THE POWER TO TAX IS THE POWER TO DESTROY

Thus spake Justice John Marshall. How right he was. Well, New York is destroyed. The Buffalo News, which has been carrying Joel Giambra's water for him for half a decade or more, says this:

The Erie County Legislature narrowly approved a 2005 budget late Wednesday after negotiators agreed to let Buffalo and Erie County's towns and villages share $12.5 million in new sales tax money. As a result, libraries, parks and golf courses should remain open. The zoo won't have to adopt away its animals and public safety won't be imperiled, at least to the extent it would have been had the so-called "red budget" been adopted by default early today. County Legislature Chairman George A. Holt Jr., D-Buffalo, said he and County Executive Joel A. Giambra seized upon the $12.5 million figure in discussions through the evening. The amount was crucial in order for lawmakers to approve a new penny on the sales tax, which they did, 10-5. The agreement would require the layoffs of 400 county employees, Giambra said in remarks following the vote, in which some lawmakers said they were dissatisfied. The final agreement was negotiated by a select few, and members had no time to read its provisions before voting on them.

Only 400 employees? How many are there, exactly? I'd like to know.

"I have a very hollow feeling. It's very business as usual in Erie County," said Legislator Barry A. Weinstein, R-Amherst, who voted against the sales tax increase and against the final budget as well, saying the entire process may have been flawed and not in compliance with the County Charter.

I sympathize with Legislatore Weinstein. Oh, how I do. The budget itself passed 8-7, ahead of the midnight deadline.

Legislature Majority Leader Lynn M. Marinelli, D-Town of Tonawanda, and Finance and Management Committee Chairman Albert DeBenedetti, D-Buffalo, also voted against the budget. Aides said the package restored Giambra patronage jobs deleted by DeBenedetti's committee Friday. Back in the budget is Giambra's senior aide, driver and patronage czar, Victor M. Getz. "I think the public will be furious when they find out the county executive still has an $81,000-a-year driver," DeBenedetti said.

Furious doesn't even begin to describe my reaction to this news, Legislator De Benedetti. I am beyond outraged that King Joel Giambra's patronage lackeys, cronies, refugees from the dreaded private sector who exist to suck on the government teat are maintained (and given raises) in the budget, while some minor, token cuts are made elsewhere, consisting of people who are qualified for their jobs.

However, DeBenedetti and Marinelli voted along with the Democrats' eight-vote bloc to raise the sales tax to 9.25 cents on the dollar come March 1. Only two Republicans joined them: Jeanne Z. Chase of Evans and Charles M. Swanick of Kenmore. With 10 votes, the request can go to the state legislators representing Erie County, who will present a measure in Albany to approve Erie County's higher sales tax. "This budget crisis has been a hard lesson for our community," Giambra said. "There is no free ride. There is no easy vote. . . . We have made tough choices and made deep cuts, but we have preserved priorities."

Let's be honest. Giambra's sole priority is the preservation of his fiefdom and the permanent employment of his fricking schoolhouse chums. What a thief. What a crook. And worse than that, he takes us all for ignorant rubes.

The final package looks more like the "green budget" that Giambra had drafted but did not propose because he lacked assurances in November that sales tax income would be available. Giambra in early November asked legislators to raise the sales tax by a penny, to 9.25 cents on the dollar, to generate $109 million in 2005 and protect county services, until the next budget crisis hits in a couple of years. The eight Democrats who control the County Legislature were willing to approve the sales tax with a proviso: Some of its proceeds - $14.9 million and not a penny less - must be shared with the City of Buffalo and other municipal governments. The concept of sharing, and that amount, kept Democratic lawmakers and Giambra at an impasse for days.

"We've got to get real about how we provide services," Giambra said at a news conference Wednesday night, mentioning that Erie County has more levels of government and taxes than it needs, and he didn't want to share new money with them.

Still, he said that in recent negotiations he offered to share $3.5 million with Buffalo and $3 million with Erie County's 27 towns, 16 villages and two other cities. Then he upped the offer to $10 million, according to a worker present at a negotiating session Tuesday. Then, just before 11 p.m., officials said Giambra and Holt had agreed to share $12.5 million, with half going to Buffalo and half to the towns, villages and other cities. Lawmakers still had to meet late Wednesday, or early today, to formalize the agreement and meld the new money into a new budget to be drawn for 2005, with haggling expected over positions to restore. It looked as though the sales tax formula would be approved by the eight Democrats and two Republicans, possibly Chase and Swanick. Few Republican lawmakers supported the sharing concept and the higher sales tax, so when Democrats forced a test vote on the tax and their sharing formula Wednesday afternoon, the package gained only eight votes, not the 10 it needs. Seven Republicans voted against it, even those willing to raise the sales tax if the government cuts its size.

"We have to do more with less. We have to reduce the expense side of this ledger," said Steven P. McCarville, R-Orchard Park. He said he couldn't ask taxpayers for more if the county was going to then spread the money around.

"That is business as usual in Erie County," he said. "The budget amendment process these last six years has been a 70-page, non-negotiable package, and this needs to be replaced with an open, bipartisan process," said Weinstein, who reviewed a bumpy six years of fiscal miscues courtesy of the Giambra administration and legislators, too, at times.

"This is a historic moment for the Legislature," he said, "and I hope that the Legislature rises to the occasion." He voted against the package. Democrats presented their most impassioned speeches, showing all eight were willing to raise the tax though they had wanted no more than five Democrats to take the political risk with five Republicans.

"The American people need to live, love and laugh," said Mark J.F. Schroeder, D-Buffalo, invoking the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "That is not what has been happening in Erie County over the last 30 days." He asked legislators to approve the increase and the sharing formula, which would have given $7 million to the City of Buffalo and $7.9 million to 27 towns, 16 villages and the two remaining cities. The Democratic bloc radiates from Buffalo. Five of its eight members are from districts touching the city. They reminded the packed chambers that Buffalo has gone nearly 20 years without income from the penny added to the sales tax in 1985. Now Buffalo neighborhoods need the help.

And we should be ashamed of this debacle.