11-9-11: Courtesy of YNN. County Executive-Elect Mark Poloncarz says he’ll “hit the ground running” when it comes to saving county taxpayers’ money, but residents should temper some of their expectations for his first year in office. Speaking just a day after his victory, Poloncarz says he hopes to begin implementing some of the $27 million in savings he identified while he was county comptroller, but the 2012 budget was crafted under the administration of Republican Chris Collins. Poloncarz says he’ll make budget recommendations next year, and his priorities include trimming salary costs at the Erie County holding center. “We’re going to be working on reducing the cost of overtime at the jail — that makes up roughly one-third of all salary costs. We can reduce that, we know how to do that. We might not be able to do that in the first year, because once again, the budget is controlled, as approved today, before I take office as county executive,” said Poloncarz, (D). Poloncarz says he wants to restore funding to the county’s cultural organizations to 2010 levels. Collins had made substantial cuts to a number of arts groups this year.
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