12-3-12: Courtesy of WKBW. The countdown is on — just hours left until the Erie County Legislature meets to vote on a budget. Both parties are not showing signs of a compromise on the most controversial issue — a property tax increase. Erie County legislators spent Monday morning and early afternoon trying to find middle ground about the increase. The Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says there was no choice, due to a $30 million budget gap. Poloncarz says this is just one of many hard solutions. The County Executive, Comptroller and Fiscal Stability Authority all say these cuts would drain the budget in the long run — slashing more funding in the end. Poloncarz says “It would take us back towards the path of a red-green fiscal crisis in which elected officials are afraid to make tough decisions and choose easy ones that are wrong.” Republican legislators tell Eyewitness News they did not agree to any compromises during a meeting with Poloncarz. The County Executive says he brought up some concessions on his behalf, but did not elaborate on what. Currently, the vote looks like it will be six-to-five for the budget that includes the Minority Caucus changes instead of the property tax increase.
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