7/17/12: Courtesy of WIVB. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz delivered a dire warning Monday about the county’s financial future. Now he is telling residents tough times could drive up taxes. Erie County is just barely on budget this year, according to Poloncarz, and he’s very worried about next year. He says revenue streams are not generating enough money. “My first budget gets released in October. It’s going to be a balanced budget. I guarantee that,” Poloncarz stated. But at what cost? A tax increase? That’s one possible option on the table. Poloncarz explained, “Because of these serious issues, and revenues that we do not control, everything has to be kept on the table at this point. And trust me, I don’t want to do it.” The county executive is concerned about property assessments and the growth of sales tax revenue. He says the four-year plan is predicated on a 3 percent growth in sales tax. He says right now it’s growing at 2.8 percent. “If it’s like that for the remainder of the year. I cannot include in a budget a sales tax growth at 3 percent when our year before was less than that,” he said.
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