The Erie County Executive is presenting the 2024 proposed budget to Erie County Council.

Erie County Executive Brenton Davis says his administration and the finance department has worked to save $5 million on average per year for a total of about $10 million in savings through different policy changes over the last two years.

Davis says the top priorities of the proposed budget are meeting state mandated services required to county government and economic development with wanting to create a pro-growth and pro-economy county.

He says residents can expect a tax increase within the proposed budget.

“This budget, this year, has a proposed modest tax increase of 0.85 mills. The reason we did this is to fill the gaps. It was the responsible thing to do. Looking at the new and unexpected costs, we had many different expenditures that increased, record high inflation, record high union contracts — most of them have been settled — and some mandated services,” said Brenton Davis, Erie County Executive.

Davis says Erie County is getting close to allocating all of the American Rescue Plan dollars with a healthy fund balance while looking to realign gaming revenue in the future.