The public is asked to provide feedback on the recently adopted 2026 Erie County budget at a town hall meeting on Thursday.

County Executive Mark Poloncarz will speak at 4 p.m. at the Thomas A. Edison Elementary School auditorium in Tonawanda. He is expected to go into detail on a number of county investments in the town of Tonawanda.

The Erie County Legislature approved the amended 2026 county budget earlier this month by a vote of 7 to 4. 

The $2.1 billion budget features a property tax decrease, from $3.29 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $3.09. 

The budget also includes more than $800,000 for new snowplows and $2.7 million for infrastructure projects around the city. It allocates $9.2 million to Buffalo Police and Fire, $7.4 million for the Dept. of Public Works – Division of Buildings, $8.2 million for Dept. of Public Works – Division of Engineering, $3.4 million for Dept. of Public Works – Division of Streets, $600,000 for Parking Enforcement, $62,900 for Dept of Management Information Systems and $3.7 million for Cultural and Education investments.

The major amendment made to Poloncarz’s budget was the axing of a $20 million appropriation to start design and engineering work for a new county jail. The proposal was for a new $430 million jail and holding center in Alden. Erie County Sheriff John Garcia says $54 million in immediate upgrades and repairs are now needed at facilities across the county. 

Members of the Legislature say property taxes would have likely gone up if they approved the $20 million to be spent on that process.Â