Latimer takes victory lap as Westchester county executive's congressional primary looms

Westchester County Executive George Latimer, in what could be his last State of the County address, took a victory lap on Thursday evening in the high-ceilinged chambers of the Board of Legislators, where he found his political footing in the 1990s.

“Together, we will continue to write the story of Westchester’s success — one that honors our past, celebrates our present and looks forward to a future filled with endless possibilities,” he said.

One of those possibilities is Latimer’s bid to oust U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a June primary and become a septuagenarian freshman in the U.S. House of Representatives come January 2025.

That meant the address may have been Latimer’s swan song as leader of the sprawling county government, which he served for 13 years in the Board of Legislators before returning in 2017 to win the race for county executive. His second term could end a year early if he beats Bowman in the heavily-Democratic 16^th District.

Inside the hall, elected officials from across the county joined political and community leaders to applaud Latimer's optimistic embrace of Westchester’s diversity, the county government’s solid financial position, and Westchester’s investments in childcare, sustainability initiatives, and affordable housing.

The event also included Latimer’s exaggerations about his administration’s record on property taxes, with Latimer declaring that the county for the past five years has not increased its property tax levy when in fact it had.

Opposition from the left

Outside the Michaelian Office Building, a restive crowd of about 50 chanted slogans in support of Palestinians uprooted by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. They held placards deriding his deep-pocketed support of AIPAC, the pro-Israel political action committee that’s showered his campaign with funding for his hard-fought battle against Bowman.

More: Two politicians say Westchester crime is down. Another says it's up. Who's right?

Any criticism of Latimer has come from the left — be it Bowman’s supporters criticizing Latimer’s embrace of Republicans who have changed their party enrollments so they can cast ballots in June or from advocates of affordable housing who say the Rye Democrat hasn’t done enough to house the poor.

Westchester’s diminished Republican Party, which ruled the roost when Latimer was first elected to the Board of Legislators in the 1990s, has little sway on county policy these days. Only two of 17 legislators ran on the GOP line in 2023, and just one, James Nolan, R-Yonkers, is an enrolled Republican.

Nolan praised Latimer’s address and the county executive’s priorities.

“It was a good speech,” said Nolan. “He pointed out all the success that we are having in the county, doing what we can for residents. He’s very good, he knows the needs, and is very reasonable.”

Latimer and taxes

Since he presented his 2024 budget last fall, Latimer has insisted that he has held the line on county property taxes, pointing to the flat levy for the overall county administration, which includes social services, the county jail, its park system, the county police, and its network of county roads.

Latimer’s no-tax increase mantra, however, excludes 27% of the Westchester County tax levy — $178 million in property taxes levied to support the county’s water and sewer system. Investments in sewer and water improvement drove a $14 million increase in water and sewer taxes in 2024.

More: Latimer claims 0% tax increase in 2024 budget. That depends on what taxes are included

Meanwhile, Latimer has supported growth in county spending through a one-cent increase in the county sales tax, which took effect in 2022. Since 2021, sales tax revenues will have grown $244 million if Westchester meets its projected increase of $26 million in 2024.

What about 'deeply affordable housing'?

On affordable housing, Latimer touted his administration’s support for thousands of affordable units in a county that emerged from its federal housing consent decree in 2021, near the end of his first term. That decree focused on creating 750 affordable units in the county’s suburban municipalities, where single-family zoning had made it difficult for developers to build.

Said Latimer: “Six years into our tenure, nearly six thousand units of affordable housing have been built, gone under construction, or are in the pipeline for the future.”

Latimer’s housing policy has focused more on building in the county’s cities, where there’s significantly more support for multi-family housing for low and moderate income tenants than in the county's towns and villages.

The income standard for “affordable housing” under the consent decree set income limits at 80% of the area median income for ownership units and 60% of the area median income for rental units.

Following the speech, Juanita Lewis, executive director of the grassroots group, Community Voices Heard, said the county had failed to address the need for what it calls “deeply affordable housing” — for those earning up to 30% of the area median income, which is $44,000 for a family of four.

“An increasing number of families are spending half or more of their income on rent or mortgage payments, and the County hasn’t implemented any kind of plan to stabilize costs and grow the stock of truly affordable housing,” she said. “Real housing affordability should be a top priority of County Executive Latimer. But instead, families in Westchester have been left behind once again.”

Latimer spokeswoman Catherine Cioffi said that most of the close to 6,000 units considered "affordable" by the county have the same income guidelines in place as for the federal consent decree. In addition, the county's Housing Flex Fund, which was seeded with $100 million from the federal American Rescue Plan, will serve tenants with incomes up to 65% of the area median income.

Latimer said the county has received applications for 17 applications from developers, seeking more than $110 million in funding.

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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Latimer on victory lap as Westchester exec as congressional race nears