With an improving economy, Erie County might take in enough sales tax to meet budget schedules. The county budget was built on expectations of solid growth in sales tax revenues but numbers have been lagging. That threatens to damage the budget for this year.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz says the figures are a little misleading because the county was hit for tens of millions of dollars to make up for Albany overpayments last year. With hordes of Canadian shoppers and lots of new car purchases, Poloncarz says the picture is pretty good looking ahead.
"Our June growth along was 5.97 percent. We have those numbers now from New York State," Poloncarz told WBFO News. "So, we're headed in the right direction which is much better than other counties in New York State. Other counties are hurting."
The numbers point toward an improving regional economy.
"We see a little benefit from our friends in Canada but overall, our economy here in Erie County has turned around tremendously. We have 18,000 more people employed as of the end of May."
Poloncarz says that's up from a year ago and those people are spending money and paying sales taxes.
The county executive believes the trends show that by the end of the year, sales tax revenues should be very close to budget projections.
