During a lively public forum held before a packed house at Kendal-on-Hudson senior residence, candidates from the nonpartisan Unite Sleepy Hollow (USH) party recently debated rival candidates from the Sleepy Hollow Dems/TAG party. It was the first opportunity for the public to hear mayoral candidate Marjorie Hsu’s views on several important topics. Unfortunately, it became apparent that candidate Hsu was not about to let facts get in the way of her mayoral bid, especially with regard to Village finances.
It was disturbing to hear candidate Hsu contend that the Village is at risk of bankruptcy – necessitating a state takeover, something that was recklessly reiterated by trustee candidate Rodriquez. Candidate Hsu’s threat of a state takeover is a blatant display of fearmongering.
The reality is that Village finances likely have never been in better shape due to the unprecedented tax base growth from the Edge-on-Hudson development and years of prudent financial stewardship during USH Mayor Ken Wray’s tenure. The Edge contribution to the Village budget will be more than $4 million this fiscal year and is expected to grow to $10 million or more when the development is completed. This positive financial outlook led Moody’s Investors Service to confirm Sleepy Hollow’s bond rating of Aa3 on August 2, 2024 (its most recent update), reflecting strong fiscal management and practices, financial stability, and a growing economy.
Sleepy Hollow is also expected to receive $4.6 million under the General Motors settlement (a deal successfully negotiated by USH founders), and about $2 million from the sale of another Village-owned property later this fiscal year which will further enhance the Village’s financial situation.
Members of the Sleepy Hollow Dems/TAG party also continue to reference our Village’s ongoing budget “deficit.” This is clear evidence that they do not understand basic municipal finance principles since villages must pass balanced budgets under New York law and the Village of Sleepy Hollow has done so every year. Candidate Hsu would have known these things if she took the time to do the kind of comprehensive analysis that the USH team has done.
The USH team is finance savvy with more than 50 years of combined professional finance and tax experience, and we have spent countless hours reviewing Village finances. Candidate Hsu apparently is getting finance advice from members of the Village Board of Trustees with no finance experience at all—and it shows. Before making such reckless, serious and false allegations against the Village she hopes to lead, candidate Hsu should do her homework and review the comprehensive financial analysis that we shared with her team months ago. Sleepy Hollow has just suffered through one term led by a Mayor who has shown little financial acumen. Let’s not allow that to happen again.
Sincerely,
Jim Husselbee
Candidate for Mayor
