By Denise Jewell Gee
December 7, 2011
The Erie County Legislature on Tuesday put the final touches on a $1.05 billion budget for 2012 that restores dozens of jobs, brings back rodent control and adds funding for 37 arts and cultural organizations.
And for the first time in County Executive Chris Collins’ four years in office, he won’t lodge a veto to block the Legislature’s changes.
That’s because legislators, working with the incoming Democratic county executive, Mark C. Poloncarz, came up with a plan to undo many of Collins’ controversial budget cuts while satisfying the one caveat the outgoing Republican county executive had: Do not increase the property tax rate.
“If they wanted to move things around and go in a different direction, why should I make the new administration live with my priorities, which they’d probably undo anyway?” Collins said. “Why not make it easier for them?”
With word from Collins that he would not veto the changes, the Legislature voted, 13-1, during its annual budget meeting on a $5 million package of amendments that put 67 jobs back into the budget, including 50 in the Department of Social Services.
The changes were offset by $5 million in cuts in several budget lines that Poloncarz felt were overfunded, including a “risk retention” fund set aside for legal settlements, fringe benefits and workers’ compensation.
There will still be county layoffs in January, but the finalized budget reduced the number from 308 proposed by Collins to 241. Most of those are already vacant; about 50 are filled.
Legislators described the budget as a compromise that came together as a new county executive transitions into office.
“It is not perfect,” said Legislature Chairwoman Barbara Miller-Williams, D-Buffalo. “It is not something that we all can uniformly say is the best, but at this point in time, it’s something we can live with.”
The Legislature’s budget changes included:
• Restoring 50 jobs in the Department of Social Services at a cost of $2.26 million. Legislators expect the county to receive reimbursements from the state and federal governments for many of those positions.
• Adding $931,841 to the budget for 37 arts and cultural organizations ranging from the Buffalo& Erie County Naval and Military Park to the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus. Many of those organizations were cut out of the county’s budget last year by Collins, who sought to fund only 10 large groups he deemed “regionally significant.”
• Moving buildings and grounds staff as-
signed to care for the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library’s city branches back to the library’s control. Collins had proposed shifting that work to the county with the hope of reducing the cost of maintaining those nine library buildings, but library officials asked to undo the plan after it was clear he would not be in office next year.
• Restoring $369,848 for the county’s public health lab, which handles rodent control. Collins cut that work from the budget a year ago and instead made money available for towns and villages to start their own programs.
• Adding $400,000 for a youth program known as Operation Primetime.
• Keeping seven jobs in the Comptroller’s Office that would have been cut under Collins’ budget proposal.
• Restoring one assistant district attorney and granting 4 percent raises to all assistant district attorneys at a total cost of $434,211. District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III had urged legislators to grant the raises to attorneys and other non-union staff who had gone without cost-of-living increases for nearly 10 years.
While the county tax rate will remain stable next year, the tax levy — or amount to be raised by property taxes — will increase by $2.5 million due to an increase in the tax base and assessments. County spending will increase by less than 1 percent under the budget plan.
The Legislature’s proposal came together in a bipartisan deal struck Friday, with only one legislator opposed. Legislator Dino Fudoli, a Lancaster Republican, said he voted against the deal because he felt many of the job cuts proposed by Collins should have remained and because he believed arts and cultural organizations could have gotten along without government funding.
Several legislators who voted for the budget changes expressed concern about challenges ahead—including union contracts that need to be resolved, looming negotiations over Ralph Wilson Stadium and overtime in the county jails.
“There are issues that do need to be addressed in 2012,” said Majority Leader Maria R. Whyte, a Buffalo Democrat. “Certainly, the budget amendment, as we are voting on it today, does not solve all of those problems.”
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/erie-county/article663231.ece