One of the most important things that I do as your County Legislator is prepare the annual budget; more specifically, making sure that we adopt a balanced budget focused on providing you the services you expect at a fair cost, without raising taxes. So far, every budget I have worked on achieved that goal.

But doing so doesn’t come without compromise, sacrifice and struggles. There were many difficult decisions made when preparing the 2011 budget. Of course, some of those decisions aren’t popular among certain groups, but my goal is to look out for taxpayers as a whole and present the best spending plan for all of Erie County. We are already looking ahead to 2012 and preparing for more difficult decisions and cuts.

Throughout the process I always base my decisions on what I was elected to do: protect the taxpayers’ money, guard public safety, provide safe roadways and bridges, and maintain vital services. There are many budget lines that require review and debate, and we will have to decide if we are in a position to continue to fund them as we have in the past. The Legislature continues the budget process with mid-year budget hearings, which will he held from July 18-20. During those hearings the legislators will hear from all County Departments and discuss their budgets in detail.

By holding these hearings we gain a better understanding of each department’s needs and are better prepared to make funding decisions for 2012. Last year’s process was difficult and depending on sales tax revenue, this year may also have its challenges. The County’s share of Medicaid is more than $210 million, which is nearly equal to the amount raised in property taxes.  To be clear, nearly every dollar you pay in property taxes goes to pay Erie County’s Medicaid bill. That total will increase by approximately $5.1 million next year and it will continue on that upward path year after year until Albany aligns our system with that of most other states.  It’s unfortunate that we are choosing to offer a Cadillac program and giving the bill to folks who primarily don’t use it and don’t have similar coverage in the private sector.

Although we face mandates that complicate our annual budget, we must also continue to invest in our infrastructure and provide services that benefit County residents’ quality of life. A few months ago we received positive news that Erie County ended 2010 with a surplus and approximately $23 million of those funds were designated to benefit various projects.

Included in the spending package approved by the Legislature was: $11.5 million to build the new County Home at Erie County Medical Campus and continue to provide excellent care for seniors and others in need; $7.5 million which is the county’s share for a new academic building at Erie Community College’s North Campus; $800,000 for the CHIPs Highway Program to be used for improvements to roadways; and $300,000 to help cultural groups with capital improvement projects through a matching program. Each of these spending allotments provides services for the residents of Erie County and by paying for them in cash we are not pushing the burden onto future generations and will save on interest costs associated with bonding.

(Printed June 2, 2011 in the East Aurora Bee and Orchard Park Bee)