I hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day enjoying the many traditions that make it a special celebration. I was honored to attend the Amherst Gaelic League’s 50th annual Irish American Appreciation party and it was my pleasure to present a proclamation from the Erie County Legislature to this year’s Irish Person of the Year, legendary broadcaster John Murphy. John delivered a rousing speech filled with many chuckles. It was great to see his remarkable progress.
The warmer weather also marks the beginning of road construction season. The freeze/thaw cycles and salt take a toll on the region’s roadways and, as a result, it is imperative that we make maintenance of the 2,400 lane miles owned by Erie County a top priority. Unfortunately, when it comes to infrastructure needs, over the years we have seen a lack of commitment by this Administration. For example, the County Executive for years has told residents who live on New Road in Amherst and Conner Road in Clarence that improvements were scheduled. In fact, residents on New Road received a letter from Mark Poloncarz dated July 11, 2019, which was an election year, that stated, “I am happy to inform you that New Road between Millersport Highway and Dodge Road will soon be paved in advance of new design and construction on this road that is anticipated to be completed by year 2021.” Five years later, not a single shovel has hit the ground.
For 2024, the question is how we intend to pay for this year’s infrastructure projects. As any one of us would do with our personal finances, we need to understand how much cash we have on hand before going to a bank and taking out a loan, particularly with the current high interest rates. Last year, the County Executive verbally notified my caucus that there was only $18 million in 2022 surplus funds, so we needed to borrow $43 million to pay for the 2023 projects. Just a few weeks later and after the borrowing package was approved, a $96 million surplus was unveiled. Rather than paying cash for infrastructure or catching up on projects that have been sidelined for years, the County Executive and legislative Democrats rubber-stamped a massive spending bill filled with pet projects and no bipartisan support. At that time, we notified the County Executive that his 2024 borrowing package, which requires bipartisan support, must be accompanied by the 2023 surplus reports. We successfully did this in 2022 and people lauded Democrats, Republicans and Conservatives for working together.
Unfortunately, this year, the County Executive has chosen to submit the largest infrastructure borrowing package in recent memory without any information regarding the 2023 budget surplus. Even after we notified him that we needed to wait for additional information, he chose to try to ram the resolution down the taxpayers’ throat without the necessary bipartisan support. Consequently, the borrowing package did not receive legislative approval, and Mr. Poloncarz went on one of his unhinged X (Twitter) rants blaming everyone else for this failure.
Over the last couple years, my caucus has reduced long-term debt by more than $80 million over the County Executive’s initial borrowing proposals. I am confident that we will reduce the long-term debt in 2024, as well. I would encourage the County Executive to pick up the phone and work with us. There are too many important road projects that need to be completed for the betterment of Erie County taxpayers. Choosing to spend more time on social media than working with your partners in government benefits no one and unnecessarily delays Erie County in fulfilling its infrastructure maintenance responsibilities.
If you have county related issues, please reach out to my office at 716-858-8676 or by email, Christopher.Greene@erie.gov.
