The chairman of the Niagara County Legislature believes the county has many reasons to be optimistic as it starts 2009.

During his state-of-the-county speech on Tuesday, Legislature Chairman Bill Ross, C-Wheatfield, warned of potentially difficult financial times ahead, but pointed to several factors that he thinks will help Niagara County through it all.

“We are prepared,” Ross said. “We do have a lot of things lined up.”

Those things include stable finances and several promising development projects and initiatives, he said.

Ross praised his fellow lawmakers, county department heads and County Manager Gregory Lewis for putting together a 2009 budget that kept spending in check while maintaining vital services. He said the budget is the county’s fourth in a row in which county tax rates were reduced in the majority of communities. Ross said the spending plan also reflects the county’s continued commitment to cutting costs and trimming the workforce, which he said is now down to 1,450 full-time positions, roughly 200 fewer than the county had two years ago. The county, he noted, also continues to maintain a healthy fund balance moving forward.

“We’ve been working on reducing — not reducing just for the sake of reducing — but reducing and still maintaining all the essential services,” he said.

Ross said one of the Legislature’s goals for 2009 will be continuing down the path of fiscal stability and responsibility. He cautioned that the state’s economic condition may lead to “stressful” days ahead, but said lawmakers intend to work with their state representatives to make sure Albany’s problems do not increase the tax burden in Niagara County.

“We don’t want cost shifts,” he said. “Cost shifts will just bury who? The property taxpayer. We worked too hard for that. Certainly we will stand strong against any cost shifts, but we are more than willing to work with our state legislators in any way we can. The point is: We will not stand to have stuff dumped back on the property taxpayer. He’s taken it on the chin too many times.”

Ross highlighted several economic development initiatives that he believes will allow the county to enjoy growth in 2009, including the reopening of the former Globe Metallurgical plant in Niagara Falls, the Seneca Nation of Indians’ investment in the Hickory Stick Golf Course in the Town of Lewiston and continued expansion at the county’s industrial park, Vantage International Pointe in the Town of Wheatfield.

Ross expressed the most optimism about plans for a new terminal at Niagara Falls International Airport, which is scheduled to open this spring. Ross said the new terminal should result in continued growth on properties surrounding the facility on Niagara Falls Boulevard.

“That is going to become prime economic development land,” Ross said.

Ross lauded the 2008 accomplishments of the county’s Center for Economic Development, which he claimed contacted 61 companies and held 75 meetings with 52 different companies last year. He also credited the county’s Industrial Development Agency with approving 16 projects in 2008 that he said will result in the creation of 585 jobs and the retention of 304 more positions. Moving forward, Ross said the county will continue to rely on those departments to continue to lure investment to the area. He said the county has many tools at its disposal to accomplish the job, including allocations of low-cost power available to companies through the county’s Empower Niagara program.

“We know there’s frustration, we know there’s concerns, we know there’s problems, but we can work our way through them,” he said.

Minority Leader Dennis Virtuoso, D-Niagara Falls, said the chairman’s speech sounded an awful lot like state-of-the-county addresses from year’s past. While he said he too remains hopeful about the county’s future, he said there is always room for improvement, especially in the areas of reducing the county’s workforce, cutting costs and reducing the tax burden for property owners.

“I’m optimistic that things are going to get better, hopefully,” Virtuoso. “We are not suffering as much as a lot of the other places with foreclosures and things of that nature, so I guess we have that going for us.”

Virtuoso noted that the tax cuts lauded by Ross were made possible, in part, by applying a portion of the county’s fund balance to offset expenses in the 2009 budget.

“Surpluses aren’t going to last forever,” he said.

In other matters, the Legislature:

• Formally accepted nominations for legislative leadership positions. Ross will continue to serve as chairman, with Legislator Clyde Burmaster, R-Ransomville, continuing as vice chair. Republicans again named Rick Updegrove, R-Lockport, majority leader, with North Tonawanda legislators Peter Smolinski as first deputy and Andrea McNulty as second deputy. Legislative Democrats named Virtuoso as minority leader, with Renae Kimble as first deputy and Sean O’Connor as second deputy.

• Reappointed Niagara Falls School District administrator James Spanbauer to the county Board of Ethics for a two-year term ending Dec. 31, 2011.

Contact reporter Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250.