Castelli Frustrated With Budget

ALBANY - The New York State budget is going on three weeks late, causing losses in funding to capital projects and creating a guessing game for public organizations wondering how much state aid they can expect this year.

This week Patch caught up with Assemblyman Robert Castelli, who represents the 89th Assembly District, which consists of most of White Plains, all of Harrison, New Castle, North Castle, Pound Ridge, Lewisboro, Bedford and Mount Kisco. 

"We are losing jobs in New York because we have such bad fiscal policies here and, once again, we see a budget that's late," said Castelli. "It's only been on time twice in 30 years as far as I know and that's a disgrace."

Castelli said that he is concerned that local projects such as the construction on I - 287 near White Plains and Route 120 in Chappequa are losing funding, delaying construction and costing people jobs.

"I've been trying to get the construction people to come back on the job in Chappequa to no avail, and I've been trying to do that same thing on 287, but it's hard to argue with people when they are saying look, we are having to carry the cost of these projects out of our pocket and we don't know how long you guys are going to be with this," he said. "I wish I could give them an answer."

This week, the state again passed legislation that will allow negotiations to continue for another week before a budget needs to be passed. Castelli said that he would support passing a law that would only allow the state budget to be delayed a specific number of times. He added that  he thinks many other people in the state assembly would support the idea.

"Most of us would breath a sigh of relief," said Castelli. "It forces them to open up the process, to do it transparently, and be able to do this.

The way things are, Castelli said that there is no way of telling when the budget will be passed, adding that both house majorities are waiting to see what the tax revenues as a result of the April 15 tax deadline will be. Legally, the budget is supposed to be passed two weeks before tax day on March 30.

"You got me, that's the $64,000 question," he said when asked when he thinks the budget will be finalized. "There's no excuse for this."

Castelli also said that he thinks that state leadership needs to take a more focused approach to the budget. Other bills have been passed this week while the budget remains in limbo.

"The one single most important thing we have to do right now is to work on this budget and pass the budget," he said. "We're doing everything else and we're not doing that."

This week Mark Jaffe of West Harrison announced that he intends to run for Castelli's seat during this fall's election. Jaffe said that more planning with the budget will be something that he will address if elected.

"What we need to do when I get up there in November is to start planning for the budget months in advance," Jaffe said in an interview this week. "This last minute posturing is a detriment to the taxpayers and the citizens."

Castelli said that he understands the frustration and also thinks that something needs to be changed.

"You've got bills at the end of the month. When they are due you have got to pay them," said Castelli. "We should be able to comply with the same standards that we expect from everybody else and not doing so is irresponsible on our part and it angers the public, as it should."

Castelli won a special election this February over Katonah's Peter Harckham after Adam Bradley stepped down to become mayor of White Plains. Castelli will run for re-election this November, only nine months after winning his seat.

"I enjoy serving up here, it's an honor to serve, I'm enjoying the experience," said Castelli. "But I am frustrated continuously by the lack of the ability to get this budget going."