Today, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz issued the following statement on the adoption of the 2023 Erie County Budget by the Erie County Legislature in a unanimous vote:

“Today, following negotiations with my administration, the Erie County Legislature (“Legislature”) voted 11-0 to adopt my proposed 2023 Erie County Budget (“Budget”). It is satisfying to see that the months of hard work by the Erie County Division of Budget and Management and our department heads in devising this responsible budget were recognized and affirmed in a strong bipartisan way by the Legislature today, which also supported my proposal to lower property taxes by forty cents to $3.92 per thousand dollars of assessed value. I thank Chairwoman April Baskin, Majority Leader Timothy Meyers and Minority Leader Joseph Lorigo for their leadership and partnership is finalizing this budget.

This is the fifth consecutive year we have lowered that rate and the eighth time overall since I took office, and as a result Erie County now has the lowest property tax rate in WNY. In other good economic news, for the ninth consecutive year Erie county will be retiring more debt that we issued, adding up to over $158 million in retired debt since 2012.

The Adopted Budget includes $85.2 million in total capital spending, including over $37 million for road and bridge infrastructure work, and continues transformative RENEW Plan investments in ErieNet and in critical sewer infrastructure. Additional investments in libraries, cultural organizations, and parks underscore my administration’s continuing commitment to the People’s Mandates, lowering taxes while delivering the services and programs residents expect and I thank the Legislature for supporting them.

I also thank the Legislature for their support in eliminating overtime eligibility for high ranking managerial employees across county government. Crafting a responsible Budget is never easy and requires cooperation and dialogue between all parties, and I thank the many offices and departments that acted together in the best interests of the people of Erie County to create this budget.”

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