Erie County Legislators have passed the county’s 2026 budget along party lines, with all seven Democrats voting for it, and the Republican minority voting against.
Republicans have repeatedly raised concerns that the budget does not do enough to cut expenses.
But Democrats cut the most they could, while supporting services that have lost federal funding, County Legislator Taisha St. Jean-Tard said.
“Knowing what's going on (at) the federal level, the cuts in the grants that are getting cut, we had to prioritize, not only our organizations, our nonprofits, who were actually suffering by losing grants," she said. "But we had to prioritize healthcare and making sure that affordability was our first and most important thing.”
Even though the minority caucus’s budget additions were rejected, Republican Legislator Lindsay Lorigo sees potential to negotiate in the coming months toward freezes to hiring and overtime.
“There certainly should be an appetite from all of us to tighten our belts and hold all of the departments accountable," she said. "I think that moving forward, we will see, especially those things that aren't necessarily budget cuts, it's opportunities to have these discussions and for the legislature to be notified. I think those should move forward with bipartisan support, and I anticipate they might.”
Additions to the final budget included an additional $125,000 for Jericho Road and $1.25 million for urban initiatives. The overall increase, including these and others, total more than $3 million but will be balanced by an equivalent reduction to fringe benefits for many departments.
