BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz unveiled a tightened budget on Thursday morning in response to the ongoing financial hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is the most difficult budget I think any county leader has had to face in quite some time," Poloncarz said.
The 2021 proposed budget for Erie County is $1,473,105,847. This represents a more than $80 million decrease from the 2020 budget. Among the factors that contributed to a lower dollar figure is the loss of 98 jobs in various departments. Most of the jobs are gone were eliminations of vacancies, though some people who are employed are expected to lose their job.
Officials were concerned Erie County faced a deficit of $180 million, mainly due to a loss in sales tax revenues.
"That has not come to fruition," Poloncarz said. "We have had a very large deficit but it is not $180 million, thankfully...Our budget is significantly less than what was originally proposed for 2020. But it is not as bad as we thought it might be because we did receive better sales tax numbers in the last few weeks."
As part of a state formula under sales tax reconciliation, Erie County lost only $14 million in sales tax, or 2.3 percent, compared to last year. In contrast, New York City lost nearly 20 percent in sales tax revenue. Poloncarz attributed online shopping replacing traditional retail shopping and in-person dining as a reason why the county did not face a higher deficit in sales tax.
Depending on where you live, your taxes may increase. This is because of increased assessments on homes in some municipalities, which led to a $7.5 million increase in the taxes collected by the county. All told, Erie County is expecting to receive nearly $287 million in property taxes.
Despite an increase in assessment, the county is cutting what residents have to pay on their county taxes by six percent. Last year, homeowners paid $4.71 for every $1,000 of the assessed home value. This year, they will pay $4.43 per $1,000. For example, a home with a $230,000 assessed value for this year and next year will pay about $60 less in taxes next year. However, a home assessed at $245,000 this year but $328,000 next year will actually pay about $30 less in county taxes. City, town, village, or school taxes could result in you paying more, though.
"It's not the county taxes that are high," Poloncarz said. "You might have other taxes you pay but it's not the county tax."
Erie County is also expecting nearly $800 million in sales tax revenue this year and $156 million in state aid.
Watch Poloncarz' full briefing on the budget below.
