Democrats in Erie County Legislature limit sales tax vote

The law, passed by the county Legislature’s Democratic majority by a vote of 7-4, facilitates the expansion of the 8.75 percent sales tax that consumers must pay on all retail products.

Current law requires a “supermajority” vote every two years to extend the current sales tax rate. The proposed law would only require a simple majority, preventing minority Republicans from being able to leverage their vote to extract concessions from County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s administration.

County sales tax money is the primary source of revenue used to support county operations. Poloncarz, Comptroller Kevin Hardwick and Democratic lawmakers objected to allowing the “tyranny of the minority” to hold sales tax money hostage for other political gains. Hardwick said giving the legislative minority any control over the sales tax vote would jeopardize $385 million in revenue needed to support county operations, plus $12.5 million to support cities and towns.

Republican lawmakers and many Republican city supervisors, meanwhile, have said the new sales tax law is just a way to further weaken Republican influence in the Legislature and deprive the public of their rights.

Because the new law changes the voting power of county legislators, it still must be approved in a public referendum this fall. Poloncarz has already expressed support for the law.

Until now, the Legislature had to approve the expansion of certain county sales tax authorities by a two-thirds “supermajority” vote. That means that even though Democrats hold a 7-4 majority, they still need a Republican vote for the full 8.75% sales tax to be extended every two years.

The county is automatically allowed to charge a 7% sales tax on retail purchases, but for the county to continue collecting the additional 1.75%, at least eight legislators must approve the extension of this sales tax. temporary” every two years. If supermajority voting failed, the county would lose so much revenue that county officials would expect an immediate budget shortfall and a looming budget crisis.

Republicans said approving an additional sales tax should always be done in a bipartisan way that represents the greatest number. The outcome of last year’s sales tax deal, which included demands from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, slightly reduced the county’s property tax collection for the first time in a decade and provided tax relief on home energy bills during the coldest winter months.

Republican lawmakers also argued that the new law deprives county voters of the right to be heard. Under the current county charter, if a sales tax extension passes by a simple majority but not a supermajority, the sales tax extension would be subject to a public referendum. The new law removes this requirement.

Democrats pointed out that the new law still requires a supermajority vote to increase or change the sales tax rate. But only a simple majority vote would be needed to keep the sales tax rate the same.

The public will also benefit from the change to weigh in on the new sales tax law. The law will be submitted for voter approval in November.