2026 Budget
2026 Proposed Budget
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz released his 2026 Proposed Budget on October 15th 2025. He is recommending a county funding increase of $928,419 (3%) for libraries. The additional funding will help offset inflation-related impacts on library operating costs, including contractually-obligated labor costs and the escalating cost of supplies in this challenging fiscal environment.
County funding of $31,875,741 combined with New York State operating aid funding of $2,570,458, use of $1,200,000 in Library fund balance, and $433,860 in other library revenue, brings the Library’s 2026 proposed operating budget to $36,080,059; a 4.1% increase over the 2025 County Adopted Budget. In addition to the operating budget, $639,881 in estimated state aid is included in the Library Grants Budget.
Erie County’s 2026 Proposed Capital Budget supports improvements to the county owned downtown Central Library and to system related improvements, specifically:
$2,000,000 in bonded funds for Various Improvements & Upgrades
$160,000 in “pay as you go funds” for Vehicle Replacement
We are extremely grateful to County Executive Mark Poloncarz and the Erie County Legislature for their support of libraries, especially during these challenging times.
The next event in the budget review process will be the Library’s budget hearing before the Erie County Legislature’s Finance & Management/Budget Committee expected to be scheduled for Friday, November 14th, 2025. A public hearing/comment opportunity on the overall County Budget is expected to be scheduled later in November. This page will be updated once dates and times are finalized. The Legislature’s deliberations will continue until their vote on the proposed budget, scheduled for December 1st. Should there be any vetoes, the Legislature has scheduled a veto override vote on December 12th.
Information on the proposed budget may be found in the links below. This page will be updated as the budget process moves forward.