BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan is seeking financial assistance from New York State and Erie County to address the city's dire financial situation, which includes a budget shortfall of up to $54 million.
Ryan has acknowledged that solving the city's budget issues will require help from other levels of government, including both Erie County and the State of New York.
When asked about the possibility of a Buffalo bailout, Governor Kathy Hochul said the state is willing to examine the situation but expects the city to first conduct its own assessment.
WATCH: 'The answer is not no': Would New York State taxpayers be on the hook to help Buffalo's financial problems?
"Mayor Ryan is inheriting a system that has been in place a long time," Hochul said. "Are there areas where there could be improvement, any curtailment of services that are redundant, unnecessary? We ask the cities to do their own self-reflection with our help before they come asking for that assistance. So the answer is not no. The answer is, we need to look at this."
The current financial crisis stems from problems that developed under the previous administration of Byron Brown, who used American Rescue Plan money, savings and other resources to plug budget holes before resigning from office in 2024.
Brown became the CEO of Western Regional Off Track Betting in Batavia. The corporation owns Batavia Downs.
Hochul expressed confidence in Brown's leadership while acknowledging the broader challenges facing Buffalo, particularly the impact of the pandemic on downtown businesses and revenue.
"The City of Buffalo has had to go through a lot of changes the last couple of years," Hochul said. "The pandemic... the fact that downtown — and I'm working on this — I want downtown to thrive again, but the fact that people are not coming back to work has really taken a toll on the downtown businesses. People aren't going out to lunch anymore, they're getting food delivered. This is not at the footstep of the mayor, there's less revenue coming in."
Buffalo's taxes have not increased in many years, raising questions about whether taxpayers statewide could be responsible for helping fund a potential bailout of the city.
Ryan has indicated he will raise taxes to help address the shortfall, though he has not yet specified by how much.
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