ALBANY—In testimony provided at the New York State Joint Legislative Public Hearing on the 2024 Executive Budget on Transportation earlier this month, Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne advocated to restore a massive $60-million cut to the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement (CHIPS) program.

Putnam County and all of its towns and villages rely on CHIPS funding for maintenance of roads. In his testimony, Mr. Byrne also praised the work of the New York State Department of Transportation under Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, and thanked Assemblyman Matt Slater for his unwavering advocacy in getting Route 52 repaired.

“Putnam County received over $1.2 million in CHIPS funding last year. That money is vital to keeping our tax levy down, and if we had not received it, it would have interfered with our paving program,” said Putnam County Executive Byrne. “I urge all of our state legislators to advocate for restoring this critically needed funding during budget negotiations this year.”

Later in his testimony, Putnam County Executive Byrne stated: “The need for infrastructure repair and improvements never ceases, even as we continue to combat inflation and the financial impact felt by all county budgets due to last year’s claw-back of federal Medicaid dollars (eFMAP) from the previous state budget. It was reassuring to see other local transportation aid remains the same in Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget as the year prior, but I respectfully request the Legislature’s support to provide additional funding for programs like Bridge-NY, Extreme Winter Recovery, Pave-NY, and Pave our Potholes. Each of these programs have the added benefit of not only supporting local governments directly, but assisting our schools, emergency first responders, economic development, hospitals, and countless other services and programs that depend on a sound and safe transportation system to properly function.” Tenant demand for Class A office buildings in Westchester County, such as 360 Hamilton Ave. in White Plains (above), remains strong.