Boycott Erie County > New York

Posted: 12/9/2004 7:49:31 PM EDT

instead of showing Albany we aren't going to take it anymore the legislature broke 2 budget deadlines and then ended up raising the sales tax to 9.25%. I will no longer be buying anything in Erie County except for emergency food and gas runs when I don't have time to go to Niagara or Chautauqua.
If they had passed the "red budget" almost all services would have been eliminated due to the insane amount we have to pay in medicaid. I and many other's in the area feel this would have been pretty major news, possibly even national news, and would have caused the state legislature to actually look into reforming medicaid
Local news also reports the amendments were voting in as a package yet the county charter says they have to be voted on one at a time. Local talk radio hosts are asking lawyers to look into this and file a class action lawsuit if true. I doubt that'll happen but it'd be nice.
commercial for local tv news said something about increased fees also being in the budget but I missed the story. An out of state job offer can't come fast enough at this point

Posted: 12/9/2004 8:00:58 PM EDT

[#1]

9.25%!!!! What are they going to do when their tax revenue drops as people go and shop in adjoining counties, jobs are lost and businesses close? Are they going to raise it to 10.25%?

Posted: 12/9/2004 8:14:47 PM EDT

[#2]

here's the best part, which I forget. Even with the sales tax increase there's still a deficit. so next year when medicaid costs rise some more (county executive already said it most likely will) they're going to be in the shit again

www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=25040

When Erie County's sales tax rises to 9.25% sometime next year, it will become the highest in the state -- higher than Suffolk and Nassau Counties and even New York City. If Erie County were its own state, it would have the second-highest sales tax in the country behind Tennessee.

www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=24978

The vote to pass the sales tax increase was 10-5. Voting for the budget were all eight democrats: Lynn Marinelli, Al DeBenedetti, Edward Kuwik, Mark Schroeder, George Holt, Demone Smith, Raymond Dusza, and Timothy Wroblewski. Two republicans also voted for the sales tax increase: Charles Swanick and Jeanne Chase.

Posted: 12/10/2004 3:47:31 AM EDT

[#3]

Wow, it seems like a little bit of Long Island has now made it to Buffalo. We are currently at 8.75% sales tax and the local legislators are floating the idea of adding a local income tax. Gotta love this state...

Posted: 12/10/2004 4:32:12 AM EDT

[#4]

9+% next door in Oneida county. It will be us next year. How much will we take?!

-Justin

Posted: 12/10/2004 9:39:26 AM EDT

[#5]

Thats ok my property Taxes jumped up $1,000 and are due to go up again. What is the Answer I can't tell you due to the COC of this site, but it is going to get to a point where the Army is going to be back from the Sandbox to protect certain American interests.

Posted: 12/10/2004 7:14:12 PM EDT

[#6]

legislators think it was illegal
www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=25042

Was The 2005 Erie County Budget Vote Illegal?

Posted by: Stefan Mychajliw, Reporter
Created: 12/10/2004 12:18:48 AM
Updated: 12/10/2004 5:43:24 PM

vIllegal package deal?
vStefan Mychajliw reports

Related Links
# How did your legislator vote?
E-mail This Article
Printable Version

Within the 164-pages of amendments that make up the 2005 Erie County budget is an extra fee for any Erie County resident that uses a cell phone.

“It’s called the ‘E 9-1-1’ surcharge,” said Erie County Legislator Lynn Marinelli.

Erie County will collect $1.5 million for that cell phone fee, which is expected to show up on your bill.

That extra fee and the way budget amendments were voted on is the reason why some legislators now believe the big budget vote was illegal.

First: some say any vote to increase a fee must be approved by two-thirds of the legislature, or a ten-to-five vote.

The vote on the budget turned out to be an eight-to-seven vote.

Stefan Mychajliw: “The charter says, any fees has to be a ten-to-five vote, correct?”

Legislator Al DeBenedetti: “Absolutely. It’s a clear requirement under the law.”

“Fees need ten votes. The budget vote went eight-to-seven,” added Marinelli.

2 On Your Side was able to get in touch with Erie County Legislator Chuck Swanick, who confirmed that the “E 9-1-1” fee was in fact in the budget amendments.

There is still some serious confusion as to what is in and what is out of the 2005 budget.

Some Democratic staffers and legislators were given 2005 Legislative amendments that included even more fees, including:

“Page 21 of 177: $2.16 million to be collected for Clerk’s Office fees.”

“Page 23 of 177: $2.7 million to be collected for DMV fees.”

“Page 147 of 177: $1.35 million for golf fees.”

Swanick said those fees are not included in the final 2005 budget agreement, even though they are clearly marked in some of the amendments given to Democratic staffers and legislators.

According to Swanick, those fee proposals were dropped from the final agreement.

The second potential legal issue: a total of 164-pages of individual amendments were voted on. Section 1803 of the Erie County Charter is crystal clear: “budget amendments…shall be considered separately and voted on individually on the floor of the legislature.”

Because the clock was close to striking midnight, Legislators voted to “bundle” all of the individual amendments into one big bill. Technically speaking, that’s a violation of the Erie County Charter.

Stefan Mychajliw: “Do you believe the vote was legal?”

Erie County Legislator Denise Marshall: “ No, I do not. I don’t believe it was legal.”

Mychajliw: “Your gut feeling, was that vote illegal?”

DeBenedetti: “I believe it is. My gut feeling: clearly, it’s illegal.”

Either way, if there is a successful court challenge to the legality of the budget vote, there is a chance that a court of law could rule that red budget could be implemented by default.

If that’s the case, Legislators could come back on January 1st, 2005, and vote amendment-by-amendment, line-by-line.

But it would be a potential nightmare for the Erie County Personnel Department. How would they deal with layoff notices, even though jobs would be restored? How would they deal with employees who are retiring on or just before January 1st?

Most legislators didn’t even have copies of the budget amendments in front of them for the final vote on Wednesday. There wasn’t enough time to make copies. So in a sense, legislators approved a 2005 budget without having an official document in front of them.

“It’s not a proud day in Erie County,” said Erie County Legislator Dr. Barry Weinstein.

“I’m flabbergasted. I can’t believe we didn’t have a budget in front of us,” said Erie County Legislator Elise Cusack.

“It’s bizarre, it’s wrong, and it shouldn’t happen,” added Marinelli.

Posted: 12/10/2004 7:18:30 PM EDT

[#7]

Was The 2005 Erie County Budget Vote Illegal?

Posted by: Stefan Mychajliw, Reporter
Created: 12/10/2004 12:18:48 AM
Updated: 12/10/2004 5:43:24 PM

vIllegal package deal?
vStefan Mychajliw reports

Related Links
# How did your legislator vote?
E-mail This Article
Printable Version

Within the 164-pages of amendments that make up the 2005 Erie County budget is an extra fee for any Erie County resident that uses a cell phone.

“It’s called the ‘E 9-1-1’ surcharge,” said Erie County Legislator Lynn Marinelli.

Erie County will collect $1.5 million for that cell phone fee, which is expected to show up on your bill.

That extra fee and the way budget amendments were voted on is the reason why some legislators now believe the big budget vote was illegal.

Surcharges are why I dropped my land line. A cell phone surcharge should be pretty easy to avoid. Get service at another address out of county. Have a plan with free LD and roaming, pay all your bills electronically online.

Posted: 12/10/2004 7:31:18 PM EDT

[#8]

EX WNY'er here, grew up in the Dunkirk/Fredonia/Brocton/Westfield. Still a Bills a fan here in Colts country. When we wanted a little tax relief we went to the Seneca Reservation for Gas and Erie PA for food and clothes. My dad still does. Too bad you cant move to PA.

Posted: 12/11/2004 12:35:08 PM EDT

[#9]

I grew up in Jamestown. Everyone of those monday holidays like columbus day that we had off from school but PA didn't we'd go to Erie to buy clothes since there was no tax

Quoted:
EX WNY'er here, grew up in the Dunkirk/Fredonia/Brocton/Westfield. Still a Bills a fan here in Colts country. When we wanted a little tax relief we went to the Seneca Reservation for Gas and Erie PA for food and clothes. My dad still does. Too bad you cant move to PA.

Posted: 12/12/2004 8:51:17 AM EDT

[#10]

1K for property taxes in NY specifically Erie County wouldn't cover the shed in the back yard....based on the tax structure in the state.
I would love to pay 1K for property taxes. I pay nearly 6X that in NY.

Posted: 12/15/2004 6:47:07 PM EDT

[#11]

awesome news, if for no other reason than to finally show these morons we're tired of their crap

buffalonews.com/editorial/20041215/1040279.asp

Erie County's budget leads to a pair of lawsuits

Taxpayer, officials target Giambra plan

By MATTHEW SPINA
News Staff Reporter
12/15/2004

Erie County's controversial new budget has spawned a couple of lawsuits - one from four county officials and another from a West Seneca taxpayer.

The proposed "red budget" should go into effect, says state court papers prepared by Daniel T. Warren of West Seneca, chairman of the Niagara Frontier Chapter of Upstate Citizens for Equality, a group that lobbies to change New York's tax policy toward Native American interests.

Warren contends that the sales tax increase was hammered out in a secret, illegal meeting and that it did not win the votes needed to levy a smattering of other new fees.

Meanwhile, four county officials filed their own 360-page lawsuit against County Executive Joel A. Giambra. Details of the lawsuit - filed by County Comptroller Nancy A. Naples; Legislator Denise E. Marshall, R-Lancaster; Democratic Elections Commissioner Laurence F. Adamczyk and Republican Elections Commissioner Ralph M. Mohr - were to be revealed today during a news conference in Naples' office.

In summary, their lawsuit addresses errors in the final figures adopted and seeks relief in several aspects of the approval process.

By late Tuesday, Warren's complaint had not been filed in State Supreme Court and no county official had been served with papers, said County Attorney Frederick A. Wolf, who has said the Legislature took legal votes to adopt a 2005 budget one week ago.

"I have not undertaken this course of action lightly and have given it considerable thought," Warren said on a UCE Web site, in which he also argued that a higher sales tax would just go uncollected on Indian land.

"Sometimes the right thing to do is not the popular thing to do," he wrote. "This concept appears to be lost on our elected officials."

The red budget that Giambra proposed Nov. 4 would have forced the layoffs of up to 3,000 county employees and idled about 3,000 more workers who rely on county spending, Giambra predicted at the time.

That budget also would have ended road patrols by sheriff's deputies, closed libraries and slowed the courts to a crawl, just some of the cutbacks needed if the Legislature did not raise the sales tax and restore spending by 11:59 p.m. Dec. 8.

After days of closed-door haggling, lawmakers and Giambra emerged with an agreement late on Dec. 8. Minutes before the deadline, 10 legislators, the two-thirds majority required by law, agreed to raise the sales tax by a penny to 9.25 cents on the dollar.

Their agreement also protected hundreds of patronage jobs, both for the Republican Giambra and the Democratic Party, which controls the Legislature. Giambra and the lawmakers also agreed to $2.25 million in member items, also known as legislators' pork-barrel spending.

With the sales tax approved, a majority of eight legislators then approved the new budget - $1.1 billion in spending along with new fees, most of them to be assessed when transacting business with the county clerk's office or the auto bureaus.

Warren, representing himself in the lawsuit, said that those fees require 10 votes under county law but received just eight. His court papers also say the closed-door negotiation, held in the Liberty Building to avoid prying eyes, violated New York's Open Meetings Law.

His papers also say that legislators, in their haste to act by midnight, approved budget amendments in one bundle when they should have approved them separately. Since the Legislature did not act properly by its deadline, its budget should be scrapped and Giambra's red budget should go into effect, his papers say.

His arguments are much like those presented by Legislator Albert DeBenedetti, D-Buffalo, chairman of the Finance and Management Committee. DeBenedetti voted to raise the sales tax but then opposed the budget when he saw that it protected pork and patronage.

He has promised to file a lawsuit by week's end.

Posted: 12/18/2004 7:05:48 PM EDT

[#12]

Here on long island -just bought a house average house nothing special---$6500 in tax--theres gotta be a better way then moving outta state-------

Posted: 2/4/2005 12:25:05 PM EDT

[#13]

oh man. this is getting good. looks like after all this fighting and lawsuits and having the state ok the increase one of the yes voters in the county legislature has decided to vote against the sales tax increase due to the pork and patronage jobs not being cut. Local NBC affiliate has done great coverage
their blog on it wgrz.com/news/Patronage/PatronageBlog.aspx
the three patronage reports under view our reports are interesting.
wgrz.com/news/Patronage/Patronage.aspx

breaking: news/talk radio is just reporting live. the sales tax increase is officially dead

Posted: 2/4/2005 2:22:31 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
1K for property taxes in NY specifically Erie County wouldn't cover the shed in the back yard....based on the tax structure in the state.
I would love to pay 1K for property taxes. I pay nearly 6X that in NY.

I think he ment it went up $1000 more.

Either way.

I dont like NY. When Im done with school here, Im likely to move. The gun laws alone suck, not to mention the tax crap. Too bad I have like 5 more years of school.

Posted: 2/10/2005 7:01:24 PM EDT

[#15]

Giambra's new idea is a 7/8th percent sales tax increase for one year
what a fucking clown

Posted: 2/11/2005 9:49:21 AM EDT

[#16]

What I thought was funny is this week the legislature found they could cut $$ from the social services budget that had otherwise been untouchable.

These A$$ holes will do anything to save their patronage jobs and perks.

Government workers and politicians have always had the mind set that the taxpayer has deep pockets, there is no need for Government to be profit/ budget minded. If you don't spend this year's budget you will get less next year.

There are signs at the blocked entrances to all the county parks stating the closure is the fault of Giambra. Their budget was not cut yet. The parks dept is playing the taxpayer against the politicians. BUT the parks and highway dept are filled with patronage jobs.

Posted: 2/11/2005 10:54:10 AM EDT

[#17]

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like they dont tax us enough??????????? hock.gif

Posted: 2/11/2005 10:58:50 AM EDT

[#18]

You cant even wipe your own ass without being taxed!!!!

Posted: 2/11/2005 3:11:01 PM EDT

[#19]

hell, that Getz guy is now one of the top guys in the parks dept. giambra moved him there after the fallout for paying him 80,000 to be a driver

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