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John J. Mills - District 13 December 4, 2007 Mills Comments on the Budget Occasionally, when people find out that I am an Erie County Legislator, they ask me what an Erie County Legislator does. I try to sum it up it up in one sentence. "I make sure that your county government provides vital county services as efficiently and effectively as possible." Of course, the definitions of the words "vital," "efficiently," and "effectively" may vary among the fifteen legislators elected to serve in the legislature. This has been very apparent over the past few weeks during budget hearings. I will start with a bit of good news. It does not appear that your Erie County tax rates will rise in 2008. However, this does not mean that your taxes will not increase. The assessments on properties have increased overall. As such, many of you will be paying the same rate, but on a higher assessed value. Therefore, your property taxes will increase. Some legislators view an increased assessment as free money for them to spend. I view it as a reason to lower tax rates, making Erie County a more attractive place to work and live. I will continue to demand that we find ways to relieve the burden on property owners. The 2008 budget does not do much to address the efficiency of county government. This year's budget calls for the creation of over sixty new jobs throughout the county. Some of these positions address the safety and well-being of Erie County residents. Compelling cases were made as to the necessity of the positions, such as in probation and emergency services. I support these additional positions. However, no such compelling case was made for most of these positions. They do not add to the safety or well-being of Erie County residents. They do not increase the efficiency of county government. I do not support these additions. Making matters worse, some legislators have submitted amendments calling for the addition of positions not requested in the budget. Among these additions are additional staffers in legislative district offices. I have proposed ways to decrease legislative staff. I will not vote for the additional positions proposed by my colleagues. It is not an efficient use of your money. To pay for some of these additions to the budget, my colleagues are proposing cutting funding to vital economic generators in Erie County. In particular, they seek to cut funding for the Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission. These groups generate millions of dollars in sales tax revenue each year. They also bring positive exposure to our area, encouraging people to visit and hopefully relocate to the area. They are to be funded using a dedicated bed tax charged to visitors to our area. Rather than use the tax money for the purpose for which it was dedicated, my colleagues would rather misappropriate the funds and spend it on pork and patronage. This hampers the Convention and Visitors Bureau in bringing people to the region and ultimately results in less revenue for our local businesses and the county. I will not support under-funding the Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission. I have identified cuts totaling over 15 million dollars. These cuts are possible by making county government more efficient and eliminating wasteful spending. I have proposed additional allocations for items which I believe are vital to Erie County. These additions include the libraries, regional cultural assets and Vive, a program which helps people obtain life skills and stay off the welfare rolls. These are programs vital to the future of Erie County. Through careful consideration and hard work, we can properly fund projects vital to the county and at the same time make government less costly and more efficient. I would like to hear your thoughts about the Erie County government budget. Please contact me at my District Office, 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