Let the county budget battle begin

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN).....The ink on Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz's proposed 2027 budget has barely dried and Republican members of the Erie County Legislature have pledged to give it a close review before taking any vote.

Poloncarz said one of the highlights of his $2.4 billion budget is a slight reduction of the county property tax rate from $3.09 per thousand of assessed value to $3.01 per thousand of assessed value.

"It is the lowest in the eight county region," Poloncarz said.

Allegany County has a $12.21 per thousand assessed value rate while neighboring Niagara County's rate is $4.61 per thousand of assesed value and Genesee County's rate is $7.30 per assessed value.

"I'm proud that we held the line," Poloncarz said.

Poloncarz said 88% of the budget comes from state and federal mandates along with union contracts.

But, Erie County Legislator Lindsay Lorigp said there is a lot of discretionary expenditures that can be cut or reduced in Poloncarz's penultimate budget.

Lorigo pointed to more than $7 million in county funds being directed towards the new Willowdale Park in Amherst - the site of the former Westwood Country Club.

"Is this really the time to spending $7 million on Willowdale when that money can go towards more road repairs," Lorigo said,

Fellow GOP county lawmaker Frank Todaro said in 2011, during former County Executive Chris Collins' final year in office, the 2012 budget was $683 milllion.

Since then, it has ballooned to the proposed $2.4 billion budget.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense," Todaro said.

Poloncarz said his budget is a victim of inflation, rising costs and the federal government under President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill shifting expenses to local governments.

One such example: Federal support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dropped from 50% to 25% and that translates to $10.2 million more that Erie County must come up with to fund the SNAP program.

All told, shifts in the Big Beautiful Bill could add as much as $100 million to the county budget.

"This is very tight budget with no real bells of whistles," Poloncarz said.

The budget is being reviewed by county lawmakers, who have until early December to make amendments. The budget package must be in place by Dec. 18.