By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – Erie County lawmakers approved a resolution Thursday supporting removal of toll barriers from the Niagara section of the Thruway.
The legislation also includes financial support for a lawsuit to have the barriers removed. It was filed against the State Thruway Authority by businessman Carl Paladino and the County Executive. But the administration has earmarked up to $35,000 for outside legal help in the battle.
District One legislator Daniel Kozub was the only dissenting vote. Kozub says he wants the tolls removed, but taxpayers should not have to pay for the lawsuit. But several other lawmakers said the tolls cost residents daily just to live and work in the city.
Lawmakers included language in the resolution requiring that the county attorney submit a quarterly report on the status and cost of the legal battle.
The County Legislature also wants control over how millions of dollars of state efficiency grants get dolled out. But they could end up in a tug of war with the County Fiscal Stability Authority.
About $10 million for efficiency initiatives in the county is part of the new state budget. The county's control board was designated as the pass through for those grants. But county lawmakers Thursday voted themselves in control of the funds. The resolution calls for the Legislature to authorize any grant requests from county departments, and to have final say over which requests ultimately get funded.
The control board's executive director, Lee Van Riper, told lawmakers that he alone could decide how the grants are spent. Van Riper says he is just the processor. But he says the state did put the control board is in charge of the grants. And he says the Legislature's resolution doesn't change that.