In a statement emailed to media late Wednesday, Mychajliw falsely claimed Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick and the democratic majority was voting to “defund” the Erie County Sheriff’s department:
“Kevin Hardwick is a lying, hypocritical fraud that voted for a meaningless, ‘feel good’ resolution generically supporting businesses, then stabbed them in the back in the same meeting by voting against an additional $5 million in COVID aid for businesses.
Kevin Hardwick also ran ultra-conservative Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign here, then flip flopped to the political party that strongly supports defunding police, Black Lives Matter and riots in the streets that destroyed buildings and businesses. Hypocrites and frauds that live in glass houses should not throw stones. “
Hardwick responded:
“I understand the Comptroller has accused me of defunding the police. Had he been doing his job, he would have known that it is Sheriff Howard’s proposal that we adopted.
He also would have noticed that the Republican Caucus did not lift a finger in their amendment package to restore these jobs.
We need the self-proclaimed taxpayer’s watchdog to pay more attention to what is actually happening in county government.”
Meanwhile, the Erie County Legislature passed the 2021 Erie County Budget.
In a statement, Leglislature Chairwoman April Baskin said:
“The budget document my Caucus proposed and passed today is one that shows our priority and commitment to the people of Erie County, a place I am so grateful to serve. The Minority Caucus amendment proposals were not only fiscally irresponsible, but they would not help community organizations and non-profit groups, nor the residents and persons in the urban core who pay County taxes but do not get the benefit of County roads. Furthermore, their amendments would have created long-term structural holes in our County’s financial plan.
Utilizing an extra $10 million in fund balance to double the amount of money the County was using in 2021 from our reserves risks the County’s credit rating, could be rejected by the County control board, and harms and our ability to, if necessary, use that money when needed in 2021 for COVID-19 response or outlying years to balance future gaps. The County Division of Budget and Management has done an excellent job maintaining the county’s fiscal integrity through this crisis and the Legislature should be preserving that good work, not attempting to damage it unnecessarily.
The approved Erie County Budget for 2021 stays under the property tax cap and includes a 29-cent property tax rate decrease that is the largest we have seen in nearly 2 decades. The budget we passed is equitable. We provided $2.1 million funding to Erie County’s three cities, which have historically been excluded from infrastructure funding. We funded non-profits who have struggled to remain operational this year. We restored $100,000 to youth summer programming. We funded $100,000 for a mental health facility on Buffalo’s East Side. We added additional savings to the County Executive’s tax rate proposal. We allocated millions to the County’s three cities who undoubtedly generate revenue for our entire region. Today was a good for the residents of Erie County and I am proud to have presided over this legislative body.”
