BILLS02138 Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 No matter how bad the past month has been with the Erie County budget Fiasco - I view all these developments as positive news for the tax payers of WNY. It appears we have hit rock bottom and I can't be happier. Let's cut the waste, the patronage, and build a new Buffalo. I am thrilled they refused to raise the sales tax in WNY. But I'm happier there will be deep cuts - why do we need over 10,000 public employees in Erie County? Yes, zoo's, museums, parks, libraries, fire-houses, cops, and schools are important and should be preserved (with some cuts in funding) - but the duplication of services, patronage, and pork totally over $1Billion dollars in a region with less than a million people is ridiculous. How hard is it to cut $70 Million out of a budget exceeding $1BILLION dollars? Great day in Buffalo. Legislature won't hike sales tax James Fink Business First Calling it a "day we will all remember," the Erie County Legislature Tuesday afternoon rejected a last-ditch effort to increase the local sales tax to help cover rising costs. The decision, which reaffirmed a 9-6 vote taken Monday evening against the proposed sales tax hike, means within the next 48 hours, the lawmakers must cut an estimated $70 million from its nearly $1 billion 2005 budget. Loosely translated, that means deep cuts in personnel and services. Because of various lawsuits -- all related to the budget soap opera that has gripped the Rath Building and Erie County Hall for the better part of four months -- the cuts and service reductions must be presented to State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Makowski by the end of business Thursday. Failure to do so, could result in court-mandated cuts. "After our cut package, necessary services will be gone," said Legislator Timothy Wroblewski. "I'm disenchanted with the system." Lawmakers, after Tuesday's session, were huddling to address the service and personnel cuts. The budget vote capped a hectic period that reached a crescendo two weeks ago and has been marked by a series of closed-door meetings and caucuses and some very heated and emotional public sessions. Tuesday's session began nearly four hours late as lawmakers and a court-appointed mediation team worked feverishly to try and find some form of sales tax increase that would have covered a significant portion of the county's projected $108 million budget gap. State lawmakers, including Gov. George Pataki, said 10 votes were needed from the 15-person legislature to get Albany's sign of approval. "There will be deep cuts, no doubt," said Legislator Elise Cusack. "We have to look across the board and find an approach that is equitable to everyone." County lawmakers considered a number of options ranging from a three-quarters percent increase of the sales tax, as presented late Sunday evening by County Executive Joel Giambra, to options that popped up during the last 24 hours including one-half cent or one-eighth sales tax increase. The extra money is needed to cover a gap caused by Medicaid and pension mandates imposed on the county. In the end, the legislature remained sharply divided and no consensus could be reached. "If you don't address this crisis, then the county is out of business," said veteran Legislator Charles Swanick. "At the end of the day, Erie County will change and we'll have to see where this change takes us." The entire process has lead Moody's Investor Service to render the county's bond rating on the watchlist with a negative rating and possible downgrade, both Giambra and Comptroller Nancy Naples said. Also, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership said the way the situation has been handled makes a strong case for a an indepedent review of county finances. The Partnership, the area's leading business advocacy group, is proposing to organize, fund and coordinate a budget review that would have private sector, organized labor, and non-profit representatives in an oversight role. "Citizens in Erie County are fed up," said Andrew Rudnick, president and CEO of the group. "But the good news is that many people have already stepped forward to volunteer to assist in the review. Nobody wants to be in this same situation in 2006, 2007 or beyond - and the Partnership is taking the initiative to ensure that doesn't happen." The review's first task would be to determine how much of 2005's gap can be attributed to Medicaid and how much is due to other expense increases, and what the gap is projected to be over the next three years. It would then be charged with recommending how the gap can be closed - responsibly - to avoid a similar budget mess in future years. Giambra has largely blamed the county's fiscal plight on increasing Medicaid costs. Business First Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 What's the population of the county? Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theNose76 Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 What's the population of the county? Anyone? 240328[/snapback] Somewhere between 900,000 and 1,000,000 - and getting smaller by the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachChuckDickerson Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Giambra has largely blamed the county's fiscal plight on increasing Medicaid costs. Business First 240326[/snapback] And the fact that of the 10,000 employees on the payroll, 7,864 of them are held by people with the last name Giambra. Cronieism at its best ladies and gentlemen, Mr Giambra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I think that too much of the problem with Buffalo comes from the folks over in Albany. If it didn't, why is every other upstate city sucking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shameless Homer Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Love it if you like, but the story in that article is the bond rate downgrading. Less borrowing power and a less favorable rate. That 70 million saved will be offset by the borrowing losses over a 10 or 15 year bond period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I think that too much of the problem with Buffalo comes from the folks over in Albany. If it didn't, why is every other upstate city sucking? 240335[/snapback] There's alot to it and most of it has to do with graft, corruption, and apathy. There aren't any levels of government, nor large entities (unions especially) that are without blame. But hey, as long as somebody's getting theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachChuckDickerson Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Love it if you like, but the story in that article is the bond rate downgrading.Less borrowing power and a less favorable rate. That 70 million saved will be offset by the borrowing losses over a 10 or 15 year bond period. 240336[/snapback] Who sh-t in your cornflakes? It is a "good day" remember? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
envirojeff Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Unbelievable? Do you have your head in the sand??? Do you really think that government employees are ticket takers at the Zoo and tour guide's? Some are the ones that take your nasty trash away, some are responsible for the safety of your drinking water, some make sure that when you flush the toilet everything goes away....Sometimes it hard to believe that so many people have no idea how hard Government employees ( service employees practically) work. Do some research on the services that you are provided before shouting off your mouth next time FOR GOD'S SAKE!! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachChuckDickerson Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Unbelievable? Do you have your head in the sand??? Do you really think that government employees are ticket takers at the Zoo and tour guide's? Some are the ones that take your nasty trash away, some are responsible for the safety of your drinking water, some make sure that when you flush the toilet everything goes away....Sometimes it hard to believe that so many people have no idea how hard Government employees ( service employees practically) work. Do some research on the services that you are provided before shouting off your mouth next time FOR GOD'S SAKE!! Jeff 240344[/snapback] Damn. Your last name wouldn't be Giambra is it? Sounds like the gravy train might be slowing down and hopefully coming to a stop for some folks........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BILLS02138 Posted February 15, 2005 Author Share Posted February 15, 2005 Unbelievable? Do you have your head in the sand??? Do you really think that government employees are ticket takers at the Zoo and tour guide's? Some are the ones that take your nasty trash away, some are responsible for the safety of your drinking water, some make sure that when you flush the toilet everything goes away....Sometimes it hard to believe that so many people have no idea how hard Government employees ( service employees practically) work. Do some research on the services that you are provided before shouting off your mouth next time FOR GOD'S SAKE!! Jeff 240344[/snapback] Sorry buddy, I'm not going to apologize... When Erie County turns out to be your largest employer in the region - we've gotta problem. When our taxes are the highest in the nation - we have one too many people watching my sh-- and tax money go down the drain. When every family in WNY is losing there brothers and sisters, sons and daughters because we live in a corrupt region - it's time to cut the waste and make the necessary cuts. Things have got to change man - Are we going to continue to RAISE TAXES everytime we are SHORT or are we going to address the problems with an over bloated ERIE COUNTY GOV'T. GET A !@#$ING CLUE MAN - WE PAY TOO MUCH IN TAX. ps: ONE LAST THING - why don't you move back from ORLANDO and help out instead of preach from afar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Unbelievable? Do you have your head in the sand??? Do you really think that government employees are ticket takers at the Zoo and tour guide's? Some are the ones that take your nasty trash away, some are responsible for the safety of your drinking water, some make sure that when you flush the toilet everything goes away....Sometimes it hard to believe that so many people have no idea how hard Government employees ( service employees practically) work. Do some research on the services that you are provided before shouting off your mouth next time FOR GOD'S SAKE!! Jeff 240344[/snapback] The truth lies somewhere between the two extremes. The fact is, pretty much all levels of NYS government are far too large with excessive power and regulatory might. They've all but killed the state North of the NYC suburbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike32282 Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Unbelievable? Do you have your head in the sand??? Do you really think that government employees are ticket takers at the Zoo and tour guide's? Some are the ones that take your nasty trash away, some are responsible for the safety of your drinking water, some make sure that when you flush the toilet everything goes away....Sometimes it hard to believe that so many people have no idea how hard Government employees ( service employees practically) work. Do some research on the services that you are provided before shouting off your mouth next time FOR GOD'S SAKE!! Jeff 240344[/snapback] Not to mention, there are now a lot more people getting laid off because of this. One of the affected was my season ticket partner...not anymore. :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: Anyone who thinks cutting jobs is a good thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
envirojeff Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Damn. Your last name wouldn't be Giambra is it? Sounds like the gravy train might be slowing down........ 240347[/snapback] It was meant as a simple reminder that some of these employees that maybe losing there jobs play an important roll (behind the scenes) in everyday life. If they do their jobs correctly, you would not even know that they are there. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Some are the ones that take your nasty trash away 240344[/snapback] Trash is not a county task, the city and towns do the trash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike32282 Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 It was meant as a simple reminder that some of these employees that maybe losing there jobs play an important roll (behind the scenes) in everyday life. If they do their jobs correctly, you would not even know that they are there. Jeff 240356[/snapback] No to mention, the "government employees" are not the ones that people think. They aren't the lackeys in the office or the morons who caused this problem. They are regular people, people who now are jobless in an area where there are already a bunch of jobless people in Western NY. I think a tiny tax increase would have been a better move than laying off employees. Or how about paycuts for the BIG government employees? I'd like to see Giambra take one... I'd also like to see that !@#$ing moron mayor of Rochester take the !@#$ing Fast Ferry the hell out of here before it causes any more problems. !@#$ing Johnson! :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 What's the population of the county? Anyone? 240328[/snapback] 950,265 at last count (2000). Down about 18,000 from 1990. This site is cool...all sorts of info on WNY: http://rin.buffalo.edu/s_data/db/demo.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Trash is not a county task, the city and towns do the trash 240358[/snapback] Trash collection shouldn't be a municipal responsibility at all. There's no reason why the private sector can't handle this service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Not to mention, there are now a lot more people getting laid off because of this. One of the affected was my season ticket partner...not anymore. :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: Anyone who thinks cutting jobs is a good thing... 240354[/snapback] How short-sighted is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Not to mention, there are now a lot more people getting laid off because of this. One of the affected was my season ticket partner...not anymore. :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: Anyone who thinks cutting jobs is a good thing... 240354[/snapback] I doubt if any one ever wants to see someone loose their job. But as times change thru the economy and technology, job roles change too. There used to be a lot of manufacturing jobs in WNY. They're gone, and people adapt. And I sympathise because it is never painless. All you can do is try to prepare for it and increase your own personal skill base to make you valuable to a future employer. That can increase your chances of employment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts