Michael B. Kaplowitz (born September 3, 1959) is an American lawyer, financial planner and Democratic politician from Somers, New York. He was a member of the Westchester County Board of Legislators and represented portions of New Castle, Somers and Yorktown. He served as Chair of the Board from 2014 to 2017.
Political career and background He and his wife Jayne have lived in Somers since 1989 and they have two daughters who attend the Somers Public Schools. He is a member of the March of Dimes Walk America, the American Red Cross, the Partnership Fund for Aging Services and several area Chambers of Commerce. He earned his B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law in 1984. He also became a C.F.P. in 1986."Michael B. Kaplowitz". Retrieved on 2/19/2008 from smartvoter.org.
Kaplowitz has labeled his years of business experience his "guiding star" for the decisions that he makes as a County legislator. After a career in business Kaplowitz decided to run for an open seat on the Westchester County board of legislators in 1997 in the district that encompasses the hamlets of Chappaqua and Millwood in the town of New Castle; Amawalk, Baldwin Place, Granite Springs, Lincolndale, and Shenorock in the town of Somers; and Crompond, Jefferson Valley, Kichtawan and Yorktown Heights in the town of Yorktown."2001 Legislative District 4 ". Westchester County Board of Legislators. Retrieved on February 21, 2008.
He ultimately won a razor-thin 35 vote victory over RoseMarie Panio, who was the Yorktown GOP chairwoman. His positions on preserving the County's last opportunities for open space and to conservation issues have earned him praise from environmentalist organizations around the region and the endorsement of the New York League of Conservation Voters in all of his campaigns. He is also involved in legislative effort to keep the issue of sewage diversion & upgrade a priority and supports converting Indian Point Energy Center to a non-nuclear facility. He is a self-described "fiscal conservative."
Budget committee accomplishments Kaplowitz was appointed as Chair of the Budget & Appropriations Committee in 2003. He stated that is a supporter of "tax fairness" and has always supported sales tax over property tax, although in May 1998, Kaplowitz was one of four legislators who voted against a sales tax amnesty on clothing costing less than $500.Brenner, Elsa. "In Brief; Sales Tax Lifted". The New York Times, May 31, 1998. In October 1998, Kaplowitz voted against taking part in a temporary state moratorium on sales tax, suggesting that property taxes would need to be increased substantially if the county did otherwise.Greene, Donna. "County Won't Take Part In A Sales Tax Waiver". The New York Times. October 4, 1998. Opponents argued that by cutting spending, the board could have made up for the lost sales tax revenue. Due to the settlement of the State of New York's case against tobacco industry, the country board was able to lower property taxes by close to 1% in 1999.
Kaplowitz's campaign states that he worked to forge partnerships among the State, County, local municipalities and school districts for shared sales tax revenue in an attempt to lower the local property tax burden. Kaplowitz took part in winning relief for 354 Northern Westchester homeowners who were paying sewer taxes despite never being hooked up to sewers. In 1999, Kaplowitz's opponent claimed that he backed a $3.5 million plan to install sewers in an enclave outside of his district, while a plan to service the 354 residents of his district that he saved from sewer taxes who were still without service went unresolved.Fitz-Gibbon, Jorge. " Candidates Quarrel Over Quarry Heights Sewer Plan". The Journal News, October 31, 1999.
In 2000, Kaplowitz was able to support County Executive Andrew Spano's budget plan which included a 4.9% tax cut, the largest in country history, although it did include increases in sewer tax levies. However, in 2001, the tax cuts were wiped out after Kaplowitz enacted the proposal from the County Executive to increase the county sales tax by .25%, raise property taxes by 4%, and increase spending by 7.3%. County Executive Spano stated that "I didn't have anything to do with what happened to the economy, with what happened on September 11, with what happened to the state. Those are things I don't think anybody could have anticipated. … I think we did an appropriate and prudent thing in this budget." Kaplowitz joined the other Democrats on the board in taking Spano's plan a step further, raising taxes by an additional percentage point, while adding additional spending to keep open the Playland Ice Casino, and aid for mental health programs, libraries and programs for Latinos, women and the homeless that went beyond what Spano put in his budget.
In 2002, the county was faced with a proposed 31.7% increase in the amount the county raises through property taxes, the largest increase since 1968, the second largest in county history, and the second since Kaplowitz took office, which included a typical increase in the county property-tax rate to $4.59 per $1,000 of property value next year, from $3.83.Hu, Winnie. "Spano Proposes 31.7% Increase In County Tax For Westchester". The New York Times, October 3, 2002. Although legislators including Kaplowitz attempted to lobby the state for permission to increase sales taxes by 1% instead of increasing property taxes, the movement failed, and Kaplowitz voted in favor of the 14.8% property tax increase which passed just prior to the budget deadline.
As head of the budget committee, Kaplowitz highlighted that spending had risen only by 3.4% from 1998 to 2003.Gorman, Patrick. "District 4". The Patent Trader, October 9, 2003. He voted in favor of the 30-cent monthly surcharge on cell phone bills, which generated $1.4 million to upgrade local emergency response systems. Kaplowitz was reelected, although his opponent stated that year, Westchester County had the highest property taxes in New York State, and the highest sales tax outside of New York City and Long Island, with a median property tax bill for an owner-occupied home in Westchester of $6,826 - the highest among the state's 57 counties and more than twice the statewide median of $2,847. As well, all of Westchester's 40 school districts raised their property taxes that year, on top of the 14.9 percent increase in the county property tax levy that Kaplowitz approved after the state rejected their request to hike the county portion of the sales tax by 1 point.Eddings, Keith. "Taxes". The Journal News. October 26, 2003.
In late 2003, warned that another attempt to increase the lobby the New York State Assembly to increase sales tax would fail, Kaplowitz voted for the $1.4 billion budget which increased property taxes by 8.5% and sales taxes by 1%.Eddings, Keith. "County Passes $1.4B Budget". The Journal News, December 9, 2003. The assembly members who represented Westchester in Albany said they opposed the higher sales tax, which was enough to defeat a similar proposal the previous year. Led by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Greenburgh, they suggested alternative tax and fee hikes to help balance the county budget, including raising the mortgage tax and extending the reach of the existing sales tax to cover items that are not now taxed.Eddings, Keith. "Tax Hike And Cuts Looming" The Journal News. January 8, 2004.
The Assembly eventually agreed to raise the sales tax by half a percentage point instead of the one percentage increase requested in the budget approved by the board of legislators, and the record $1.4 billion spending plan adopted by the County legislature in December had included an 8.5 percent increase in the property-tax levy and assumed that additional revenues would come from the sales-tax increase.Blain, Glenn. "Half Point Added To Sales Tax". The Journal News. February 10, 2004. In early 2004, Kaplowitz voted in favor of the amended budget which raised county property tax collections by an additional 10 percent from the amount approved in December to offset the budget gap from the diminished sales tax increase, and when the measure passed, Westchester County ended with 18.82 percent more in property taxes during 2004 than it did in 2003.Blain, Glenn. "Property Tax To Jump 18.8%". The Journal News, February 11, 2004.
In reaction to the second straight year of double digit property tax increases, Kaplowitz stated that as head of the budget committee "the spending hike reflected increases in state mandates such as higher Medicaid and pension fund costs. To cover other potential expenses, county lawmakers created an $11.8 million contingency fund. The fund could help pay for bus service should Albany fall to come through with extra aid, as well as help ball out the cash-strapped Westchester Medical Center and fund future raises for unionized employees." By setting money aside, lawmakers hoped to reassure credit agencies after Moody's placed the county's triple-A bond rating on 90-day ‘watch fist’ review, citing the county's liability for part of the medical center's debt. Kaplowitz said county officials enacted the second double-digit property tax hike of 14.8 percent in 2003 because the package of sales tax increases negotiated with state lawmakers would generate $50 million this year, leaving Westchester with a $22 million gap to fill, reflecting the contingency fund and a $10 million write-down of money owed to Westchester by the medical center for which the county will not be repaid.Westchester County Board of Legislators, February 10, 2004.SPECIAL ORDER: CHAIR OF THE BOARD: Amending the 2004 County Operating Budget: ACT 12-2004: Act amending the 2004 County Operating Budget for the purpose of abolishing certain positions and reducing and amending and transferring appropriations within county departments, in conformance with the contingency plan adopted by the Board of Legislators on January 7, 2004 as Resolution 2-2004. Mr. Kaplowitz presented the following report and Act and moved that the report be received, filed and approved and the Act adopted, which motion was carried by the following vote:AYE: Legislators: Young, Abinanti, Alvarado, Bronz, Latimer, Pinto, Stewart-Cousins, Wishnie, Chair – 9.Nay: Legislators: Oros, Astorino, Kaplowitz, LaMotte, Maisano – 5. Kaplowitz stated that "Companies have bad years, and governments unfortunately have bad years. Hopeful, this is the end to two bad years in a row".Philippidis, Alex. "Business Leaders Fume As County Taxes Zoom ". Westchester County Business Journal . February 16, 2004.