Two of the City of Buffalo’s top officials are in a stand off over millions of dollars in capital improvement funding.
When Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon got his record $110 million capital budget passed back in December, supporters praised the wealth of improvement projects as needed investments. Opponents called it a misstep, in light of the city’s $28 million debt cap.
Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams has concerns about Buffalo’s financial future, and is not issuing bond anticipation notes to kickstart financing for most projects over the debt cap. That has Scanlon going on the offensive.
“Here you have a comptroller not meeting responsibilities and trying to take on additional responsibilities that do not belong to that position," said Scanlon. "So today, I am announcing that unless the comptroller agrees by August 29 to bond out for all projects associated with the 2025 capital budget, I will initiate legal proceedings.”
Miller-Williams argues her office does have the power to not borrow money for the city if it’s analyzed as fiscally irresponsible.
“It is my duty to ensure that I remain fiscally sound and that we stay within the city's legal and financial capacity," outlined Miller-Williams. "Exceeding the cap, exceeding the cap in a historical manner, could jeopardize our long term fiscal health and potentially our credit rating.”
The comptroller also said she’s overly cautious about more borrowing, as there’s still $180 million in outstanding city debt. But Scanlon is claiming many of the projects are reimbursable through the state or federal governments, making them more financially sound investments.
“Buffalo Public Schools has provided documentation from New York state saying that those projects would be reimbursed at 97% and that they would they would cover the other 3% the $26 million in BAN [bond anticipation notes], all reimbursed through this federal money that we have at our disposal,” said Scanlon.
So far Miller-Williams has kickstarted bond financing for $35 million in projects, over her $28 million debt cap. She calls these projects “shovel-ready,” and include streetscaping to Jefferson and Busti Avenues, Cars on Main Street and $22 million to projects for Buffalo Public Schools.
