Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - While much has been made about Proposition 1 in New York State on the ballot this Election Day, there is another proposition on the ballot in Erie County that some voters may not be aware of.
County Proposition 1 on the ballot is a measure that will alter certain voting requirements in the Erie County Charter. This requires that the County Legislature imposes the state authorized 1.75% additional sales and compensating use tax by simple majority instead of presently requiring the affirmative vote of two-thirds.
"Right now, it requires a supermajority, and we're just looking to change it to a simple majority," said Erie County Legislature Majority Leader Tim Meyers in an interview with WBEN. "We see, at this time every year when this happens, there seems to be some gridlock, and things of that nature, things going on behind the scenes."
Meyers believes there might be a misunderstanding out there with the general public on this issue. While the 8.75% county sales tax is not changing with this proposition, it is simply just how many votes are needed to approve it.
"If it were to change, then it would just go by a majority of the votes of the legislature. There's currently 11 legislators, so it would take six to pass it, where now it takes eight. So we're just trying to take that gridlock out," Meyers explained.
Every two years, county lawmakers must vote to re-authorize the additional 1.75% sales tax. Without the additional sales tax, services funded by the county like parks, libraries, sheriff's police patrols and others could be affected.
However, Republican Legislator Lindsay Lorigo feels with this proposition, the majority caucus wants to make sure they have to work across the aisle as little as possible.
"It's about taking away the voice of the people. This isn't taking away the Minority Caucus' vote on the temporary sales tax, it's taking away your vote," said Lorigo during a recent appearance on WBEN.
"There are very few times in Erie County that both sides of the aisle actually come together and speak. It's really disappointing. It's been one of the most disappointing things I've seen since I've been there. ... No matter who is in the majority, whether it's Republicans or Democrats, this is local government. We should be talking and working across the aisle to have the best outcome for taxpayers, not doing everything we can to make sure that it's one party rule. Unfortunately, in Erie County, it's one person rule."
Lorigo encourages voters this November to vote down Erie County Prop 1, saying by taking away the supermajority, the Majority Caucus is taking away the referendum for the people to vote if the sales tax were to pass only on a simple majority vote of less than 8-3.
Over the years, Republicans have been able to use the supermajority vote on the sales tax as leverage to get some of their agenda items checked off. This has resulted in the additional sales tax vote being unanimously approved every other year when it comes time to vote on it in the legislature.
"Those kind of big projects that we end up passing to bond out. This year, they need a supermajority to get that vote across," Lorigo said. "This year, we wanted [to further discuss this, but they will not] meet with us, quite literally, until the morning of the vote. We went in there and I said, 'We're not gonna put this forward. We can't be putting so much on Erie County taxpayers' credit card when we have cash in our back pocket, and we saved about $15.5 million in borrowing. So interest over time, the savings is countless.' And I fully anticipate that next year, when we have the charter Review Commission, they're going to go after that too."
No matter who's in the majority, whether it's Republicans or Democrats, Lorigo feels the need to work across the aisle for the best outcome for taxpayers, rather than satisfying anybody's personal agenda.
"It's really ensuring that we don't live under one person rule in Erie County and one party rule," she said. "But there are other opportunities, and I hope that maybe we'll have some leadership changes in the County Legislature, and we can see maybe the temperature change, and we can go back to a time when we did work across the aisle, and we did work for the Erie County taxpayers. Not just for the personal interest of certain politicians."
While Meyers respects the opinions of Lorigo and other who may feel the same way, he disagrees with the notion that this proposition will take the voice away from the people. Rather he feels lawmakers are giving the people the choice to express their voice.
He adds his door is always open for any other fellow lawmaker in the county legislature that may have an issue with such matters.
"I have a good relationship with all members of the Republican Caucus, I talk with Minority Leader [John] Mills all the time. This is not that there was ample time on this. This has been out there for a while," Meyers said. "Again, we'll just see where it is. We're not going to agree on everything. I find myself in the middle, always trying to work with both sides of the aisle and have open dialog. That's just what we're looking for."