October, 2007

2008 Budget

The Erie County Legislature will soon be reviewing the 2008 budget that will be proposed by the County Executive. Approving the annual spending plan for the county is one of the most important duties of the Legislature, and the process will begin after the October 15th deadline for the County Executive to submit his budget. A big difference with the 2008 budget is that it will be proposed by the current County Executive, approved by the Legislature, and then administered by a new County Executive and his management team.

In 2005, the Erie County Legislature, by a 10-5 vote, approved the 2006 budget which raised the sales tax from 8.25 to 8.75 percent for an additional $63 million, and increased property taxes by 13.5 percent for an additional $23 million. The majority in the Legislature also passed a budget which added hundreds of new county jobs and increased fees on cell phones, County Clerk filings, pistol permits, and motor vehicle registrations. The budget did not make the necessary structural reforms such as modifying our relationship with ECMC and the Erie County Home, reducing expenditures, making needed structural reforms in the service delivery systems and working cooperatively with our county employees to provide these services more efficiently and economically, in order to reduce costs, property taxes, sales taxes and fees.

In 2006, the 2007 Erie County Budget that was approved by an 11-4 vote again fell short of making necessary cuts and providing essential yet basic services. The “reform” Legislature, with 9 new members, did little to fight for lower taxes or to reform county government.

The Majority in the Legislature, without discussion, rejected plans for reform and reductions made by my Minority colleagues and me. We had put forth a plan to amend the County Executive's proposed 2007 Budget with $36,845,161 in reductions by eliminating unnecessary positions, decreasing expenditures on office supplies, contracts, professional services and overtime, and reducing the over-budgeted Medicaid account.

Despite the public's outcry for reform, hundreds of thousands of dollars of pork and patronage were added to the budget as well as dozens of new positions. The 2007 Budget approved by the Majority increased property taxes by over $8.5 million dollars.

This year, I would like to see the County Executive propose and the Legislature approve a budget that finally provides real reform for the taxpayers of Erie County. It is time that Erie County makes a commitment to eliminate wasteful spending, patronage, and outdated programs. The 2008 county budget should also not add positions as was done in the 2006 and 2007 budgets.

The county must also start operating more efficiently with their current workforce. The county needs to manage attrition through the budget process. The 2008 budget should plan for changes to employee wages, benefits, flex time, and paid lunches to align county employment more closely with the private sector. Other initiatives I would like to see in the 2008 budget are privatizing the management of the golf courses and outsourcing the cleaning of county buildings. Erie County should eliminate budget set asides for wasteful studies and stop paying for reoccurring expenses with capital funds.

Until the outcome of the proposed merger of ECMC and Kaleida Health is decided by the Hospital Commission, it would be imprudent for the Legislature to approve capital funding in the 2008 budget for ECMC. The key to a prosperous future for Erie County will be the adoption of solid business principles in the everyday operation of government. Erie County taxes and spends too much, and the next adopted budget needs to reverse that trend.

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