By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – The Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority is putting pressure on lawmakers to start saving taxpayers money right away.
County lawmakers hunkered down about a week ago, quietly going over the details of the County Executive's four-year fiscal recovery plan. Although silent on any progress, they promised to get it approved by October 1st. That was the deadline the state gave them to get the plan to the Control Board for its review. But Thursday, the Board said they were sending over to the Legislature a list of 17 cost savings initiatives lifted from the plan that they want action on now. Chairman Ned Regan says the timetable is irrelevant.
"There are some things we're unsure of, which are dates, mechanical problems," said Regan. "What we're sure of is that we have to start the taxpayer savings process now."
Consultants estimate the selected initiatives could save more than $5 million. They include ideas such as restructuring workers compensation and consolidating county office space. Regan and Vice Chair David Campbell say they are confident lawmakers will act on their request. Both also say they believe triggering a hard control board won't be necessary. But Campbell says that doesn't mean they won't have teeth.
"Being an advisory panel doesn't mean it isn't going to be effective and that we're not going to be able to get change and restructuring of the government," said Campbell. "The elected officials are the ones who ought to be doing this. And what our role is going to be is to keep the pressure on them to make sure they are doing what they ought to be doing, and to keep the pubic pressure on them."
The Board says there will actually be overlapping deadlines. And they say the four-year plan is being amended along the way. PFM consultants now say the plan will ultimately contain many million dollars more of potential savings than originally thought.
The cost of the consultants, however, was once again the subject of some debate Thursday. The Board agreed to a request by member Sheila Kee to remove a clause from the Board's bylaws that allowed them to grant the no-bid contract.