January 2016 Column - Finance and Management Committee oversees fiscal matters, questions wasteful spending

The committee process is a critical part of government operations, allowing the members to fully vet issues. I am honored to again serve as Chairman of the Erie County Legislature’s Finance and Management Committee, which handles several critical fiscal matters, including the annual budget, normal expenditures and audits.

 

In my first term as Chairman of Finance and Management, the committee addressed many critical issues that focused on whether or not taxpayer dollars were spent wisely. The first item discussed was the audit of the Legislature, which we requested immediately after our new majority took office. With the findings, the Majority Caucus was able to implement several cost-saving measures.

 

The committee also reviewed two contentious investigations. Reports to the Whistleblower Hotline about the county’s Weights and Measures Division led to an investigation by the Comptroller’s Office.  This investigation raised a number of questions about how the county was billing local businesses, if the county was following state requirements, and if county property and personnel were being used improperly. As chairman of the committee, I forced a discussion on the issue in order to protect business owners and taxpayers.

 

The committee also discussed an audit of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library that was somewhat disheartening. A review by the Comptroller showed that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent on efforts to create a special library taxing district. The reason I found this expense so upsetting was two-fold. First, I believe the library directors and staff work very hard to meet the needs of their communities. I had a meeting with the directors from the libraries in my district who said they could also use more funding for additional hours and programming. Secondly, there was never any support in the county or state to create the library taxing district, which is another layer of government. This money was literally being thrown at a proposal that was dead on arrival, no matter how much the library pushed for it. In my opinion, the nearly half million dollars of taxpayer dollars should have been spent serving the library patrons. 

 

The next audit being reviewed by the committee is of the Buffalo Urban League. This issue again involved the Whistleblower Hotline, and I want to first thank those who witnessed what they believe is wrongdoing and reported it. Buffalo Urban League contracts with Erie County to provide services to the community, and according to the audit there are allegations that the Urban League inappropriately billed the county. This conversation will be happening at an upcoming Finance and Management Committee with all involved parties to get to the bottom of the issue and to ensure tax dollars are being used correctly and efficiently.

 

Anyone who sees or suspects waste, fraud or abuse of county resources can report it to the Erie County Whistleblower Hotline at 858-7722 or whistleblower@erie.gov. All reports are confidential and callers may remain anonymous. If you have any questions, please contact my office at 858-8922 or email joseph.lorigo@erie.gov