Collins Pleased with Judge's Property Tax Ruling

January 12, 2009

Ruling reaffirms unlawful actions by Legislature & transparency of Collins' budget

Speaking with reporters today, Erie County Executive Chris Collins said he is pleased with the ruling by State Supreme Court Justice John Michalek in the case brought against him by the County Legislature. Collins said the judge's ruling proved the Legislature acted unlawfully, and was misleading the public when its members claimed to have legitimately zeroed out his proposed property tax increase.

"In his ruling, the judge clearly confirmed that the Legislature's amended budget included several unlawful acts that resulted in an unbalanced budget that violated the county charter," said Collins. "Judge Michalek also reaffirmed the executive power of the County Executive to ignore such unlawful acts by the Legislature. The judge also confirmed the transparency of my original budget proposal, despite the Legislature's claims to the contrary."

The judge's decision today will increase property taxes by an average of $9 per $100,000 of assessed value. The County Executive will authorize reprinting new tax bills with numbers that reflect the judge's decision post haste. Collins assured municipal governments and taxpayers that the County will meet the mailing deadline of February first without issue.

"Sadly for the taxpayers, the $9 increase is nearly identical to the compromise I offered the Legislature over three weeks ago," said Collins. "That compromise was rejected out of hand by Legislature Chairwoman Lynn Marinelli, and instead the Legislature spent at least $20,000 on attorney fees to litigate this case."

"I also remain disappointed that this Legislature is continuing the practice of using smoke and mirrors and phantom jobs as part of its budget process," continued Collins. "Taxpayers deserve better. This disagreement is now behind us. We all need to move on and get back to the important work before us."