Cities and towns across New York are celebrating an increase in Aid to Municipalities funding in the new state budget.
An additional $50 million in Aid to Municipalities, or AIM, was approved after more than a decade without any increases apart from COVID adjustments.
Democratic Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Finance Minita Sanghvi, a candidate for state Senate, says the increase guarantees the city can meet its financial obligations.
“This means a lot of money, almost $200,000 for Saratoga Springs, and it ensures that we are able to meet our contractual obligations. It ensures that we are able to pay for our increases in our insurance rates and all of that. So, it’ll be a part of the general budget but it gives us a bit of a cushion to work with,” said Sanghvi.
The annual amount granted to the Spa City now totals $1.84 million.
In 2013, AIM funding comprised more than 4.2% of the city’s budget, but by 2023 that stagnant amount had shrunk to 2.7%.
“We know that wages have not stayed the same. We are often contractually obligated to give certain raises. Inflation has made materials a lot more expensive and we have, you know, higher insurance rates now. So, we have a lot of lawsuits that are pending with the city,” said Sanghvi.
The city is facing a handful of lawsuits from former city employees as well as Black Lives Matter demonstrators the Attorney General’s office found were unconstitutionally targeted by city officials and police.
Sanghvi says the increase is a bipartisan win.
“This was something that I was advocating for quite a bit at city council. I spoke to all the commissioners and the mayor; we drafted a resolution which passed five-zero. The mayor also signed a letter along with 370 other mayors to ask the governor and the legislature for more funding. And so, while it was not in the governor’s original budget both the Assembly and the Senate had put it in their budgets and eventually that did get into the final budget,” explained Sanghvi.
Republican Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chair Phil Barrett is also grateful for the added support while inflation continues to impact upstate municipalities.
“My focus has always been with the state trying to work with them on new ways to allocate money for infrastructure directly to municipalities. And there are programs in place, but one thing that I’ve tried to press forward with was new ideas on how the state could allocate those infrastructure dollars in a more effective and fair manner,” said Barrett.
Sanghvi says while paid parking and short-term rental registration programs are positioned to generate new revenue for the city, the additional $191,000 will make up for other budget shortfalls.
“But we know that cannabis revenues are nowhere close to moving forward. So, we had estimated about $250,000 for that and I’m hoping that something will come through by the end of the year but that’s definitely one of those revenues that’s going to be missing the mark. So, we’ll see how it all shapes up,” said Sanghvi.
Sanghvi is running for the 44th District seat against Republican Senator Jim Tedisco.
