Free Republic

ALBANY - County Executive Joel A. Giambra is asking state leaders to raise the sales tax by 1 percentage point and use the more than $1 billion in new revenue to fund Medicaid, the health care program for poor and elderly people. If the state were to approve such a plan, the total sales tax in Erie County would be 9 percent. But counties then would be able take the money that they previously spent on Medicaid and use it to cut property taxes or pay for services, such as police. The unusual call for a sales tax increase comes...