Erie County Facing A Serious Budget Deficit

Erie County lawmakers are taking a hard look at finances.

That’s because next year’s budget could have a big deficit according to a report from WIVB-TV.

The county legislature’s Finance and Management Committee met online to find solutions to reduce a deficit projected to be close to $90 million, an improvement over earlier figures as more people start spending money again.

Just last month Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz today announced his 2020 COVID-19 Budget Deficit Remediation Plan, identifying budgetary gap-closing measures to address a projected $137.8 million pandemic-related deficit in the county’s FY2020 budget.

The Plan identifies seven key measures, to bridge the gap caused by significant losses in sales tax, hotel occupancy taxes, and other revenue generators since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

 “These gap-closing measures are a mix of things that we can do at the county level, including using some fund balance, making departmental cuts, and closing out some projects. However, federal funding like the CARES Act is also a key component to addressing this issue. Erie County, like counties nationwide, needs another round of federal stimulus to help our economic recovery and I urge the President to work with House and Senate leadership to pass another package. If they do so we can avoid the many proposed cuts to services and staff.”