County budget addresses community needs
LYNN MARINELLI Legislature Chairperson
The Erie County Legislature adopted as amended a 2008 balanced budget by a 10-5 vote Dec. 4, after the county executive proposed a $1.4 billion operational budget and $58.5 million capital plan. The budget process involved department hearings, public testimony, consensus building through the Finance, Management and Budget Committee, and collaboration with the comptroller's office, the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority and the executive's budget office.

The expense side of the slightly more than $1 billion operational budget is more than 88 percent mandated due to mostly state and federal health and human services and public safety areas.

Revenue is mainly derived from property taxes, which remain frozen, and sales taxes, which are also distributed to cities, towns, villages, school districts, the NFTA and the control board. After revenue sharing, the county portion of sales tax for operational purposes is a little more than half. For the second straight year, the county budget was passed without increases in taxes or fees.

The Legislature added a budget resolution titled the "2008 Budget Accountability Act," which is designed to have each extragovernmental entity that receives funds engage in performance-based budgeting. Each organization must provide the Legislature a budget that includes measurable goals and objectives and report to the Legislature whether the goals have been met.

The 2008 budget doubles the dedication toward the Convention and Visitors Bureau, from $1.3 million to $2.6 million. While it is less than the county executive proposed, it is a 100 percent increase in funding. No other entity has received such an extraordinary funding increase. The 2008 amended budget provides a 22 percent funding increase for the Convention Center, from $1.3 million to $1.8 million. The 2008 capital budget includes $5 million in renovations and improvements to the Convention Center.

The Legislature allocated an additional $1.6 million to the Erie County Libraries, which would allow the library system to successfully meet continued public demand within the context of constrained Erie County resources.

Erie County has had a chronic problem with understaffing and overcrowding at the County Jail for more than a decade, leading to runaway overtime expenses and the intervention and threatened action of the State Board of Corrections. The County Legislature added 49 new guards to the jail. The district attorney has had a longstanding problem of losing staff because of uncompetitive salaries. The Legislature appropriated approximately $110,000 to help the district attorney retain employees.

The 2008 budget contains reforms and further challenges. Changes in the regional hospital care system, the future of Erie Community College, the new state and federal requirements on county elections operations, and meeting the Four-Year Plan objectives will all need due diligence as we build the 2009 budget, monitor budget management and maintain fiscal stability.

I continue my plea to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the Western New York legislative delegation to provide relief from specific state-mandated costs to preserve quality-of-life services.