With Buffalo facing a $70 million budget hole and Dunkirk dealing with a $20 million fiscal gap, Burke along with fellow Assemblymen Jonathan Rivera and Bill Conrad wanted some answers.
As Burke points out, the budget deficits in both cities have residents frustrated.
“We need to have these open dialogs when the public is facing so much uncertainty in the cities they live in,” Burke said. “There's so much fiscal upheaval, and frankly, there's this palpable anger.”
After listening to detailed reports from Buffalo State Professor Dr. Fred Floss and former Erie County Budget Director Ken Kruly and then testimony from Raymour Nosworthy, Buffalo Finance Commissioner, and Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz, it became clear the financial issues ran deep and there is no immediate one-year fix.
Floss noted that should federal Medicaid cuts be approved, it would create a huge financial burden on both states and municipalities to pick up those costs.
“Medicaid is a crucial part of all of the state's budget,” Floss said.
Burke said the June 2 hearing was the first of several he hopes to host around New York State, including more in the region.
The key is to get an understanding of how cities like Buffalo and Dunkirk fell into the financial hole and how they can work them out.
“It's not just a one-year problem. This is a continuous problem. How is it that the City of Buffalo worked its way into a $70 million structural deficit while they just had a bunch of money that came in from the American Rescue Plan? It's gone? So, what are they doing? We need real answers,” Burke said.
For now, questions outnumber the answers.
