BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Erie County Legislature was originally scheduled Thursday to have committee meetings.

Conservative Legislator Lindsay Lorigo said the body has a lot of work in front of it as the new year begins.

"We had committees scheduled with several large discussions about compensating use agreements. We have different grants that we have to approve for New York state so that they can be used to get moving on projects at the county level quickly. We had a lot of really big, important conversations that we needed to have and we were told that everything would be moved to next Thursday for immediate consideration," she said.

Lorigo said she found out Tuesday that County Executive Mark Poloncarz was closing county offices Thursday in observance of the National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.

"It's the DMV. It's Social Services. It's Health Services. They're all closed. The county Legislature is closed. The courts are still open. New York state offices are still open," she said.

At the local level, the decision appears to be unique to Erie County and the city of Buffalo, which decided in conjunction with the county to close as well. Similar sized upstate cities including Rochester, Syracuse and Albany and their corresponding county partners all remained fully staffed and opened.

"We are standing alone in New York state on that front," Lorigo said. "It doesn't seem like this is something that is happening nationwide. It is just happening in Erie County but we have a lame-duck county executive who, as we all know, is very interested in national politics and that really drives what he's doing and I think at the end of the day that's all this really comes down to."

Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon and Poloncarz noted their decision was in recognition of Carter's life and remakable accomplishments. Lorigo said the objections she and her colleagues in the legislature's minority conference are voicing are not meant to disrespect the former president's legacy but notes Poloncarz did not take the same action in 2018 after George H.W. Bush died.

In fact, a spokesperson for the county executive says they believe it's the first time the county has closed following a president's passing.

"I think it sets a really dangerous precedent because I don't think the county executive should be using that power to close down the county for anything other than an extreme emergency."

The county estimates it will pay $1.1 million in holiday pay to its employees for Thursday.