Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz
Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz was joined today by Director of the Erie County Office of Budget and Management Mark Cornell to unveil the 2027 Proposed Erie County Budget (“the Budget”). Balanced and fiscally prudent, the 2027 Proposed Budget is $2.408 billion for all Operating Funds. While the county’s Property Tax Levy has grown by 3.6% or $12.7 million, the county’s Property Tax Rate will reduce from the current $3.09 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $3.01, a reduction of $0.08, which stays under the NYS Tax Cap and once again gives Erie County the lowest property tax rate by far of any of the eight WNY counties. The Poloncarz administration has decreased the county’s Property Tax Rate by 40.2%, or $2.02 per thousand, since 2012.
“The 2027 Budget is very tight, with no new programs or services except for the expected opening of Willowdale Park in 2027. This Budget funds the necessary and mandated programs that are critical to our community but is also cognizant of the burdens and obstacles that are coming because of congressional actions,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ that congressional republicans are now trying to hide from after voting for it is really ‘The Big Shift’ because it is shifting service costs from the Federal Government down to State & Local Governments. The Big Shift is already having an impact on us.”
Poloncarz pointed to changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) as harbingers of the damage that the Big Shift will do to communities like Erie County. Effective October 1st of this year, a 25% cut to SNAP administration reimbursement took place; while the program was funded 50/50 between the federal government and the county prior to the change, it is now 25% federal and 75% county. This results in a $10.2 million loss in revenue for 2027. The Big Shift also passes along a 50% increase in employment and training costs for the program, which increases the county’s share by $3.6 million. The county must provide the service, which means the county must fund this $13.8 million expense from local dollars.
Effective October 1st of 2027 (without congressional action), there will be a 15% increase in SNAP benefits’ cost; assuming this new cost is passed on to the counties by the state, this will add approximately $55 million annually to the county’s burden. The Big Shift also forces seniors to continue to work until age 64 to maintain eligibility, removes exemptions for working families by reducing dependent child age from under 18 to 7, and eliminates the Standard Utility Allowance for working households.
“The SNAP program is, for many families and individuals, the last line of defense before going hungry. It is what helps working families to get food on the table for their children, it is what allows older adults on fixed incomes to have some dignity in their nutritional choices, and it is an essential tool in the fight against hunger,” said Poloncarz. “However, for congressional republicans, giving unneeded tax breaks to billionaires was more important than ensuring that hungry Americans had access to food.”
Poloncarz also noted cuts and changes to Medicaid that are included in the Big Shift. Changes to program eligibility will purge an estimated 1.2 – 1.5 million NY residents from Medicaid, including 5,000 -10,000 Erie County residents. As of October 1st, 2026 many legal immigrants had their eligibility stripped away. Beginning on January 1st, able bodied work requirements (reviewed every 6 months) will go into effect, retroactive coverage for past medical bills drops from three months to one month prior to application, and eligibility recertification will increase to every six months rather than the current, once a year recertification.
Mandated indigent health care subsidies to ECMC are another cause for concern in the Budget, as these costs continue to rise by millions of dollars. However, the Budget also invests in tourism promotion by including $15 million in Hotel Tax Revenue, of which Visit Buffalo Niagara will receive $8 million, $4.5 million will be used for Buffalo Convention Center capital needs and $2.5 million is allocated for Convention Center operations. In addition, the Budget provides $8.5 million in operating support for more than 110 cultural organizations.
The Budget is now in the hands of the Erie County legislature, who will vote on it in early December.
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