Dear Neighbors,

At our May 4 meeting of the Board, Norma Drummond, Director of Planning for Westchester County, made a live presentation on the Westchester County Housing Needs Assessment Report published at the end of last year.  While the report includes the research, data, analyses, and recommendations for all municipalities, Ms. Drummond’s presentation was focused on the data for the Village of Croton.

The presentation is available to be seen from the Village’s website as well as on the Village’s Facebook page.  I highly recommend that residents take a look at it as it provides some very interesting information.  

The study covers the period from 2000 to 2017.  Interestingly, the study shows that while some 206,736 people commute out of Westchester to work, almost the same, 199,328, commute into Westchester for jobs because housing in the County is lacking and/or unaffordable.  

 With regard to Croton-on-Hudson, some 72% of housing in the Village is ownership and 28% is rental.  

While there are many interesting data presented regarding the Village, the report concludes that there is a big need for housing that is affordable, with the greatest need being for rental units.  The median renter income in the Village was $52,439.   Allocating 30% of income for housing costs makes $1,310  available monthly for a rental costs, falling well short of the average rental of $1,687 for a 2BR. The report indicates that there were 545 “Severely Cost-burdened” households in the Village, meaning they spend more than 50% of income on housing needs.  345 were owners and 200 renters.  

The current pandemic we are experiencing is undoubtedly going to have an impact on all these numbers, almost certainly in a negative way. There is much more of interest and local relevance in this report.  We all need to keep the findings of this report in mind while we make decisions and navigate our way through the current situation. 

Ann Gallelli, Deputy Mayor