The Albany Common Council has passed Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s budget for 2023.
Sheehan, a third-term Democrat, released her $217 million budget proposal in early October.
Sonia Frederick of the First Ward chairs the Common Council Finance Committee.
"Last night, we passed the budget 14 to 1. And with that, we've included some amendments as well, which is included in our ordinance and our budget intent memo that goes along with the mayor's final budget," said Frederick.
Frederick says the no vote was cast by second ward Councilor Derek Johnson.
“Well, I just felt like there's nothing reflective in that budget that, you know, the Second Ward can look at as the mayor listening to our needs and our concerns," Johnson said. "It was suggested that I'm voting down, Lincoln Pool. We weren't happy with Lincoln Pool. You know, we were forced to accept what the mayor office was pushing on us. And so, as a result of parents not wanting to be without a pool for two years, you know, they just accepted what was being forced on us. We didn't have a choice, you know, our input wasn't valued. And so for that reason, I was, I felt like it was business as usual. You know, the police got more money, everybody got more money, and we didn't do anything different. And, and in areas where we were trying to do things different, it was just met with reluctance.”
Frederick says the rest of the panel fully supports the spending plan. "... as demonstrated by our vote. That budget does include investment into historic investments into sidewalk repair, road repairs," Frederick said. "A lot of big investments into the West Hill Community Center, the updates to the Hoffman Park Recreation Center, as well as updates to Lincoln Park pool to name a few. And with that, our amendments also included some changes."
Those changes included appropriating some additional funding for the Albany Community Police Review Board, an independent body that reviews complaints and conducts independent investigations into incidents of alleged misconduct by officers of the Albany Police Department. In September the CPRB sent a letter to City Hall requesting an additional $2.8 million in funding to operate.
In her budget proposal, Sheehan funded the CPRB at the statutory minimum of 1% of the police budget, roughly $598,000.
"So what we have done as a council is put forward additional funding of $172,000 for the CPRP, Community Police Review Board, as well as 100k towards a tenant rights legal assistant, contingent upon partnership with Albany County. And then finally, funding a Violence Prevention Task Force subject matter expert to come in front of the task force and really help us develop recommendations and improve, put forward changes to improve the landscape we're seeing here city as it relates to violence," said Frederick.
Mayor Sheehan says the CPRB's budget ask was larger than the budget for the city's entire recreation department.
"And I don't know that that's what our residents envisioned creating when they voted on the local law that gave them more oversight." Sheehan said. "And so I'm looking forward to hearing from the board from their consultant, as they build out what it is that they're seeking to do, we have more than doubled their budget since the local law was passed. So you know, they are now going to have a budget with the additions that were made of over $700,000. And I think looking at that, that's a very significant investment in an entity that, you know, in a in a typical year received between 30 and 60 complaints that need to be investigated. So we look forward to working with them and focusing on what their needs are going to be."
Frederick adds the panel kept a watchful eye on the budget's tax component.
"This budget put forward by the administration did include an increase to real property taxes to our taxpayers, our taxpayers do have an undue burden as it relates to real property taxes, and most of the properties here in the city are tax exempt," Frederick said. "So with that, you know, our amendments, were powerful, but also, we didn't want to do any amendments that would raise that proposed budget figure and therefore further increase taxes than what the administration put forward. "
Sheehan says city residents are going to see "a real improvement in customer service. "...through our new Neighborhood and Community Services Department. We are recruiting as we speak for neighborhood specialists. And we really look forward to having that liaison, neighborhood by neighborhood, to help ensure that all of our departments are meeting our residents expectations that we're communicating clearly and effectively on what those expectations should be. And I'm excited about the impact that that's going to have for our residents."
