ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — Erie County unveiled its 2025 budget proposal Tuesday with far fewer bells and whistles and a much more modest increase compared to recent years.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Budget and Management Director Mark Cornell laid out the county's still record spending plan that totals $1,968,183,452, a 1.38% increase from 2024.
Poloncarz called the budget a "no-nonsense budget" and signaled that tighter controls would be necessary going forward.
The county faces an $18 to $23 million shortfall in sales tax revenue, created by overestimating sales tax growth in last year's budget, higher Bills-related costs for the current stadium and new one in 2025, and additional personnel costs.
"We are not facing insurmountable future year gaps. We are not exceeding the property tax cap. We are not increasing our property tax rate but this budget acknowledges the reality of tighter budgets going forward," Cornell said.
Recent budgets proposed by the Poloncarz administration saw increases of 6.2% from 2021 to 2022, 13.3% from 2022 to 2023, and 9.1% from 2023 to 2024.
Cornell said the budget is a "return to normalcy" for the administration as revenues get tighter and inflation falls.
"We are going back to the first period of this administration where budgets were relatively tight when growth in those budgets was relatively small," Cornell said.
"I don't want to say it's a no-frills budget because there is a lot in the budget, but it's a no-nonsense budget," said Poloncarz.
According to the county executive, the 1.38% increase, or $26.8 million, can almost all be attributed to higher employee pay and benefits. Those costs include new personnel contracts that had significant cost-of-living adjustments and a restructured retirement plan for the Erie County Sheriff's Office Poloncarz explained.
The county also plans to upgrade the pay of 73 existing positions and hire an additional 25 full-time employees.
"We could have implemented some new programs and policies but we decided not to do that. It just wasn't the year to do it," Poloncarz said.
Erie County residents could see a $0.11 drop in their property tax rate if the county's proposal is passed as it stands. According to the budget office that would make it the lowest rate in Western New York - $3.38 per $1,000 of assessed value compared to $3.39 in 2024.
As assessments rise across Western New York, however, that change won't benefit all taxpayers, especially knowing that the county estimates collecting $12.8 million in new taxes next year.
It is worth noting that 85% of the county budget is mandated by New York State and the federal government, but while the county executive highlighted limiting spending in 2025, there are still $236.3 million in non-mandated expenses planned.
Those expenses, to name a few, include $4.5 million to improve the Buffalo and Erie County Central Library, $15 million to upgrade the county's public safety and emergency dispatch system and buy a new Sheriff's helicopter, and $61.7 million in road and bridge projects.
Poloncarz and Cornell added that the county will be saddling more debt than ever next year because of the new Bills' stadium project and a general project bond approved by the legislature in July.
Taking on that debt is only possible though because, over the past 10 years, the county has paid off more debt than issued the following year, totaling $173.3 million, according to the budget office.
Next, the proposed budget will head to the Erie County Legislature for review, revisions, or adoption by early December.
When reached for comment Tuesday, a spokesperson for the legislature's Republican caucus told 2 On Your Side to expect a response from lawmakers Wednesday, citing the need to read and discuss the plan.
The spokesperson also noted, however, that during the Poloncarz administration spending has increased to historic levels.