As early voting proceeds and Election Day is in sight, the last campaign financial filings have been posted for the period October 2nd through 23rd. After that date campaigns receiving a contribution or loan which exceeds $1,000 must be reported within 24 hours of receipt.
There has been a new element introduced into the county executive race this year: an "independent" PAC (Our Town PAC) has collected $125,000 thus far to fund attack ads against incumbent Mark Poloncarz. Casilio herself has directly raised $179,070 thus far in 2023.
This is the first time a PAC has surfaced in a countywide race. To date it has collected just two donations: $100,000 from Patrick Hotung's Violet Reality, aka The Main Place Liberty Group, a major commercial property owner; and $25,000 from Lucas James, a contractor from Akron. Ninety-five thousand dollars was spent last week on the ads; $6,500 for polling; and $7,500 to a Washington firm.
An "independent" political action committee (PAC) is not supposed to coordinate its activities with a candidate. It is obvious that the advertising purchased by Our Town PAC is intended to assist the candidacy of Republican/Conservative Chrissy Casilio.
The $100,000 donation is likely the largest single political contribution in history in Western New York. Political donations to candidates by corporations in New York State are limited to $5,000. Contributions from individuals are limited to approximately $31,000 in Erie County this year.
Here are the highlights of the candidates' own campaign finances for the recent three-week period:
Erie County Executive
- Republican/Conservative candidate Chrissy Casilio raised an additional $24,962. Spent $112,905. Balance $42,292. In addition, through October 30th Casilio has received $4,500 under the late donation/24-hour reporting rule. Spending includes $79,784 on TV advertising.
- Libertarian candidate Duane Whitmer reported at a League of Women Voters event on October 26th that he is self-funding his campaign.
Erie County Legislator, 10th District
- Democrat candidate Deborah Seeber has not filed campaign financial reports with the state Board of Elections.
- Republican/Conservative candidate Lindsay Lorigo raised an additional $9,073. Spent $8. Balance $24,433. Mrs. Lorigo has loaned her campaign $19,500. Ralph Lorigo has loaned her campaign $5,000.
Cheektowaga Supervisor
Town of Tonawanda Supervisor
- Incumbent Democrat/Conservative candidate Joe Emminger raised an additional $14,350. Spent $2,532. Balance $18,449
- Republican candidate Peter Hojczyk has not filed campaign financial reports with the state Board of Elections.
West Seneca Supervisor
- Democratic/Working Families candidate Chris Rusin raised an additional $4,230. Spent $9,268. Balance $7,585
- Incumbent Republican/Conservative candidate Gary Dickson raised an additional $100. Spent $17,497. Balance $23,764
The Casilio tax cut proposal
Start with the premise that no wants to pay more in taxes than is absolutely necessary. But just like families who are living within their budgets know, governments need to operate with the knowledge that a lack of proper management of its finances – income, expenses, savings – can lead to a disaster.
The Republican candidate for Erie County Executive, Chrissy Casilio, has proposed to cut the county's property tax levy by nine percent, which would equal $29.5 million in 2024. She offers no specifics about how she would reduce spending to compensate for the lost revenue. Instead she proposes that the county's reserves should be drawn down to fill in for the reduced revenue. Gee, we have heard that before.
Joel Giambra ran for county executive in 1999 proposing a massive cut in the county's property taxes. Few changes in spending were proposed. The plan to cover the reduced revenues was to draw down the county's financial reserves. That did not work out very well.
After the reserves were depleted the county government and the residents who depended on county services were presented with the infamous "red-green" budget for 2005. The choices offered were to balance the budget with a one percent increase in the county's sales tax rate or to make substantial cuts in non-state mandated programs. The end result was cuts in services and an additional three-quarters of one percent sales tax. State government created the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority to supervise the county's finances.
At the same time a County Charter Revision Commission was established. As a member of the Commission I worked with other members to impose legal controls on how the county manages it money to prevent a reoccurrence of the 2005 problems. One of the reforms imposed a Charter requirement that the county "shall maintain an unassigned balance in the General Fund equal to or greater than five percent of the amount contained in the adopted budget of the General Fund of the County's last audited financial statements."
Using $29.5 million or more in county reserves each year over a four-year period (which assumes that property taxes would continue at the reduced level) would deplete the county's fund balance. Such action would be prohibited by the Charter's five percent rule.
As the saying goes, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Implementation of Casilio's tax cut proposal would again drive the county down the road to financial chaos.
Early voting
Early voting continues through Sunday November 5. You can vote at any convenient voting location in your county. Locations and hours of operation in Erie County are listed here: EARLYVOTING 2022 AUG.pub (erie.gov). These are the dates and times in Niagara County: ge23-early-voting.pdf (niagara.ny.us)
Next posting
The next post will be on Wednesday November 8th reporting on the results from Election Day.
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