Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Amendments to the 2026 County Budget proposed by Erie County Legislators in the Minority Caucus on Monday were voted down by members of the Majority Caucus.
The amendments proposed by Republican lawmakers included $12 million in cuts geared toward lowering property taxes, while also decreasing spending, capping the gas tax and putting policy guardrails on government operation.
"This would provide real relief to taxpayers," said Legislator Lindsay Lorigo ahead of the vote on Monday. "We are cutting vacant jobs, we are cutting inflated spending and discretionary spending while keeping county services maintained. It's important that this provides a solution. We have jobs as a Legislature to provide Mark a budget for him to manage. It is then up to him to manage it."
The cuts also would have seen a shift in priorities and put in place several policies aimed at reining in costs, increasing revenue and implementing government guardrails like a hiring freeze and restrictions on overtime and out-of-area travel.
"Our main goal was to try to attack the levy that's always been a balloon. That's been a huge issue," said Legislator Frank Todaro following Monday's vote. "If we can get that part of the budget down, everybody would see it in their tax ball. You would actually see a reduction in your taxes. That's unheard of. The county executive comes out every year and proposes he's lowering his percentage of raising taxes. But we all know when we get a bill, it's higher. The tax levy will prove that we can get a reduction in taxes."
The budget amendments came in response to warnings of potential fiscal concerns on the horizon in Erie County from both county executive Mark Poloncarz and comptroller Kevin Hardwick.
"I think it's a really responsible budget that could really provide relief to Erie County taxpayers," Lorigo said. "We have a simple choice today: Are we going to vote for responsible government and putting Erie County taxpayers back in the driver's seat, or are we going to vote to continue to grow the cost of government?"
Last year, the Erie County Comptroller's Office projected budget gaps if $9-to-$20 million. The Minority Caucus says that gap is now anticipated to be between $83 and $95 million. According to the comptroller's 2026 budget analysis, county spending has increased by $704 million since 2021.
Republican lawmakers also claimed that in two of the last three years, the Poloncarz administration has spent more on recurring costs that weren't supported by reoccurring revenue.
Lawmakers in the Minority Caucus feel this is not sustainable for county government, adding it feels eerily similar to the path the county traveled that led to the last fiscal meltdown in 2004.
"We can't keep playing politics and just saying that we're headed off the tracks. We have to provide a solution. This package does that, this does it responsibly," Lorigo said. "This still gives increases in places that the county executive said that we needed them. This is a very responsible package that we're presenting."
Meanwhile, the Majority Caucus passed a proposed amendment to the 2026 County Budget on Monday that also results in cuts to spending, while providing a small relief in the tax levy.
"You can put a spin on every kind of budget. Again, you have to realize this is enormous. This budget, it's a plan going forward," said Erie County Legislature Chair Tim Meyers (D) following the vote. "I think some of the things, like Legislator [Jeanne] Vinal mentioned - taking away the maintenance for a park that we own and have to maintain - we feel that our package was responsible. We took out the $20 million for the jail study and all that stuff, we heard from the public on that. We know it would force us to go over the property tax cap, nobody wanted to do that. Again, you could go on-and-on for days about the stuff. We just feel that we're in a good spot."
Meyers calls this year's county budget a "conservative plan", acknowledging the county doesn't know what sales tax and everything else is going to be going forward.
A couple of other points Todaro noticed that he plans to look into deeper with his fellow Caucus members is the addition of some urban initiatives totalling $1.2 million, as well as more than $1 million in fringe benefits being cut to management positions within the Erie County Sheriff's Office.
When it comes to county spending, Meyers shares some similar concerns that the Minority Caucus expressed on Monday.
"I think the big thing with that is the unknown. We don't know the 'Big, Beautiful Bill', what the ramifications are with that. A lot of that stuff's not supposed to hit until 2027, we don't know what it's going to look like," Meyers explained. "We have to always monitor sales tax, which we always get, which comes back three months later. Nobody has a crystal ball to know exactly what these numbers are going to be. So yes, we're mindful of everything, and we're just trying to keep our eyes on what happens with all that."
A final vote on the 2026 County Budget is expected on Thursday.