Package of additions, cuts, likely to pass

Updated: 11/27/08 07:15 AM By Matthew Spina
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Erie County lawmakers have agreed on a plan to eliminate the property tax increase that County Executive Chris Collins insisted was necessary in next year’s budget while restoring aid for several cultural groups that had pleaded for more county money.

To do away with the tax increase, which would have added $18 to the tax bill on a $100,000 home, legislators had to cut more than $8 million in spending.

They targeted money set aside for employee fringe benefits.

They took away raises for select department heads.

They removed new jobs. And they assumed the government would save $2.8 million next year — rather than the $1.7 million that Collins had projected — by keeping jobs vacant longer.

“We heard the community clearly,” said Legislature Chairwoman Lynn M. Marinelli, D-Town of Tonawanda. “They don’t want the taxes to be raised.”

The Democrats, who agreed on the amendments Wednesday, have the votes to pass them when the Legislature meets Monday.

Collins did not comment Wednesday about the Legislature’s changes, but his office issued a statement saying: “Once again, the career politicians in the Legislature majority have replaced sound fiscal judgment with political gimmicks.

“The county executive proposed a conservative, balanced budget to move this county forward in tough economic times. The Legislature majority’s proposal simply shifts many of to-day’s problems into the future, so its members can make politically popular decisions.”

The dozen Democrats intend to provide $280,000 for Cornell Cooperative Extension so its operations in the county can continue next year.

They also would provide $280,000 more than Collins proposed for theaters, museums and the performing arts, while restoring $161,500 for the county Soil and Water Conservation District, so it is not zeroed out in next year’s budget.

Legislators said they couldn’t figure out how Collins had determined the aid figures for such cultural recipients as the Kavinoky Theatre, African American Cultural Center, Buffalo Zoo or Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. But lawmakers agreed the county could not be as generous as this year and cut assistance by 5 percent across the board for 43 organizations.

In many cases, recipients would get more than the amounts in Collins’ budget. The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, for example, would get about $34,000 more than Collins proposed, bringing its county support next year to $384,500. The Hamburg Natural History Society, for which Collins had proposed no county aid, would receive about $40,000.

The Democrats also argued that Collins had budgeted more than needed for employee fringe benefits.

They took away raises for select department heads. Social Services Commissioner Michael Weiner, for example, will not receive the more than $20,000 raise that would have pushed his salary to more than $140,000, and Budget Director Gregory G. Gach cannot count on the additional $11,000 that would have put his pay at $129,750.

The Legislature will allow Health Commissioner Anthony Billittier IV to receive a $10,000 raise, which will push his pay to more than $163,000, because state aid helps pay his salary. Legislators reasoned that cutting the raise would not save county taxpayers money.

Democratic lawmakers removed several jobs Collins had added to the budget, and they appear willing to cut budgeted jobs within the Legislature’s staff as well.

The Democrats intend to cut $2 million from the $5 million set aside for court settlements and attorney fees next year. County Attorney Cheryl A. Green had urged members to keep the “risk retention fund” at $5 million because of a potentially expensive lawsuit over old strip-search practices in the Holding Center.

Legislators did not budget more money for overtime, as the state-appointed control board recommended, nor did they eliminate their district offices, another control board suggestion that would have saved $750,000.

Collins had insisted that balancing next year’s budget required a tax rate increase of 3.6 percent, but predicted he then could keep the tax rate flat through the year 2012, after he would have faced re-election.

The Legislature, meanwhile, will go into next year’s election without having raised taxes, though fees charged by the county clerk, Health and Parks departments, and the two county-run golf courses will go up— as Collins had proposed and the Legislature approved.

“This is a fluid document,” said Legislator Kathy Konst, D-Lancaster, chairwoman of the Finance, Management and Budget Committee. The budget, she predicted, will be adjusted next year for surprises and, perhaps, to deal with the cuts in state aid that are expected in next year’s state budget.

“Through this budget, we showed where our values are,” said Majority Leader Maria R. Whyte, D-Buffalo, explaining that lawmakers value youth programs, cultural funding and the parks. The Legislature intends to provide $100,000 more for Operation Prime Time summer youth programs and establish a $360,000 fund that can be used to draw grants for Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks.

Lawmakers did nothing about a $5.3 million problem: a Medicaid-related payment that the county owes the Erie County Medical Center and its Erie County Home.

Collins predicts he can persuade medical center executives, in essence, to waive the payment, but the parties have yet to announce an agreement.

Whyte, the majority leader, said the Democrats agreed to let Collins’ discussions with the medical center continue, but Legislator Thomas J. Mazur, DCheektowaga, said failure to include the $5.3 million in the budget was wrong.

Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz, who pays the bills and manages the government’s cash, seemed to agree.

“There are a lot of good things in this budget,” Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz said. “But right now, I wish they had funded the ECMC payment.”

The Legislature’s three Republicans, who generally remain loyal to Collins, a fellow Republican, came up with their own set of budget changes.

But they immediately were pushed aside in favor of the Democrats’ plan, which was assembled behind closed doors and unveiled Wednesday.