by stephen e. lipken

The Larchmont Village Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Aylone Katzin Village Administrator at its July 7 meeting. Over the past few months, the Village has undergone a significant period of transition. Katzin stepped up as Acting Administrator and demonstrated exceptional leadership and administrative skill. 

Katzin previously served as Larchmont’s first Assistant Village Administrator since 2022. Prior to that, he spent more than two years as Assistant to the Village Manager in Scarsdale and also held roles in Port Chester, Town of Rye, and Hastings-on-Hudson. He has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from SUNY Binghamton.

At the July 21 board meeting, Larchmont Deputy Mayor/Trustee Dana Post introduced New York State Senator Shelley Mayer, who presented legislative updates regarding end of session and end of state budget activities. 

“The budget was passed, about a month late,” Mayer began.  “While we anticipated there would be changes as a result of whatever happened in Washington with the Federal Budget Bill, we did not factor those yet.  We did revenues that the State had as well as some non-budgetary issues that came in.

“Now that we know what the Federal Budget looks like, we gave Governor Kathy Hochul significant authority to make changes and cuts without our coming back.   

“We were able to get additional funds for every School District in the State, including Mamaroneck and we were able to change what’s called the Regional Cost Index.  Westchester was bunched with the rest of upstate New York for the purpose of anticipating the cost of employees, factoring how much the State pays every School District.

“Every public school will have a cell phone ban, starting in September with exceptions for health-related issues.  Parents must be able to reach their children.  Every Public School District will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch for every student, across the board.

“We have been trying to get every EMS worker declared an essential provider and are waiting for the Governor to sign legislation exempting EMS from the Tax Cap.”

“We did expand the tax credit to include children under four, increase the tax credit every year for children under 18 and change the MTA Payroll Mobility Tax, which really hurts small businesses, pushing the tax off to the biggest companies.  Small businesses will have their tax rate cut in half.

“We strengthened the ability of judges to do involuntary commitment for people who are at risk for themselves and others, someone who has mental illness posing a threat,” Mayer concluded.

Fire Chief Richard W. Valentine advised residents to stay hydrated in hot weather and call 811 to avoid nicking gas lines before doing any digging.

Finally, appointments by Trustee Brigid Brennan for Chair, Climate Smart Communities Task Force and Member, Commercial Area Plan Committee have been tabled until the Monday, September 29 board meeting.