DECEMBER 12, 2008

ERIE COUNTY LEGISLATURE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY APPROVES AMENDED 2009 BUDGET, HOLDS LINE ON TAXES

The main responsibility of the Erie County Legislature, the fiscal house of county government, is to deliberate on and approve the county's annual budget, a responsibility we take very seriously and work hard to uphold.

The Erie County Legislature voted December 9 to override the vetoes made by the County Executive in the amended 2009 Erie County budget. We reinstated the amendments to cultural and other spending previously approved by the County Legislature, eliminating the county executive's proposed tax rate increase. The County Legislature took these actions as part of its County Charter mandated duties.

The budget with veto overrides will hold the line on property taxes, cutting the County Executive's proposal by about $9.5 million, while providing essential services such as public safety, health, human services and emergency services. This is despite the county executive's erroneous tax increase claims. The County Legislature restored about $1 million to the spending plan; about 86 percent of the budget is state and federally mandated spending.

The spending package we approved keeps voters and the taxpayers first and foremost by eliminating the proposed tax increase. The budget reduces spending where possible but continues to fund essential services and provide funds where possible to economic engines, such as culturals, tourism, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Erie County Soil and Water, Operation Prime Time (youth services) and the Olmsted Parks.

The County Legislature took these actions as part of its County Charter approved duties and responsibilities. We expect the county executive to abide by the county charter and use the tax levy approved when the County Legislature approved its budget with spending reductions for setting the tax rate.

But it appears that the County Executive will ignore the County Legislature's actions to reduce the tax levy and ignore the will of the people of Erie County, who strongly asserted that they were not willing to receive less in services while paying more in taxes, as they would have under the County Executive's budget. This usurping of powers his office does not have is forcing the County Legislature to contact legal counsel to determine how best to legally keep the powers and voice of the people of Erie County alive by implementing the tax levy approved by the County Legislature.

No member of the County Legislature wants to have to go to court to enforce the mandates of the County Charter and have the County Legislature's tax levy used for setting the tax rate as unchanged. But this action was not brought about by the people but forced on the people by the actions of the county executive. We hope that we do not have to incur legal costs, and that talks between the County Legislature and the County Executive can successfully solve this situation.

Taxpayers who wish to comment on the approved 2009 county budget can contact their specific legislators; my constituents can contact me at 832-0493 or by e-mail at Marinelli@erie.gov.

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