and defunded over 300 vacancies.
• 2:00
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We improved the management of county funds.
• 2:03
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We can always get better, and we are.
• 2:06
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We closed out capital projects for a total of$10.2 million in unspent bond proceeds, and we are optimizing rebates for pharmacy benefits.
• 2:16
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We reduced in those departments non-urgent equipment, reducing$2.8 million from the initial budget requests from the departments.
• 2:25
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We reduced contracts in the departments of planning, law, labs and research, public works and transportation, accounting for approximately$12.6 million of reductions from those initial budget requests.
• 2:40
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We maximized our Federal and State reimbursements that cover child care and buses.
• 2:46
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: The$2.5 million meant that we cut a lot,$2.7 billion budget.
• 2:52
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We cut a lot, but we were able to fund some critical programs and services, including record investments in the departments of public safety, probation, and correction, strengthening public safety operations.
• 3:07
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We ensure that those folks on the front lines have the resources they need to serve our communities effectively.
• 3:13
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We have a continuation of the very successful HERO Scholarship Program, investing in the education and professional development of our first responders.
• 3:21
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We modified the HERO program to allow those with degrees to align with the New York State modifications.
• 3:28
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We are transitioning the Woodfield Secure Youth Detention Facility to direct county operation.
• 3:35
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: This move is to strengthen oversight and to ensure the higher standards of care and accountability for our young people in the county's care and custody.
• 3:45
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: For working parents, access to quality, affordable child care isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.
• 3:53
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: It is what allows parents to go to work, build careers, support their families, and know that their children are safe, supported, and thriving.
• 4:02
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: But for too many families, the cost of child care has become an overwhelming financial burden.
• 4:08
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We continued the county's child care scholarship program to assist working families whose incomes exceed New York State eligibility thresholds.
• 4:17
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We were able to maintain a$100 million commitment to affordable child care and investing$3.1 million in positive youth development and after-school programming.
• 4:29
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Because we know when we invest in childcare, we're not just helping parents make ends meet.
• 4:34
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We're strengthening our workforce, supporting our economy, and giving our youngest residents the foundation they deserve.
• 4:42
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Let's take a look inside one of those child care facilities.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_07: I am the director of youth and community development at the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_07: I have two children in Austin, Mira Bellamy, who's at Claremont School, who's eight years old, and Brixton Bellamy, who's in the Austin Children Center.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_07: He's two.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_07: My wife's a teacher in the Bronx third grade special education.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_07: There were folks who had talked about Austin Children's Center.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_07: There wasn't a spot available initially, and then boom, like magic, the spot opened up, so we took it immediately.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_07: People tend to think that because we have advanced degrees and that we're in a position that we're in, that these things are simple for us, but it's not.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_07: High quality childcare, affordable childcare is just as important to us as well, simply because it's literally for us paying a secondary mortgage to have our kids in these programs.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_07: No, we're not in a position where these things are easy.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_07: They're just as difficult for us as they are for other folks.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: Parents are definitely struggling.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: It's a lot of money to come and bring your child to daycare.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_04: They are having maybe a little difficulty paying because everything is so expensive these days.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: The cost of living is just in clothes, baby stuff.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_03: Everything is just so expensive.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_04: Parents are happy that their kids are here.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_04: It's very important to have good quality daycare.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_04: They know that their kids are being taken care of.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_07: It's an awesome feeling to know that I can leave him here every day and be comfortable knowing that he's going to be taken care of.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_07: Know that I'll be reached out to if there's an emergency.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: When they drop off their kids and they see how happy we are when their child comes in, it gives them a peace of mind.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_04: They're saying, ugh, okay, I could go on through my day.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_04: I know my child is taken care of and having a great day.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_07: It's a scary proposition knowing that you're really one paycheck away from a serious issue that could affect everything, and that includes this ability to have child care.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: In years past, I feel like parents were not struggling as much as they are today.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: When I asked for, you know, more diapers, more wipes, and now I feel that's a huge struggle to them.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_04: Some parents do come and say, oh my God, I'm having a rough morning, blah, blah, blah.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm like, you know what?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_04: We got you.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_04: We understand.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_04: You may have a hectic day in the beginning, but rest assured your child is fine with the okay.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_07: He told me last night, and I had never heard him say this, I want dad to put me to sleep tonight.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_07: That's a full sentence and it made total sense.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_07: It wasn't gibberish.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_07: He's two.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_07: I'm not expecting that from him.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_07: That's a function of him being around kids and talking all day and the kudos to mistrition, the people in our classroom for taking the time to do those kinds of things.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_04: When a child comes here, the social is off the charts.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_04: They're always talking to somebody.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_04: They have a whole bunch of friends here.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_04: We're always talking to the kids, and they all get along and they start talking.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_04: And it brings out our social skills that they're going to need for when they get older.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_07: I don't know where we would be without the ability to have high-quality, affordable child care.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_07: Even affordable is a stretch on, you know, when you stop and think about what you're bringing home.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_07: Now, does it hurt my pockets?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_07: Absolutely.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_07: My pockets are screaming.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_07: But it is what it is and it's necessary.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_04: Everybody is here to nurture a child, to teach a child, to help a child learn.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_04: And everybody's entitled to that.
• 7:46
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: West Chester's commitment to child care is firm.
• 7:52
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: So, next up, we're talking about eviction prevention.
• 7:55
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We're continuing to provide$5.00 for legal services and advocacy to help our residents facing eviction and housing instability.
• 8:04
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: For mental health services, we continue to operate those safety net mental health clinics, the one that's here in White Plains, which serves nearly 200 individuals through therapy, medication management, and connection to those social services.
• 8:17
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Continuing that$5 million investment in youth mental health services programs and services.
• 8:23
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: On health side, we're going to continue to provide$1.1 million to support our federally qualified health centers to expand access to those essential health care services.
• 8:34
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We're investing more than half a million dollars,$500,000 in maternity mortality prevention programming to help improve those maternal health outcomes.
• 8:44
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We're going to maintain those free vaccination and sexual health clinics in White Plains and Yonkers to ensure residents have access to the essential preventative health services.
• 8:56
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Next up, we're going to talk for a little bit about food.
• 8:59
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: When it comes to food, no family should ever have to wonder where their next meal is coming from.
• 9:05
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: No parent should have to choose between paying the rent, keeping the lights on, or putting food on the table.
• 9:12
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Yet for too many of our neighbors, food insecurity is a daily reality.
• 9:18
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: These are working families, seniors living on fixed incomes, and children who depend on access to nutritious meals to grow and thrive.
• 9:27
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Let's take a look at the reality of food insecurity.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think what people don't realize is SNAP or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is actually the country's first line of defense against hunger.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: There is an administrative cost to SNAP.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's going from 50 to 25 percent coverage from the federal government.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: To actually make all these reductions, and in the next 10 years, 187 billion will be reduced, largely through SNAP changes, is going to affect the entire country in a way that we've never seen before.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Those changes mean that it's gonna affect every single person in the county, whether it's gonna affect your taxes because the government, your local government, will have to make up for the cost shift.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: People who need access to nutritious food who can't afford it will no longer have access to the food, and therefore they'll be coming to your local pantry, all of our community partners that we support across our county, they'll be utilizing those services.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: As someone who has grown up with not having the means that I have today, I understand what that means.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: I have the lived experience of it.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: So when I see my community and I know I have the ability to support them in their time, I feel it really personally.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: In Westchester, one of the most affluent counties, four in ten people are at risk for food insecurity.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: We have an affordability crisis that's happening.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we are not just seeing the people that we have always seen.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: There's actually more working families that are actually using food pantries and mobile pantries as a regular source of food.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the other side, people who require assistance to get benefits are now having a much harder time.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: While food banks were actually created essentially as an emergency system, we're just being used as an everyday need by working families.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's seniors, it's veterans, it's really everyone.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: So in your mind, you think you might have an idea of someone who is utilizing a pantry.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Forty-one percent of people in Westchester are actually utilizing these services right now.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: There is a need out there in our county that most people don't know about.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I do feel personally that I have to tell the story all the time about what food insecurity means in Westchester County.
• 12:01
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And that's why we are investing more than one million dollars in this year's budget, proposed budget, to support local food pantries and combat food insecurity.
• 12:11
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: That's including an additional$200,000 in direct food pantry grants.
• 12:18
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Because in Westchester County, we believe that no one should go hungry.
• 12:22
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And when our neighbors are struggling, we have a responsibility to stand with them.
• 12:27
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And speaking of standing with them for domestic violence of protection and awareness, we're continuing to invest$15 million in staff, programs, and nonprofit organizations providing critical services and support to those survivors.
• 12:45
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: In the nationally accredited and award-winning park system, we have maintained, fully maintained that robust funding for that system with no increase in park fees.
• 12:56
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: We maintain the current admission prices and usage fees for county pools, beaches, golf courses, and other recreational facilities because we understand affordability is a challenge for everyone.
• 13:09
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: For senior programs and services, we are preserving those vital recreation and wellness programs for our senior citizens that we've been doing across the board.
• 13:19
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: In transportation, we're maintaining the current service levels across the B-Line Mass Transit Network, including the B-Line system and the Paratransit Network Service.
• 13:30
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: For our cultural organizations, the libraries arts and culture, sustaining those investments in our libraries, our arts organizations, cultural program throughout Westchester County.
• 13:43
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: As mentioned in our capital budget and supported in our operating and proposed operating budget, we're continuing our commitment to affordable housing.
• 13:51
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Housing that is for working families, professionals, and young people coming up.
• 13:56
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Let's take a look.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_06: Housing can be really tough where you have to make tough choices around um necessities.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_06: People think there's a difference between you're either rich or you're like extremely poor.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_06: There's folks in the muddy middle.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_06: I'm an English professor at Manchester Community College and I'm also a writer.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_06: I'm originally from Brooklyn, and now I'm competing at home.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_06: There was an application process for affordable housing.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_06: It's always been like a dream of mine to be a homeowner in some sense.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_06: My mom, um, for the most part imagined I was a single mom.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_06: And I remember one day she took me to um the bank, and she had a conversation when a number was to figure out how to um, and I think the conversation didn't go as planned.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_06: What inspired it was we randomly walked into a sort of open house that was going on, and I think I seen the smile on her face.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_06: I've heard of these types of affordable housing opportunities.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_06: It was always like a lofty dream.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_06: With what chance I feel like if I really put an application in, I stand a good chance of getting it.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_06: Living in White Plains in the downtown area was something that was possible through the library on my plumbing.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_06: I had in my mind sort of just like roller decks of what's the affordable landscape.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_06: And um, it was priced around.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_06: Most of these opportunities have been because of Westchester.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_06: We want everyday folks working on people to really have a chance of having a home and equity in.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_06: And then I think being able to live in close proximity to where you work, you get so much time.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_06: And that's when I'm really excited about.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_06: I can probably get another muscle for the moment to be number.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_06: A number was close.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_06: I didn't know what would be this year.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_06: Even though I did a lot of paperwork.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_06: Just being able to have an opportunity, I'm so big.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_06: I talk about West is so much.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_06: I'm almost saying, is my Brooklyn come to get smashed away.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_06: You know?
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_06: Having an opportunity to be an homeowner, uh, it's something that's like a joint opportunity with my mom who's no longer here because it's something she always wanted for her kids, and um, it's something that stayed with me as well.
• 16:30
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: John, your your Brooklyn card's not getting rejected.
• 16:33
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: You're just getting the Westchester card added to that.
• 16:36
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And we all know people like Rashad and Uncle Rashad, and this 2027 proposed operating budget has him and others like him in mind.
• 16:46
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: You know, you've heard me say for months that this budget comes at a time of extraordinary fiscal challenges for local governments, driven by federal funding reductions, near double-digit growth in employee health care costs, inflation, tariffs, and significant increases in the cost of goods and services.
• 17:06
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Mandated program expenses are also climbing sharply, particularly within the preschool services and social service public assistance initiatives.
• 17:16
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And I know families across Westchester County are feeling the pressure of rising costs, and county government is no different.
• 17:24
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Despite implementing significant spending reductions, Westchester County continues to face a substantial budget gap.
• 17:32
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: The federal policy changes relating to SNAP alone have created fiscal and financial pressures equivalent to approximately a 1 percent tax increase in the county property tax levy.
• 17:44
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Changes to Federal health care and public assistance programs are shifting additional costs to state and local governments, placing further strain on already challenging fiscal environment.
• 17:57
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: When you get your tax bill, thank Washington.
• 18:01
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Adding to the uncertainty are the proposed Federal changes to the U.S.
• 18:05
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Census that could significantly affect the allocation of Federal funding to New York State and Westchester County.
• 18:12
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Any reduction in population-based funding could shift additional financial burdens onto local governments and taxpayers.
• 18:21
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: The proposed 2027 operating budget is tax cap compliant.
• 18:25
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: The changes in HR 1, the so-called big beautiful bill that shifted costs of SNAP administration starting October 1st, equating to that 1 percent tax increase.
• 18:36
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: This proposed 2027 budget operating budget includes a 3.3 percent tax increase in county property tax levy, which equates to about$3 per month, approximately$34 annually for a homeowner with a property valued at$500,000.
• 18:56
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And I want to speak to you directly about that.
• 18:59
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I would love to stand here and tell you that we're holding taxes flat.
• 19:03
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Better yet, I'd love to tell you we're cutting them.
• 19:07
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I know how hard families are working to make ends meet.
• 19:11
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I know that every dollar matters.
• 19:13
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And I know the last thing that you want to hear is that your taxes are going up.
• 19:18
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: But I also know that telling you what you want to hear and doing what right for what's right for this county is not always the same thing.
• 19:28
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I would not balance this budget on promises that we cannot keep.
• 19:33
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I'm not going to jeopardize the services you depend on just to deliver a politically convenient headline.
• 19:40
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And I will not pretend that the rising cost facing every family somehow magically stops at the door of county government.
• 19:48
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I made a promise to the people of Westchester County that I would be honest with you.
• 19:53
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And that also means making tough decisions.
• 19:57
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I would lead responsibly, and even when those decisions are not easy or popular, and that's exactly what I'm doing today.
• 20:06
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Now,$34 may not sound like a lot of money to some people, but I'm not going to stand here and tell you what$34 means to your family.
• 20:14
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: It's your money, and you worked for it.
• 20:17
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And you deserve to know that every dollar, every penny of it is being spent wisely.
• 20:23
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And I take that responsibility seriously.
• 20:27
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: This money will help keep childcare affordable, put money and food on the table of families who are struggling, protect our neighborhoods, maintain our roads and parks, and support the essential services that make Westchester a place where people want to live, work, and raise a family.
• 20:44
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I'm not asking you to pay more so county government can do more for itself.
• 20:49
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I'm asking you to invest a little more, less than$3 per month, so county government can continue to operate and do what it's supposed to do.
• 21:00
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Work for you.
• 21:03
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Before I do the ceremonial handoff to Chairman Vidagashi and budget chair Tyrae Woodson Samuels, I want to thank the members of the senior team, certainly Deputy County Executive Joan McDonald, our Director of Operations, Emily Saltzman, our Deputy Director of Operations, Lala Curtin, all of the members of our team that are that are here with us this afternoon.
• 21:25
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: In addition to that, I want to thank the budget director, Larry Sowell, and the Deputy Director, Christina Rampata, and all the members of their team for their outstanding work.
• 21:38
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Not with us today, but she was working hard as well, Commissioner of Finance Karen Hablow, and as well as Deputy Commissioner C.
• 21:44
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Vargas, and every member of their teams that have worked so hard from the very beginning in June when the call letter first went out to where we are today, and the tremendous work they pulled together in getting us to this place in the 2027 operating budget.
• 22:00
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: To swizzle a little, but not too much.
• 22:03
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Some of y'all understand what that means.
• 22:05
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: With that, let me ask the chairman of the Board of Legislators, Adagashi, and Tyrae Woodson Samuels to come up and then they'll give you their words on the process as it continues on.
• 22:15
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Mr.
• 22:15
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Chairman.
• 22:16
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Hi.
• 22:17
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Mr.
• 22:18
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Budget Director?
• 22:20
  unknown: Mr.
• 22:20
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Budget Chairman?
• 22:22
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: I'm sorry, Larry, you're not looking.
• 22:24
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: You're still good.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: That budget book is heavy in case you're wondering.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'd like to begin by recognizing my colleagues that are here today.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: We're joined by Majority Leader Judith Holstein, Majority Whip, Shinee Williams, Vice Chair of the Board, Terry Clemens, as well as legislators Barr, Emma Mora, Pierce, and Nambiar.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, and Tobiola.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Minority Leader Margaret Kunzio as well.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: That's a lot of names.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: This is an important process, and I think that's um that'll explain why we uh have a lot of names here.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh this is the beginning of a process.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: The beginning was actually with the presentation of the uh capital, uh, but this is the operating.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um this is the the meat of it, uh some of the most um difficult and challenging uh part of our uh responsibility in this budget process.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's gonna require that we ask tough questions and we find ways to ensure that we are uh continuing our funding for the things that we care about, including child care and victims of domestic violence.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you, uh County Executive uh Jenkins for uh presenting a budget that um uh that does that.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: We're you know gonna ask tough questions anyway, and uh hope to do as much as we can.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um a little bit early for us to say what the end result of that process is gonna be, but we can um promise that it will be on time.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: It will be a balanced budget, and it will be a budget that is responsible to the people of Westchester as we have been.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: And um maybe uh something great if we could be said about some other uh partners in government.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um we uh an important part of uh this process is gonna be the public input sessions.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I urge everybody watching uh at home to participate in our public input sessions.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna have two, uh one in Mount Vernon at the Dole Center this Thursday um at 6 p.m.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: And on November 18th at the Ford Administration Building and Peakskill.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um please join us.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Please give us your thoughts on this budget.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um it will be an important part of that budget.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I don't believe I uh in um um noticed my uh partner, uh Tyrae Woodson Samuels, the chair of the budget appropriations committee, but he was mentioned earlier, and I will turn it over to him.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Mr.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_05: Chairman.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_05: I'll pay it, take it back.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_05: It is a heavy book.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_05: Good afternoon, everyone.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_05: Uh budget chair uh Tyrae Woodson Samuels here, and I'm happy to be here again with County Executive Jenkins, uh Chairman Gashi, and my colleagues who have been uh recognized for this operational budget.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_05: We often say that a budget is a reflection of our priorities.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_05: It tells our constituents not just what we intend to do, but what we're willing to invest in.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_05: And at a time when families are asked to do more with less, county government must be equally mindful of how we spend every single taxpayer dollar.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_05: Now begins our collective responsibility to carefully examine this proposal and work with the county executive and his commissioners to deliver a budget that is both compassionate and fiscally responsible, because good government is measured not by how much we spend, but how much and how well we serve our constituents.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_05: So, with that being said, thank you all.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_05: And just to reiterate, our first uh public input session is in the City of Mount Vernon, uh, the address for the Dole Center, 250 South Sixth Avenue, again at 6 p.m.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you all very much.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you, sir.
• 26:22
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Thank you, budget chair Tyrae Woodson Samuels.
• 26:25
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Wasn't giving you a promotion we want to say thank you to our outstanding communications team, Catherine Chiappi and the entire team that helped pull all this together for us from a presentation perspective.
• 26:38
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: But more importantly, thank you all, Westchester County, as we are trying to go through this process, make sure you take advantage of going to one of the two um public input sessions, and then the final budget hearing, which is the first Monday in first Wednesday in December, right, here at the Board of Legislators.
• 26:58
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: So Mount Vernon on their first uh public input session, and then in Peakskill on the second session, make sure you take a look at Westchester Legislators.com.
• 27:08
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: They're sure they'll have a link to show you all that information to be able to participate.
• 27:13
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Um Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, thank you so much for watching.
• 27:17
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: This is the presentation of the 2027 operating budget.
• 27:20
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Uh, it's a 2.7 budget, it has a 3.3% tax increase that's proposed.
• 27:25
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: And now it's up to the board of legislators to do their work.
• 27:29
  Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins: Have a great day.