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John J. Mills - District 13 The Erie County Legislature will receive a proposed budget from County Executive Collins soon. We will then conduct hearings to carefully analyze the proposal, make changes that we feel are necessary and then pass the budget. Your tax rates will then be determined in order to pay for the expenditures made in the budget. During this process, many arguments will be made regarding government obligations, government mandates and government priorities. This year, I propose one slight change to the process which I think could significantly change the outcome. Simply, every time that we would ordinarily use the word "government," we substitute the word "taxpayer." It sounds and feels a lot different to say "the government should spend more money on constituent newsletters" than it does to say "taxpayers should spend more money on constituent newsletters," however both statements are exactly the same. Of course, I am not intending to debate the necessity or effectiveness of constituent newsletters in this column. Rather, I just want to point out that when people speak about "government money," it is really not the government's money at all. It is your money and the money of everyone that pays taxes that the government is spending. Every time that the government spends a dollar, it is a dollar that was taken from you. Erie County taxpayers spend a lot of money every year, over $1 billion at the county level alone. It is important to keep the funding source in mind when making spending decisions on behalf of taxpayers. Granted, the majority of these expenditures are made because New York State government requires them to be made. Wait, I am violating my own rule. Said differently, the majority of these expenditures are made because New York State taxpayers require them to be made. That certainly sounds different. However, it is important to remember that taxpayers are also voters. As voters, we have the power to demand more from our elected officials. I encourage every taxpayer to exercise this power and demand that your elected officials keep you in mind with every dollar of yours that they spend. I pledge to you that I will. On the flip side, I also believe that we should stop referring to "government services." The focus of that term is on the government as provider of the services. Rather, I believe that it is better to refer to them as "taxpayer services," which focuses on the fact that services are provided by taxpayer money and are typically for taxpayers. When the focus is on taxpayers, it will remind us all of why these services are provided in the first place. When making budgetary decisions, we must keep taxpayers first. You have likely heard the old adage "You can't fight city hall." But this is not true. City Hall, County Hall and Capitol Hill were all built with your tax dollars and exist specifically to serve you the taxpayer. Only when this fact is forgotten does the adage become true. That is why it is important to choose your representatives carefully and keep informed about their voting record. I have been honored to serve as your county legislator and look forward to continuing to serve you, the taxpayer, in that capacity. I am interested in hearing your thoughts about the Erie County budget. My district office is located at 431 Main Street in East Aurora. My telephone number is 655-5650. You can also reach me by email at jmills13@erie.gov. To read about some of the issues that I have been addressing at the legislature, please visit my website online at www.erie.gov/legislature/district13. Back to District 13 Homepage