By Joyce Kryszak
Bufffalo, NY – Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz Tuesday released the final sales tax data for 2007 that shows a surplus. He has ideas about what should be done with it, and about what the Erie County Medical Center should do with its reported surplus.
Poloncarz said the county will have a balanced budget for 2007 thanks to sales tax revenues that were double what was expected. Total revenues came in about $26 million over 2006 receipts - nearly seven and a half percent more. Canadian shoppers are being credited with the largest growth in sales tax in fifteen years.
But Poloncarz said there is a down side. He said if the economy continues to slide, or if Canadian shoppers decide to stay home because of stricter border rules, history shows the county could have a problem.
He said that also would have a trickle down impact on the individual municipalities, since the county shares with them a portion of sales tax revenues. But he said, for now, municipalities should use the extra money to lower property taxes.
And he hopes Erie County Executive Chris Collins will use the county's share to bolster the fund balance. But Poloncarz says he doesn't know the new county executive's plans because he doesn't return his calls.
He said adding the money to fund balance would give ratings agencies even more reason to hike the county's bond rating. And Poloncarz believes it deserves an upgrade.
He also thinks the Erie County Medical Center should give back to the county some of the money it is calling a surplus. Poloncarz said ECMC only has an extra nine million dollars because the county gave the medical center about that same amount in mandated Medicaid Inter-Governmental Transfer, or IGT payments. He said the county should take legal action to get it back.
But the comptroller said he does not know whether or not the county executive is interested in pursuing the matter in court.
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