N.Y. Legislature OKs Bill Allowing Erie County to Issue Debt

The New York Legislature passed a bill Tuesday night allowing Erie County to sell bonds without the permission of its control board, the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority. The county and control board have been bitterly deadlocked since last year over which entity would issue debt for needed capital spending.

If the bill is signed into law by Gov. David Paterson, Erie County would be able to go ahead with the sale of $63.1 million of debt. The bill allows the county to sell bonds without control board approval if it has at least two investment grade ratings, which it does now.

"The county is well on the road to fiscal stability, having achieved three consecutive years of balanced budgets with surpluses," county Comptroller Mark Poloncarz said in a statement. The legislation would allow the county "to get desperately needed county road, highway, bridge, and other projects moving again," he added

But the governor's signature is not a given and control board executive director Kenneth Vetter said that it would continue to move ahead on a compromise that had been agreed upon under which either the board or the county would sell bond anticipation notes based on a savings formula.

"Unless and until that legislation becomes law, we did have an agreement and we believe its still in place with the county executive and the comptroller," Vetter said.

Even if the law does pass, Vetter said the control board would continue in its role overseeing county finances.

Another measure passed by the state Legislature this week would reduce the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority's oversight role of the city of Buffalo to an advisory one. A similar measure passed the Legislature last year but was vetoed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

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