By Bert Gambini & Eileen Buckley
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-972215.mp3
Buffalo, NY – Erie County Executive Chris Collins has outlined his Four-Year Financial Plan. The plan highlights the County's financial turnaround and shows no out year budget gaps.
It would cut up to 300 jobs in 2012, on top of the more than 400 jobs cut from this year's budget. Most of the cuts in the Four Year Plan would be through attrition, but as many as 100 people could be laid off.
Collins said the plan includes a modest projected budget surplus of $5-million.
"Erie County, through our focus in running the county's finances, like the hard working families in Western New York do their own, we are tightening our belt, setting a little aside for a raining day. and we are being realistic as we make assumptions of what the future looks like, because frankly Washington and Albany are not in good shape, versus Erie County, which is," said Collins
But County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz, who will run against Collins in the upcoming County Executive race, is critical of both the tactics and attempts to promote the surplus.
"County executive is using the fund balance to balance the 2011 budget, he's proposing to do the same in 2012. And I remember if people remember we received about $100 million in federal stimulus that if we hadn't gotten that, we certainly would not have had surpluses in these last few years," said Poloncarz.
The county executive's plan does preserve funding levels to the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, but the $18-million allocation is being called a "real blow," which could necessitate major changes, including possibly closing some branch.
The plan also fails to restore any funding to a number of smaller cultural organizations zeroed-out of this year's budget.