Legislature on the Side of Taxpayer in Budget Battle

For the benefit of the many taxpayers that are trying to determine who is on their side in the current debate and litigation regarding the 2009 Erie County Budget, make no mistake.

For the benefit of the many taxpayers that are trying to determine who is on their side in the current debate and litigation regarding the 2009 Erie County Budget, make no mistake.  The County Legislature is blocking the proposed Collins’ tax increase – plain and simple. It is the County Legislature that is looking out for the taxpayers by demanding tax relief now.

With nearly $11 million at risk of leaving taxpayers’ pockets to go into the Erie County general fund, I am not going to apologize to anyone, and especially not to the County Executive, for my decision to respect the opinions of my constituents – families, small businesses and senior citizens – by opposing a property tax increase in 2009.  For the record, I have not received one phone call, one e-mail or one letter asking me to support the Collins’ tax increase.

President Theodore Roosevelt said it best:  “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  The Erie County Legislature, through its surgical cuts to the 2009 Erie County Budget, more than compensated for the reduced revenue that holding the line on property taxes would bring.  We made cuts that were supported by consumption reports and financial data we pored over for weeks.  We adopted a balanced budget.

The County Legislature did not make capricious cuts.  They were judicious cuts.  They were prudent cuts.  And, quite frankly, the cuts we made were in keeping with “doing what we could, with what we had, here in Erie County,” just as Teddy Roosevelt advised people to do so many years ago.

Conventional wisdom tells us that you cannot tax your way out of a recession.  We intuitively know that the nearly $11 million in question is better left in the hands of the taxpayers, to be spent on necessities, pay down debt or even saved by those who can.  What better way is there to stimulate the local economy or improve family finances across this county?

Like many of our taxpayers, I am disappointed that the County Executive is so willing to go to court to impose a tax increase on the people and businesses of Erie County.  As public policymakers, every decision we make today will have ramifications for years to come.  From my vantage point, I am more than willing to ask county government to do more with less.  I wish the County Executive shared my “business view” of the single most important policy issue in front of us in 2009 ? helping our economy by encouraging our taxpayers to be consumers.  And, the first step to doing so is leaving more money in their hands.

I value bipartisan cooperation between branches of government.  But, I draw the line at a proposed tax increase when our senior citizens, small businesses and families find it hard to make ends meet.  For this reason, I will not be a rubber stamp for the Collins’ tax increase.