The Albany Common Council has passed a $221 million 2025 city budget.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan's spending plan passed in a 12-1 vote on Monday. Councilor Owusu Anane, who represents the city's Pine Hills neighborhood, says the budget addresses many public safety concerns including traffic speed reduction and gun violence elimination.
“As a 10th ward councilman, I'm really excited that the mayor included $900,000 in improvements to Madison Park," said Anane. "There's going to be other millions of dollars, other investments, particularly when it comes to Corning Preserve, Pitch Pine and Shaker Park playground. As the chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, it’s something that I continue to work with the mayor, to make sure that we improve our public spaces and our public parks as well. We also increased the minimum wage for city workforce, increasing the minimum wage to $19 in this budget. No city workers should be paid less than a living wage, and that's something that we're trying to strive to achieve as a city.”
Under the mayor's budget, the city's tax levy goes up less than 2%, charting below the inflation rate. Sheehan issued a statement expressing her concern over $125,000 the council added for “housing-related services.” The statement says in part "a group of Councilmembers strongly believe we should spend vital taxpayer resources on a second housing vacancy study to prove what we already know: we do not qualify for rent control.” Anane:
“I heard that the mayor might have some reservations, particularly when it comes to the $125,000 that we have set aside. But we are in a housing crisis as a city. And this council have, time and time again, demonstrated our commitment to protect residents of our city, particularly our marginalized, disenfranchised communities. We were the first city to pass Good Cause Eviction. We were the first city to pass, you know, right to counsel with EPIC legislation. We are first city also to pass a form of exclusionary zoning, and we're going to continue that path to really protect our most vulnerable population. We are in the middle of a housing crisis in the city. We should not be creating mass homelessness in our city. The rent is way too high, and many of our residents are struggling in silence,” Anane said.
Finance committee chair Sonia Frederick represents the 1st ward:
“So this $125,000 will be used in fiscal year ’25 pending a council vote towards housing related services, still to be determined on its particular usage," said Frederick. "We know recently that our city performs and our neighborhood services department performed an extensive study, and we didn't qualify for the rent stabilization under the vacancy study. We also know that the City Auditor's Office is conducting a housing study this year, which we do anticipate will have a number of recommendations that will be put forward, and so we're hopeful that this 125 can be used towards housing related services pending the results of those recommendations from that audit.”
Frederick says the Community Police Review Board, coming under city oversight in January, will get an additional $70,000 allocation for contracted services and the Fire Department has been allocated $40,000 so both agencies can operate smoothly. As for the allocation for housing, Frederick says the ball is now in the mayor's court.
“She said that she may or may not line item veto that particular 125, and I look forward to hopefully a smooth passage. But if that is vetoed, then obviously we'll take the next appropriate steps,” Frederick said.
