Perhaps I’m wrong and if I am, I do apologize but if you wish to keep the Feds out of your business then stop asking for and taking their money. Once you start taking their money, you become dependent on that money, and it gives Federal agencies the power to force or try and force you to do exactly what they want. If you won’t comply, they’ll stop providing the money.
States, counties, cities all need to give the Feds the finger and find a way to break the addiction to Federal funds.
The answer is to stop sending money to the feds, not send it and forget about it.
This settlement stems from a lawsuit brought by HUD against Westchester because Westchester took money from the feds and did not use it for the intended purpose. This was under the prior county executive’s administration. The settlement forced Westchester to build low-income housing in what HUD perceived to be the ‘whitest’ towns in the county. But not next to Bill and Hillary’s house in Chappaqua. Now, the county is trying to avoid suing its own municipalities which could conceivable bankrupt the towns.
I agree with you about taking federal and state money (it always comes with strings), but unfortunately, most of what the county spends its budget on are federal and state mandates that it cannot refuse to pay i.e., Medicaid, food stamps, pension payments, etc.