The Erie County Legislature and the County Executive have agreed on the 2017 budget, which includes a tax rate decrease for the third consecutive year. While other levels of government are raising taxes, the county has found a way to continuously lower them.

While it is a relatively small expense in a $1.7 billion budget, the $100,000 allocated to  Visit Buffalo Niagara (VBN) for the launch of a campaign to bring ridesharing services to all of New York State received a lot of attention. Under state law, it’s currently illegal for ridesharing companies to operate outside of New York City. These services operate in more than 500 cities across the globe, but have not been able to operate here in Western New York.  I find that to be an incredible disservice to the residents of New York.  Ridesharing can benefit our area by providing reliable and affordable public transportation, an easily accessible income stream for potential drivers, and drastically reduce the rate of DWI accidents, fatalities, and arrests.  Due to these benefits, I worked with my colleagues to put our money where our mouth is.

There are some misconceptions about how the money will be spent.  I want to make clear that it will not be going to ridesharing companies or lobbyists.  Currently, downstate Assembly members and special interest lobbying groups have prevented ridesharing from being legalized statewide. The $100,000 allocated by Erie County will be used by VBN on a strategic effort to push the State Legislature. We need Albany to act. I believe that our investment will send a strong message to Albany that the time has come to pass ridesharing legislation. After all, Erie County is the largest county in NYS outside of New York City, and the first local government to make a real investment.

Now there is certainly the possibility that state lawmakers will approve ridesharing early in the year.  However, we have heard that it was going to pass before, and nothing was accomplished.  Until this valuable service is available throughout New York State, I feel it is important to keep pushing.   If the legislation allowing ridesharing is approved soon, VBN will be able to use the funding for additional tourism initiatives to benefit our community. This investment is a win-win.  Tourism initiatives for WNY help bring in outside revenue and tax dollars, which are crucial to Erie County’s bottom line, where we rely heavily on sales tax revenue.

The VBN/ridesharing initiative could be a game changer for Buffalo, and is a tiny portion of a very large budget. This year, with a very tight budget, the process went relatively smoothly, and I was happy to see the administration working in conjunction with the Legislature. While this year was tight, I believe the next few years we will be even tighter, and we might be facing some significant budgetary challenges.  I hope we can continue to work together in the best interest of taxpayers in order to resolve any issues.