Saying that the move would jeopardize the county’s Triple A (AAA) bond rating, the Business Council of Westchester said that it strongly opposes the County Board of Legislators plan to use $16 million of reserve funds to pay finance property tax refunds.
“This is precisely the path that we should not be going down,” said John Ravitz, Executive Vice President of Westchester’s largest business membership organization. “It sends the wrong message to bond rating agencies as well as to businesses considering locating in Westchester. The county is one of the few in the state that has a AAA rating that allows borrowing at the lowest possible interest rates. Drawing on reserve funds to fill the hole in the budget caused by the refunds is not the way to go. A year ago, the county government agreed that raiding reserve funds to fill budget holes was not an acceptable fiscal approach. This year should be no different and we call on our legislators to reject it.”
