Golombek latest Buffalo lawmaker to disagree with Ryan's tax proposal

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Yeah, just got to move forward and continue to try to do the same things and keep a good attitude and feel, you know, somewhat fortunate. We got a point tonight. I think that that's positive. We could have easily left that game without a point tonight. So now we just have to regroup and kind of reset, and we've got big games coming up. There is a lot of big games coming up. Buffalo goes 3-0-1 on the Western Road Trip. They now return home. They'll play Boston on Wednesday night. They've got Detroit Friday nights, a game against Seattle. Then it's the Islanders next week, the senators next week as well. Four teams who are right in the middle of the wild card race in the east, four teams who you really, I mean, one of them is almost a probable. first round matchup at this point. So some games we're going to be paying attention to with close eyes over the next couple weeks. Because these teams will be playing desperate hockey to try to get in. So, yeah. As the Broadway market is kicking off, its busy season, leaders there are touting a $45 million renovation set to begin this summer. WBEN's Jim Fink is here with why they say you should believe it this time. Why is this time different when talking about revitalizing the iconic Broadway market? It begins with $45 million in state funds that has been secured, and with that, the off-talked-about renovations will start this summer. And when the work is done in two years, it will not look like your father's Broadway market, but it will retain much of its historic feel, but it will also function as a 21st century diverse marketplace, says Chairman Pete Camerata. Gearing it up. for a look of an international market. You know, the Polish traditions that are there and vendors are very important, but we also realize the mix of the neighborhood and for that matter the mix of our city. Camerata said work will be done in phases and the market will remain open during the renovations. That is paramount, he said. And what's going to make the market? more appropriate will be when it's downsized. We're going to create a main street of shop. This is Jim Fink for WBEN.com News. All right, Jim. Thank you. Over at WBEN.com this morning, we're asking you, hey, this time next year, do you think the Broadway market will look different? Yes or no? Hey, it's the sports junkies. If anybody knows about die-hard sports fans, it's us. We get to live and breathe the excitement of the season all year long, right alongside the most passionate fans out there. For advertisers, that passion matters. It's exactly why sports radio performs for brands. That passion, that excitement and engagement, you don't get that kind of dialed in attention anywhere else. People who listen to sports on the radio via streaming or on sports podcasts are nearly three times more alike. to consider a brand that supports their favorite team. If you're interested in reaching sports fans, we have the playbook for you. Check out our comprehensive e-book, State of Audio, sports fandom. Learn where fans spend their time, why avid fans drive stronger brand results and how categories like beverage, grocery, and quick service restaurants are winning with sports fans on audio. If you want to reach the most valuable sports fans, check out stateofaudio.com.

Sometimes it feels like the news is full of things that have never happened before. And that is not exactly true. In fact, it may have happened this very week, hundreds or thousands of years ago. I'm Sally Helm, host of the podcast History This Week from the History Channel. Trade embargoes, Thomas Jefferson tried them. Rent too high? We've been arguing about that for a while. Each episode is proof. The past isn't that far away. Listen to History this week, available now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your exclusive WBEN 7 weather forecast, mostly cloudy with some scattered snow showers this afternoon. Temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. For tonight's, overnight lows near 20. As skies will clear out, it's going to be cold. As we head into your Tuesday, a mix of sun and clouds. We're in the 30s again, back to near 50 on Wednesday. With your exclusive WBEN 7 weather forecast, I'm chief meteorologist, Araminkowski. Joining us on the Bison Automotive Liveline this morning, Buffalo Common Council member Joe Golombeck. We're talking, of course, about the tax increase proposed for the city of Buffalo. Joe, thanks for being on with us this morning. All right, you've known the city's financial situation. We've heard a lot about it over the last year. But still, when you heard last week, 25% proposed property tax increase, what was going through your head? Well, you know, I was outraged to be quite honest with you because what also was said was that there were going to be no cuts. that would be associated with that. And I think that raising taxes such a high number without making any cuts or alluding to any cuts is just outrageous and, you know, unacceptable to myself and to my eight colleagues on the council, I believe have all gone on record in opposition to such a high tax increase. Joe, the mayor was on with us Friday morning. He said he wants people to help him put together a cut package. So with that out there, what would you suggest? Where would you start? Well, I think that, you know, we have to remember that there's no budget that's been put in front of us yet. So we only know that the mayor has said it's going to be a 25% increase and that there's going to be no cuts. I would recommend that they take a look at every department in city hall, go line by line. I think that this experimentation with having four deputy mayors has not been successful, and especially to raise the salary, I think, from $139,000 to $200,000. You know, if I was asked to be deputy mayor in an administration... that I had faith and respect for, and they offered me $140,000, I would jump at the opportunity to serve the residents of the city of Buffalo. It would be an honor to be able to do that. But, you know, raising the salary, increasing the number of exempt employees, there's a lot of places that there could be cuts. And I think that that's the key thing. If there's no cuts made...

and they're going to raise the 25%. It's completely unacceptable. Even if there are cuts and what you're talking about, we're hearing the deficit of $109 million for this year. I mean, are cuts going to be enough? No, oh no. We would not be able to cut enough to cover the entire deficit. But the problem is that that number is nebulous and it floats. It's been 40 million. It's been 25 million. It's been 70 million until we actually get the budget book from the mayor on April 15th. We're not going to really know what the hole in the budget is. But going back to that earlier question about residents and others. making suggestions. I think every resident of the city of Buffalo should call the mayor's office in opposition to such a high tax increase and that they should demand that if there's going to be an increase in taxes, that there should be cuts made. I think it's a dereliction of duty of the mayor and the council if we would raise taxes that high without making cuts in every department. including in the city council. For the past two years, I've been voting no for filling vacant positions in central staff. I voted no to create new positions. And I remember two years ago when they were creating a new position in city hall, I asked, I said, you know, gee, we keep hearing $40 million budget hole. You know, why are we creating new departments? Why are we filling these positions? And the joke in City Hall is up. It's another seven to Joe or an eight to Joe vote. And, you know, I'm going to continue to do that. And I wish that my colleagues would have followed suit two years ago. At best, you got lip service, but there was nobody else that was joining me in making votes against filling positions. What about overtime in the police and fire departments? Rashid Wyatt says that's an area that has not been touched. You know, honestly, I don't think that there is a way of seriously curtailing the overtime unless crime goes down and fires go down. The reality is that, you know, I've had violence in my district and they've had to put extra police on duty. They've had to have police going to court when they make arrests. And, you know, it's just one of those things that, unfortunately, it comes with the territory. And in certain regards, overtime is better than hiring additional police officers because there's approximately a 25 to 35% benefits that goes along with a salary. So if you're paying overtime, that ultimately ends up being cheaper than if you're paying for a new hire. I mean, it's a... You know, it stinks in many regards, but it's a necessary evil for both departments because otherwise you're not going to have police in the streets and you're not going to have firehouses adequately manned throughout the city of Buffalo. Whether it's 25% cuts across the board at City Hall or some mixture of the two.

How do we find ourselves in this situation to begin with? I mean, should this conversation have been happening a long time ago? And what has the council's role been in this approving budgets without any sort of smaller property tax increase? Right. You know, I will admit that I was semi-complicit over the years when Mayor Brown wasn't raising taxes. I know a couple of times I had talked to him and the deputy mayor and said, you know, there should be a nominal increase to keep up with inflation. And they would smile and say, go ahead, make a proposal to raise taxes. And you know what? I didn't have the guts to do it at that time. Everybody was happy with the Brown administration. Things were booming. in the 2010s, and then unfortunately COVID hit. You know, to give you an example, in 2019, I was working on 10 multi-million projects for the North Councilmanic District. That's unprecedented. Usually I had one or two a year. I had 10 that we were working on. Suddenly, COVID hit. One of them is near completion, and the other nine are still at best being talked about at this stage. So COVID really did a number on us, and that was something that nobody could have predicted or expected. But I think that the one lesson that I hope future governments learn is that a modest tax increase yearly is much, much better than, you know, suddenly declaring that you need a 25% increase. And once again, I just think that number is way too high. And it's a way too high of a number, especially if there are not going to be an attempt at cuts being made. Way too high, but is there a line? Is there a breaking point for you on a tax hike? I'd like to see us cut it in half. If we could get to the – I would love to see it at nine percentage points. I don't know if that's doable because in order to get to that number, we would have to cut approximately $30 million, and I don't know if there's that many cuts that we could make. But I did a cursory glance at last year's budget, and I came up with about a $4 to $5 million worth of cuts just by glancing at the budget. and getting rid of positions and departments that are not emergency services and overly necessary. You need fire protection, you need police, you need sanitation, you need inspections, but there's other places, exempt positions, including the mayor's office and the council that we could make cuts. Joe, thanks as always for coming on. Appreciate the time. Joe Galambic, Buffalo Common Council member, joining us live here on WBEM. That's the WBEN, all local. All new episodes are made available each weekday morning, produced by the award-winning WBEN Newsroom.

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