BY SANDRA TAN

News Staff Reporter

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz's proposed 2026 budget is short on frills and headline-grabbing new programs.

But the $2.28 billion operating budget does have some attention grabbers, such the plan to borrow $20 million for a comprehensive design and engineering plan for a consolidated county jail, which would result in the closure of the downtown Holding Center and the expansion of the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden.

The proposed budget still raises the property tax levy – the total amount of money the county collects in property taxes – by 1.5%, or $5 million. But that is the second lowest increase in more than a dozen years.

The county's property tax rate, the amount of taxes charged for every $1,000 of assessed value to property o

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