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Erie County Executive Brenton Davis vetoes property tax increase
Bạn đang xem: Judge rules that Brenton Davis budget vetoes violated local law
Erie County Executive Brenton Davis discusses his decision to veto the property tax hike levied in the adopted 2025 budget during a news conference on Nov. 27, 2024.
Eleven budget vetoes issued by Erie County Executive Brenton Davis have been nullified following a judge’s ruling in Erie County Common Pleas Court.
Senior Judge Edward Reibman stated in his ruling Monday that Davis did not have the authority to veto items that would, in turn, increase the size of a budget adopted by Erie County Council.
The ruling comes after Erie County Council filed a lawsuit against Davis, contending that seven line-item vetoes in the 2023 budget and four line-item vetoes in the 2024 budget sought to do this.
Council Solicitor Tom Talarico said the ruling was a win for the rule of law.
“We’re extremely pleased that Judge Reibman came down on the rule of law and reaffirmed council’s position that they are the appropriating body under the Home Rule Charter and that the county executive has absolutely no authority to exercise his veto in a manner that would increase or add items to the budget as passed by council,” Talarico said.
Erie County Public Information Officer Chris Carroll said the administration is “weighing its options for appeal.”
How did we get here?
In adopting the 2023 and 2024 budgets, council voted and approved several amendments that reduced expenditures and eliminated positions that were requested by Davis in his proposed budgets.
Davis, a Republican, responded by vetoing seven of those amendments in the 2023 budget and four of those amendments in the 2024 budget. He argued that the vetoes, if not overridden by a supermajority of council, should restore the expenditures and positions that he initially proposed.
Talarico, however, argued that those proposed amounts “ceased to exist” once council adopted both budgets. In other words, the amounts that Davis initially recommended could not be restored.
Talarico added that the executive only has the authority to reduce the size of an adopted budget, and that increasing expenditures or adding positions was beyond the scope of the executive’s veto power under the Erie County Home Rule Charter.
For both the 2023 and 2024 budgets, a council majority declined to entertain the vetoes with an override vote and instead voted to strike them from their meeting agendas.
Davis, insisting council took no override vote, restored his original expenditures and positions, triggering council to file a lawsuit in late 2023 seeking a declaratory judgement.
Judge: Veto is ‘power to negate,’ not to ‘create’
The Home Rule Charter states that the executive “may veto or reduce any item contained” in the adopted budget.
The Davis administration argued there is no qualifying language in the charter that limits the effect of the veto even if a veto increases the budget.
However, Riebman stated that the power to veto a budget line item has “never been inferred to include the power to increase a line item.”
“If that was intended in the Home Rule Charter, it would have been an additional power ‘that has to be specifically enumerated,’ and it was not,” Riebman stated.
The judge stated that Davis’ position was contrary to the Home Rule Charter, which placed the ultimate power of the budget with council.
“It is council, not the executive, that has the authority to make appropriations,” Riebman stated. “That is because the adoption of the budget is council’s prerogative. It holds the county’s purse, and it is responsible for balancing the budget.”
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“In short, the veto is limited to negating the item vetoed; not replacing it with something else. The veto is the power to negate; it is not the power to create.”
The judge stated that an executive has other options if they believe funds are insufficient. Those include transferring unencumbered funds within departments or agencies or requesting a supplemental appropriation from council during the fiscal year.
What did Davis seek to veto?
Davis sought to veto council’s amendments to the 2023 adopted budget that:
- reduced the county executive’s travel budget from $25,000 to $10,000;
- reduced the Community Relations and Economic Development Bureau’s travel budget from $50,000 to $15,000;
- reduced the Community Relations and Economic Development Bureau’s travel budget from $100,000 to $26,035;
- reduced Economic Development Initiatives from $100,000 to $20,000;
- eliminated Human Resources position;
- eliminated Deputy Director of Revenue/Tax Claim Office; and
- eliminated Information Technology position.
He sought to veto amendments to the 2024 adopted budget that:
- reduced the subsidies in the 2024 Children and Youth Services Fund Budget by $1,201,344;
- reduced advertising fees in the Planning and Community Development Fund Budget by $22,500;
- eliminated Human Resources position; and
- eliminated IT Specialist position.
What next?
The county executive has 30 days to file an appeal to the ruling.
In the meantime, Talarico said there will need to be an accounting of the last two budgets to determine the extent to which Davis used funds that were reduced by council.
The lawsuit did not include any vetoes from the 2025 budget process. Council struck 19 of those vetoes from their meeting agenda for similarly increasing expenditures or adding positions.
If Davis files an appeal, he could request that no action be taken on the 2025 vetoes until a further ruling.
Council Chairman Terry Scutella told the Erie Times-News that he was pleased with the court’s decision.
“We had a reason and a right to sue,” he said. “I’m pleased about the decision because it’s something that benefits the people of Erie County and that keeps the three branches of government in check.”
Councilman Chris Drexel added, “While Brenton Davis focuses on photo ops and overstepping his authority, this council remains focused on balancing budgets, funding public services and delivering real results for Erie County.”
A.J. Rao can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNRao.
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