Erie County legislators on Tuesday gave themselves $16 million to award as grants to organizations in their districts – one of the largest amounts of legislative handouts in recent county history.
The Legislature amended County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s proposed 2024 budget to include the grant money.
The total includes $11 million – $1 million for each lawmaker – to distribute for construction and renovation projects to local governments and nonprofits.
Erie County may be financially healthy at the moment, but Comptroller Kevin Hardwick is waiving the yellow caution flag and warning of the potential for expenses to outstrip revenue in two years unless changes are made.
Meanwhile, after resisting certain fee increases on county residents in recent years, the Legislature is approving new and higher fees for the health and parks departments for the first time in nearly a decade.
The $16 million in discretionary money is a lot compared with what legislators received prior to 2020, and the highest amount given to legislators during the annual budget process. But legislators have gotten used to receiving huge windfalls in recent years.
Legislators amended budget proposals and mid-year budget surplus resolutions to direct multimillion-dollar pots of money…
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