Buffalo City Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams is not backing down.
In the face of a lawsuit and criticism from her fellow elected officials in City Hall, Miller-Williams, defended her refusal to issue and sell most of the $110 million in bonds for capital projects.
“In the past six years, I have been making it loudly clear that the city was not heading into a good financial arena,” Miller-Williams said at a public meeting in the Buffalo & Erie County Central Public Library Wednesday evening. “We had the pandemic, we had an influx of federal dollars, etc. I think that staved off a lot of this. But here we are today, dealing with reality. I am again letting it be known loud and clear: the fiscal integrity of our city must be protected.”
The comptroller called on city lawmakers to focus on maintenance and “shovel-ready” projects instead of continuing to borrow money for projects that are “sitting collecting dust.” Buffalo currently has $20 million in unspent proceeds from bonds, she said.
Miller-Williams’ comments come as she faces a lawsuit from Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon and Common Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski compelling her to issue and sell the remainder of the bonds, which were approved by the Common Council when it passed Scanlon’s capital budget last December. Only University District Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt voted against the proposal.
The capital budget borrows money with bonds to pay for infrastructure projects and equipment. Some of the projects funded by the budget passed by the Common Council include 27 renovation projects at public schools, multiple road and bridge improvement projects, equipment for city departments and even the restoration of the McKinley Monument.
In court papers, Scanlon and Nowakowski said the capital projects were “a bargain for Buffalo’s taxpayers and offer significant value.”
Miller-Williams has maintained that it would be fiscally irresponsible for the city to exceed her office’s recommended “debt cap” and issue more than $28 million in bonds, $82 million more than what’s called for in the capital improvement budget. The comptroller said she would only issue bonds beyond that debt cap under a court order.
“This comptroller will always abide by the law,” Miller-Williams said. “If the ruling comes down that I am required… to the market and exceed the debt cap, I will sign under duress. And I will ensure that each and every citizen and taxpayer is aware of why I will be signing under duress. I want us to continue to stay within the debt cap that has been advanced every year.”
Members of the Common Council, including Lovejoy District Councilmember Bryan Bollman, have said Miller-William’s refusal to issue bonds has held up roadwork and other infrastructure projects in the city, but the standoff hasn’t halted every project.
The Buffalo Comptroller’s Office has issued short-term bonds (called bond anticipation notes) for some projects on Miller-Williams’ instruction. Those bonds will fund $22 million of projects at 21 public school buildings, which the comptroller called a “fiscally responsible decision” since 97% of the cost of those projects can be reimbursed by the state.
Bond anticipation notes worth $7 million were also issued for three projects that can be reimbursed by the federal government at a 95% rate: Renovations to the northern half of Jefferson Avenue, a car-sharing project on Main Street and roadwork on Busti Avenue.
Miller-Williams did not address the fates of seven other road and bridge projects approved in the acting mayor’s capital budget.
“Those projects were never at risk. Never were they at risk,” Miller-Williams said. “So for those who are out there saying that those are being held up, that is not true at all.”
Miller-Williams had previously requested that the acting mayor and Buffalo Public Schools submit a priority list of which capital projects should be funded with a limited amount of funding from bonds. During the meeting, she claimed that her office had received a copy of a letter from Scanlon instructing BPS administrators to not send her a list.
The debt cap is a recommendation calculated using the comptroller’s Capital Debt Management Policy, which is calculated using three ratios. The policy — and how the debt limit is calculated — became a point of contention at a meeting of the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority Wednesday afternoon.
Exceeding the debt cap, Miller-Williams has argued, puts the city at risk of taking a knock to its credit score, which would make borrowing money more expense and ultimately increase the tax burden for the city’s residents.
Fitch and S&P Global, two credit rating agencies, recently affirmed the Buffalo’s A+ bond rating. But both said the city had a “negative” financial outlook due to the end of COVID-era federal stimulus funding, rising operating costs and budget gaps.
The comptroller has not publicly stated what provision of the City Charter — effectively Buffalo’s constitution — gives her the power to refuse to issue the bonds. Miller-Williams, citing the ongoing litigation, did not take questions from reporters after the meeting. A spokesperson for the comptroller did not immediately respond to questions from BTPM NPR.
Scanlon and Nowakowski have argued in court filings that Miller-Williams has no power to block bonds issued by the Common Council. Their lawsuit cites §20-21 of the City Charter, which states that the comptroller shall “advis[e] as to the maximum amount of capital debt that the city may prudently incur... without impairing the city’s credit rating and financial stability.” In the event that the Common Council votes to take on more capital debt that the comptroller has advised, §20-25 of the charter stipulates that “the comptroller shall within ten days submit to the council a report advising as to the probable effect of such debt on the city’s financial condition.”
Oral arguments in Scanlon and Nowakowski’s suit against the comptroller are scheduled for Sept. 22.
Both parties will be represented by outside attorneys at taxpayers’ expense. Miller-Williams said the lawyer for the comptroller’s office was assigned to her by the city’s Law Department, which she didn’t “understand the need for.”
“Believe it’s not coming out of my budget because I don’t think that’s good use of funds,” Miller-Williams said.
Scanlon previously called the development “very disappointing and upsetting” but said he was more worried about the costs of delays in infrastructure projects as prices rise.
Holly Kirkpatrick contributed reporting.
