JUNE 21, 2007

LEGISLATOR REYNOLDS ANNOUNCES MID-YEAR BUDGET HEARINGS

The Erie County Legislature Finance and Management Committee will hold its annual mid-year budget hearings Monday through Wednesday, June 25-27, in the Legislature Chambers on the Fourth Floor of 92 Franklin Street, Buffalo.

The committee, under its chairman, Legislator Robert B. Reynolds Jr. (D-Hamburg), has requested the cooperation of the various department heads and commissioners from County Executive Joel Giambra in participating in the hearings and providing the County Legislature with full, accurate and up-to-date information the various budgets.

"I believe that providing the County Legislature with the proper information can help all of us ask the pertinent questions and gather as much information as we can to make prudent decisions on the 2008 budget deliberations," Legislator Reynolds said. "The information we are requesting that the department heads and commissioners to provide to us include budget monitoring reports, the number of personnel positions authorized in their departments and the number of existing vacancies, the savings attributed to these vacancies by department as well as the year-to-date savings, and a current SAP run reflecting each department's spending."

Legislator Reynolds noted that it is the Legislature's intent to enquire about the status of every department's budget, focusing on specific cost centers that may be problematic, to identify and assess the impact of any matrix initiatives these departments have initiated and to consider recommended courses of action to correct any specific problems identified during the hearings.

"Holding these open mid-year budget hearings achieves many goals, the most important being the County Legislature gaining an up-to-date, accurate assessment of each department's spending and fiscal situation," Legislator Reynolds concluded. "The public deserves to see how the Legislature is working to maintain prudent spending practices and financial activity while reforming the way we do business to protect their tax dollars and spend them in as careful away as Erie County taxpayers deserve."

The budget hearings will start at 9 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday, June 25 and 26, and at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 27 (please see attached schedule), and Friday, June 29, has been reserved for any needed call-backs.

The schedule of budget hearings is:

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