The Westchester County Board of Legislators is the legislative, policy-making branch of Westchester County. The powers of the Board are enumerated in the County’s charter. A key power of the Board concerns finances: appropriating funds, approving the budget and levying taxes. It also approves appointments by the County Executive and passes local laws, acts and resolutions.
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The Board has seventeen members, known as Legislators, each representing a district approximately 56,000 residents and is elected every two years. (See below Board members)
Board members
The County Board has seventeen members, each representing a district approximately 56,000 residents. As of August 9, 2016, nine of them are Democrats, seven are Republicans, and one is Conservative. Although the Democrats hold a numerical majority, two of the members of the Democratic conference caucus with the Republicans on the Board to form a majority, similar to the Independent Democratic Conference of the New York State Senate.
Committees
The Board of Legislators operates under a committee system. Currently, there are nine committees, each of which is charged with overseeing a particular policy area.
The following table reflect Committee chairs during the legislative term of 2016-2017.