Democrats demand no increase in Erie County tax
The Erie County Legislature on Monday gave the county executive a line he should not cross: Don’t raise tax rates when you mail property tax bills next month.
Almost certainly, Chris Collins will cross that line. So the Legislature expects it will take him to court.
“It may become the only redress,” said Legislature Chairwoman Lynn M. Marinelli, D-Town of Tonawanda. The Democrats who control the
Legislature believe they cut the Collins budget for 2009 deeply enough to do away with the tax increase he had proposed.
Collins, however, computes the Legislature’s cuts differently and figures he must raise taxes. He has said he will set a rate that adds $24 to the annual bill on a $100,000 home when he and his staff mail some 365,000 bills in coming weeks.
Collins argues that the County Charter gives him, not the Legislature, the authority to set tax rates. He has given every signal that he will not follow the Legislature’s wishes on the tax levy.
With Collins on vacation this week, his staff gave the same signal in his absence.
“The levy will now be set in accordance with the charter,” Collins spokesman Grant Loomis said in a written statement. “The Legislature’s role in the budget process is over.”
Democrats say they have heeded the public’s call for a no-tax- hike budget and expect the matter will land in court as soon as they see Collins imposing an increase.
“We are in uncharted territory,” said Maria R. Whyte, the Legislature’s Democratic majority leader, “because the adopted budget has never before been discarded in this way.”
Collins two weeks ago asked the Legislature to approve the annual statement that lets him prepare and mail tax bills. The Legislature considered doing so, but with the unusual step of setting a ceiling on how much the county executive could collect — $219 million.
That’s the amount that would be generated by the current tax rate of $4.94 for every $1,000 of assessment.
Collins wants to raise about $230 million with a tax rate of $5.18.
Collins, County Attorney Cheryl A. Green and Joseph Maciejewski, the director of real property tax services, warned the Legislature Democrats on Dec. 11 that their ceiling would not be followed. The Democrats then put aside the statement and hired a lawyer to research their legal options.
Monday, they were back in a special meeting. In a 10-3 vote, the Democrats approved a statement saying that Collins must hold the property tax levy to no more than $219.6 million.
Lawmakers also voted unanimously to let the tax bills for each town be included in the county’s mailing, an annual process. The Legislature’s approval of that matter, usually routine but crucial to town governments, had been been delayed as lawmakers consulted with outside lawyers.
Legislator Thomas A. Loughran of Amherst was the only Democrat to break from the majority on the no-tax-increase stand with Collins. Loughran says the 2009 budget is out of balance, and the government will need more money next year.
The two Republicans in attendance, John J. Mills of Orchard Park and Edward A. Rath III of Amherst, also voted against the ceiling. They had spoken against it when the county attorney said the Legislature was acting outside its authority.
Republican Legislator Michael H. Ranzenhofer, who was elected to the State Senate in November, did not attend the meeting.
Democrat Kathy Konst of Lancaster also did not attend. However, Konst agrees with the other Democrats who believe Collins should not raise taxes and that lawmakers should hire their own lawyer.
All 11 Democrats present on Monday approved letting Marinelli pay the firm Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP up to $10,000. The law firm already is at work for the Legislature.
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