We are here today because Erie County allows us as residents one day a year to speak publicly about our priorities and concerns and to weigh in on how County leaders should spend over $2 billion of our tax dollars.

Each of us here is a taxpaying resident of Erie County: we live here, we work here, we raise our children here, and we deserve a budget that represents our interests and meets our needs.

People in Erie County are struggling more than ever. The pandemic exposed and exacerbated long-standing inequities in our communities, and we are trying and in many places failing to recover. This year in Erie County the number of families being placed in homeless shelters increased by 40%. Majorities of children in rural, suburban, and urban school districts are grade levels behind in school due to lost classroom time. The number of people using Erie County food banks is up. Overdose deaths in Erie County are higher than they have ever been. Waitlists for affordable housing and for supportive housing for people with mental health needs are years long.

Yet despite all this, in 2023 Erie County government got richer. Every time you buy something in Erie County, the county keeps a percentage of the sales tax, and because inflation is high, the county made more money this year than the year before. This means that families who are struggling to put food on their tables and jackets on their children’s backs have paid more for things or have gone without, while Erie County has enjoyed a surplus of revenue from sales tax for the last two years. The county expects to make even more next year.

The 2024 proposed budget estimates that this increase in sales tax revenue will be 8% higher in 2024, which means that after the county covers all its current costs, it will still have $56 million extra dollars to spend however it wants. I’m going to say it again- Erie County leaders have an extra $56 million of our tax dollars to put toward anything they want, and that’s why we are here. For reasons unknown, County Executive Poloncarz has proposed putting $31.5 million of that extra money into the Sheriff’s Department which would bring the total Sheriff’s budget close to $186 million.

Contrast $186 million for the Sheriff to how much Erie County spends on youth programming through the Youth Bureau, a department that funds over 80 community organizations doing vital, life-saving youth development: $3.1 million. $3 million for all youth programming in Erie County is a pittance. It’s shameful. It’s a joke!

Our communities need that $56 million. We need our Legislators to hear our voices and to put that money back into the pockets of residents, not the Sheriff’s office. Today you will hear from residents from all parts of the county about what we want our tax dollars spent on in our communities. Listen to us. Listen to what we want in our communities - it’s not a new helicopter. It’s not police officers doing “community engagement.” We want, we need, and we deserve investment into programs that are proven to make our communities strong, healthy, and safe, not an ever-increasing, bloated sheriff’s department.