By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – The clock is now ticking on a tight timetable set by the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority. Erie County Executive Joel Giambra's four-year plan is due out this week. But Giambra warned that it may be short on many details for 2006.
For weeks, county leaders and residents have speculated on the size of any proposed property tax increase for 2006. Various reports have predicted taxes could increase by as much as 100 percent. Last week, Giambra said they were still hammering out details that would determine the final increase. But when asked if residents could be looking at a 50 percent hike, Giambra said he hoped they could keep it to that.
"It's going to be a double-digit increase and it's going to something that's going to require us to ask the taxpayers to pay more than they've been paying," said Giambra.
Giambra had promised to keep that hike as low as possible, by first cutting everywhere possible. A team of financial experts and county officials spent weeks mulling over more than 200 cost savings ideas. They included renegotiating labor contracts and restructuring government. But Giambra warned that major savings won't come soon.
"The opportunities for saving are more in the out years than they are for next year because of union contracts, state issues and other impediments with the various recommendations that have been made by the Partnership (the Buffalo Niagara Partnership) and other entities," said Giambra.
There will be other numbers, not only penciled in, but likely missing all together. The County Executive tempered expectations for the plan last week. He said it was a daunting task meeting this week's deadline. Giambra says when legislators do receive it, what they will have is the essence of the 2006 budget.
"I think you could say it's a firm plan but it's not going to have the level of detail this week that you'd normally see in a traditional budget document," said Giambra. "It will have spending, by major categories, expenditures, by major categories."
One of the details that will have to be included in the budget is the level of deficit borrowing. Officials agree that is a crucial number that will drive many others in the four-year plan.