Buffalo Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams says she plans to ask New York’s highest court to review the city’s capital bonding dispute — even after two courts ruled against her.
“This appeal is about more than a legal question. It is about reaffirming the role of the Comptroller,” she said during a press conference Tuesday.
Miller-Williams continues to defend her refusal to issue the nearly $110 million in 2025 capital borrowing approved by the Common Council, saying the city already has substantial unspent capital funds and should use existing money before taking on more debt.
“When I came in office in 2019 that was something that I asked, why do we keep going to the market and borrowing, and we don’t have the capacity, and we haven’t spent the money that we borrowed the year before, the year before, and the year before, but yet we keep borrowing?” she said.
The comptroller says that open capital grant projects total about $270 million. Common Council President Chris Scanlon, who took part in filing the suit against Miller-Williams as then-acting mayor, says that figure represents what hasn’t been spent down yet.
“A lot of times that money spent at the end of those projects, it’s reimbursed, or things like that, so a lot of those projects are well underway, of near coming along on coming closer to completion, and then that money will get out the door,” he said.
For the 2026-2027 fiscal year, Miller-Williams says she plans to enter the bond market for approximately $25 million, as she says Mayor Ryan has “respected the capital debt limit” because his administration submitted resolutions below her $28 million cap.
“He moved forward, and he advanced resolutions for $25 million So, I thank Mayor Ryan for having the fortitude to recognize that we should only be borrowing for those projects that are shovel ready,” she said.
With regards to the comptroller’s latest intent, Scanlon says the legal proceedings are a waste of time and money to the tune of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
“There’s not one person that’s sided with her in this argument so far. It’s really, it’s absurd at this point,” he said.
One thing the Common Council and the comptroller can agree on is that working together is necessary to meet the interests of Buffalo residents — despite the contentious litigation.
“Listen, I come to work every day, my team comes to work every day to try and improve the residents, the lives of the residents of the city of Buffalo, and if it’s working with the comptroller to get that done, we will do that each and every day,” Scanlon said.
“I remain committed to working collaboratively with the mayor, his administration, prior administrations,” Miller-Williams said. “I want to work collectively, and I want to create a level of transparency that will result in justifying any amount of money in my role as the comptroller.”
Miller-Williams says her legal counsel has until May 27 for leave to appeal.