This week in the Caucus Meeting, Deputy Comptroller Delano Dowell and Commissioner of Administration and Finance Raymour Nosworthy came to talk about the city’s budget. Their numbers differed: the administration reported $2 million in surplus, while the comptroller’s office projected a $7.3 million deficit. This is partly because the two offices use different numbers. The mayor’s office, for example, reported a partial payment from the tribal contract (from casino earnings); the comptroller’s office said they weren’t counting it until the whole amount came through. The comptroller said that they were accounting for a very large upcoming settlement and factored that into their calculations; the city’s report did not account for this.
 
This was a big week for the Regular Meeting of the council because their budget vote was due. The mayor’s office submits a proposal to the council in early April, and then departments talk to the council about what they’re doing with their budgets.
 
For several weeks, representatives from each City Hall department show up in the council’s conference room—a small space on the ninth floor—to answer council members’ questions. By and large, the council members don’t question the departments’ operating costs. Other costs, however, are discussed at length.
 
At the meeting of the full council this week, members complained about the cost of police and fire overtime (astronomical), the cost of healthcare benefits for employees and retirees (also enormous), and the city’s general failure to develop a sustainable plan for its finances.
 
Ultimately, they voted 6-2 to accept the budget the mayor had proposed (Council Member Rivera and Council Member Wyatt opposed it). While they made some small cuts to some departments, they added money elsewhere. So, overall, the cost of the budget was the same.
 
At least one resident wasn’t satisfied. As City Hall staffers and common council members walked past her after the meeting, she yelled out. “It matters! It matters! When are we going to sit up and fight for our own people?” she asked. “It’s shameful. Nobody gets to come out of here today and congratulate themselves.”
 
Amid the drama of the budget discussions, it was easy to lose track of what else happened: Council members approved nearly $50 million for the project to return cars to Main Street. They gave the go-ahead for the $190,000 police department contract with the Town of Cheektowaga firing range. (This is where BPD officers will go practice using their guns.) They approved a plan for the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) to spend $240,000 in opioid settlement funds on a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design program. BURA will offer grants of up to $10,000 to block clubs and non-profits interested in making their areas safer for recovery and less friendly for drugs.
 
Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope got the acting mayor’s signature on an MOU, or memorandum of understanding, about a few budget priorities. One is funding for the arts, which the MOU says will be kept in the budget and distributed to community organizations. (This should be done by an open and fair application process, reminded Councilmember Feroleto.) Another is the development of a “circuit breaker” program for property taxes. This would protect low-income property owners from substantial tax hikes by pegging their tax rates to their incomes. An MOU is not binding like a contract, but it’s supposed to be an agreement made in good faith.
 
Members of the Claims Committee went into executive session to discuss settlement for a case they appealed and lost. James Kistner was struck by a police car, and officers then refused to allow him an ambulance, instead arresting him and leaving him to wait in a squad car. Buffalo argued that the police in that case should have qualified immunity—that because they were on the job, they shouldn’t be in trouble. The court disagreed, as did the appeals court. As a result of the appeal, though, and the slowness of federal courts, Mr. Kistner will have waited two extra years before the city finally pays him. Members of the committee approved the settlement, which will get an official vote at the next “meeting of the whole.”

Lead Remediation Funding Lost
This wasn’t discussed in the council meetings, but the city was in the news this week for losing over $1 million in lead paint remediation funding. Four years ago, the city received $2 million in federal funds to help fix up 110 homes so that they’re safe from lead paint hazards. Yet, the city only fixed 18 homes before time ran out! This means the city will have to send the rest of the money back to the federal government because it didn’t use the funds in time.
 
As PPG’s Director, Andrea O Suilleabhain, explained, “This is another outrageous sign that lead exposure and children with lead poisoning are not priorities in Buffalo City Hall. This HUD program was a solid opportunity to remediate 110 properties to protect children in those properties, and it was not prioritized, so they have achieved hardly any of it.”