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With the 2007 construction season coming to and end in Erie County, the disagreement among the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority, the Comptroller’s Office and County Executive regarding who should control bond funding for capital projects such as roads, bridges and culverts, puts a strain on the county’s ability to maintain its roads and infrastructures.
Erie County Legislator Kathy Konst, who has been leading the debate about roads and bridges and the misappropriation of road funds, declared, “The construction season in Erie County is short to begin with, and because of a power struggle, we got off to a slow start again.”
The Erie County road system contains 1,200 road lane miles, 297 bridges and 415 culverts. Legislator Konst reported. “There are 57 Counties in New York State and only Chautauqua County has more bridges than us.
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| Kathy Konst |
Ourinfrastructure is desperately in need of repair and the funds that this administration allocates for road and bridge projects are not acceptable.”
Legislator Konst asserted, “The Erie County Road Repair Reserve Fund was established under Tax Law Section 1432 and it states that these appropriations are to be used for the repairs of roads and bridges.
This past year the Erie County Budget allocated $9.5 million dollars to the Road Repair Reserve Fund, but only $1.35 million dollars of these funds found their way to repairing our county roads and bridges.”
Konst went onto say, “I have sponsored yet another resolution directing that this administration to end its practice of raiding the Road Repair Reserve Funds. These funds were intended to be used to fix our deteriorating roads and bridges in Erie County.”
Erie County currently diverts the majority of these funds to other expenses such as salaries and benefits for County personnel, or for general fund purposes.
Konst when onto say, “My resolution, which was passed unanimously by the Legislature, also requests that the County Comptroller perform a complete and thorough audit of all the proceeds and expenditures that the County receives from the Real Property Transfer Tax.”
She than said, “We need to know what the county is spending these funds on.”
Konst ended by saying, “I will continue to fight so that the County uses the Road Repair Reserve fund properly to improve the repair of roads, bridges and culverts of this County.
There is no reason that residents should have to worry about the safety of the roads and bridges they travel.”
© Copyright 2008 by Speakupwny.com
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