Today, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz issued the following statement after being informed by the New York State Comptroller’s Office that Erie County Comptroller Stefan I. Mychajliw, Jr.’s Office failed to file a required annual financial report for Erie County following the close of the County’s fiscal year:

“It is extremely disappointing to have learned from the State Comptroller’s Office that the required Annual Update Document (AUD) for Erie County was not filed by the Erie County Comptroller’s Office for the fiscal-year ending Dec. 31, 2020.

The document he failed to file was due May 1, which represents 120 days after the end of the previous fiscal year. As a former county comptroller, I can speak first-hand about the importance of filing Erie County’s AUD by the deadline. The report serves as an extremely important source of fiscal information for the State Comptroller’s Office and the general public. The financial data in the document serves as the basis for calculating fiscal stress scores for New York State’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System.

Comptroller Mychajliw is always eager to attack others and seek publicity for matters not related to his office instead of focusing on the duties and responsibilities related to his elected position. I urge Comptroller Mychajliw to put aside his passion of seeking media attention and take his clearly stated job responsibilities seriously. Erie County’s AUD needs to be filed as soon as possible so that we remain in legal compliance with the state’s reporting requirements.

If he fails to do so, our fiscal stress classification will be listed as “not filed” and could have serious repercussions for the county because it will appear to many in New York State government and on Wall Street that Erie County is in serious fiscal distress, when in fact the opposite is the case.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic it is important that every elected official provide sound leadership for their constituents, including completing basic mandatory tasks that serve as communication from one level of government to another. Grandstanding on issues unrelated to one’s office may result in ‘likes’ on social media posts, but it does nothing for those we serve when one ignores the basic responsibilities of the office we were elected to by our residents. The people of Erie County deserve better.”