Date:  5/17/17

Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz was joined today by municipal leaders and representatives from around Erie County at Erie Community College (“ECC”) North Campus to begin the process of exploring cost-saving shared services between the county and municipalities as mandated by the enacted 2017-18 NYS Budget, which includes a variation of Gov. Cuomo’s Countywide Shared Services Property Tax Savings Plan. NYS is requiring the creation of this shared services panel at the local level, chaired by the County Executive and comprised of the chief executive officers from each city, town and village in the county. The panel is tasked with the goal of reducing total local property taxes by identifying collaborative opportunities for shared services between as many local governments as possible.

“I look forward to working with our partners in government to identify real savings for county taxpayers through sharing of services and elimination of duplicative services,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “By working together in a spirit of openness and service to our constituents we can produce a plan that doesn’t just shift costs but instead is beneficial to our entire community.”

NYS law sets a tight timeline for the Panel’s work, with potential cost-saving ideas and plans submitted to the county by June 16 and the group’s second meeting to be held that week to review all submissions. 3 public hearings will be held in the summer to allow public input from stakeholders, and the proposed plan will then be voted on by the Panel in September. If a plan is approved, its tax savings must be certified to the NYS Budget Office by mid-September and the plan would then be publicly presented in October. If no plan is approved, each voting member must provide NYS with a written reasoning for their vote and the process would be repeated in 2018.

For more information:

On the Shared Services Plan and FAQ’s from NYS, visit

https://www.ny.gov/programs/shared-services-initiative