Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy, a Democrat in his third term,outlined details of a $104 million spending plan on Friday. The 2022 proposal was for a $97 million budget that restored some positions eliminated by the city during the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s plan presented to the all-Democratic city council once again includes no property tax increase, but carries a $52 per unit waste collection fee. The proposal also includes roughly $5.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Meantime, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, a third-term Democrat, unveiled a roughly $217 million budget proposal at City Hall Friday, up from the nearly $191 million enacted 2022 spending plan.
The budget, as usual, counts on $15 million in state “Capital City” funding, plus nearly $61 million in property taxes. The property tax levy is increasing by 1.5 percent, under the 2 percent state tax cap, but a jump from the average .82 percent hike during Sheehan’s tenure.
“If we're going to provide the essential services that our city residents expect, if we're going to pick up garbage and fill potholes and fix sidewalks, we have to ensure that we have the resources to do that. And that is why we have a plan and a tax increase in this budget. We think we've done it responsibly, it's well under the cap,” she said.
She says it’s an average increase of $39 for homeowners.
“We think that it's important to recognize that we are in inflationary times,” Sheehan said. “And our Rescue Plan funding is one-time funding. And as we think about the upward pressures that we are facing, we think the responsible thing to do is to ensure that our property tax levy keeps up with and is increased so that we can make sure that in future years, we are going to be able to balance the budget.”
The budget also includes sizable increases to debt service and employee wages, after a study showed the city’s non-union employees were earning 87 percent of market average.
Sheehan says the budget was written with an eye on 8 percent inflation year-over-year, and includes a 44 percent increase in budgeted gasoline costs.
Some priorities Sheehan highlighted include $17 million for a new Lincoln Park pool, $2 million for a new West Hill Community Center, $500,000 for a new natural trail and revitalizing baseball and softball fields at Westland Hills Park and $15 million to put a new roof on City Hall. It also carries $22 million for street and sidewalk improvements, plus funding to upgrade the Albany Police Department’s IT infrastructure.
After the new nine-member Community Police Review Board asked City Hall for $2.8 million for operations, Sheehan’s proposed budget line for the body is just under $600,000, the statutorily required 1 percent of the police budget.
WAMC has requested comment from Nairobi Vives, the head of the body.
Like last year’s spending plan, this year’s proposal includes $7.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act general fund money.
