“Everybody agrees that the red budget is a scare tactic,” Amherst (N.Y.) Public Library Trustee Joan Heubisch said at the hearing. “It’s unthinkable that the lights would be turned off and the doors locked.” But Library Executive Director Michael Mahaney told American Libraries that’s exactly what will happen. “A cut of $19.25 million would result in an additional loss of $2.8 million in state aid,” he said. “That wouldn’t leave us with enough funds to keep the pipes from freezing this winter.”
As the December 7 deadline for budget approval drew closer, Giambra offered an incentive for the county legislature to pass the sales tax increase. On November 30 he said he would be willing to set aside 6% of the proceeds for a “Saving Taxes Across the Region” program that could be used to pay for regional collaboration projects.
Speakers at the hearings seemed to favor across-the-board budget cuts instead of completely shutting down vital services, according to the News.
Posted December 3, 2004.