BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Erie County Legislature voted Thursday against a proposal to loan Erie County Medical Center $100 million for upgrades to its emergency room.
Majority Leader Joseph Lorigo says Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is trying to balance the budget with a portion of a $100 million loan borrowed for ECMC.
"If ECMC can afford to give Erie County $20 to $40 million in credits, then why on earth would they borrow more than $60 or $80 (million)? It's a scheme to plug a budget hole," said Lorigo, C-West Seneca.
Poloncarz argues that it's cheaper for ECMC to borrow from the county than to get the money from another organization. Though the legislature supports the idea of upgrading the emergency room, they disagreed on how to pay for it and the loan proposal didn't get enough votes to pass.
"Wouldn't you want to ensure that they had the best emergency room there?" asked Poloncarz, D-Erie County. "That's why I'm disappointed in the votes of the other four legislators. They supported a similar transaction during the Collins Administration."
With Erie County facing an $18 million budget deficit, and because the legislature rejected the loan proposal, Poloncarz says he'll now have to make tough cuts to balance the budget.
"We're going to have to reduce road funding spending. We're going to reduce funding we'd be normally providing to our convention and bureau-related activity. We're going to have to look at senior services and youth services. I don't like doing it but I have no choice," Poloncarz said.
Poloncarz says he'll continue to work with the legislature to find another resolution for helping ECMC upgrade the emergency room.