The Albany Common Council this week unanimously voted to override Mayor Kathy Sheehan's veto of a $125,000 appropriation for “housing-related services.”
In November the Albany Common Council passed Mayor Kathy Sheehan's 2025 city budget proposal in a 12-1 vote.
Sheehan quickly issued a statement expressing her concern with a city council plan to spend $125,000 for a housing-related services.
The Democrat said, 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.”
Albany commissioned a vacancy study earlier this year to see if New York's Capital City would qualify for rent control provisions under the state's Emergency Tenant Protection Act.
Under state law, municipalities can declare a housing emergency if their vacancy rate is below 5 percent. Albany's study of eligible buildings this year revealed a vacancy rate of more than 8 percent.
Finance committee chair Sonia Frederick represents the 1st ward:
"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 [$125,000] can be used towards housing related services pending the results of those recommendations from that audit," Frederick said.
Sheehan vetoed the appropriation. On Tuesday the Common Council unanimously overrode her veto. She says the $125,000 is nothing more than a "slush fund" and not necessarily the correct use of taxpayer dollars.
"I don't think we need another housing study," said Sheehan. "We did an in depth housing study. We also know that the misguided attempt by the council to create more affordable housing has completely backfired, and that inclusionary zoning has resulted in zero new units of affordable housing being located within market rate projects. And that's because no market rate projects of any size or scale have been proposed since they passed that legislation, exactly as we predicted. So rather than spending $125,000 on another study, I'd like for us to get to work ensuring that we're building housing for people at all levels of income and making sure that we can deliver on Governor Hochul desire to ensure that we have housing for the workforce that is growing and coming here."
Sheehan said taxpayers should be outraged. Common Council President Corey Ellis is confident the city's legislative body will take its time "and then figure out how that money will be used."
"They believed there was a legitimate compromise, and that the administration had okayed that compromise, and so they were, I think, many of them were very surprised that the mayor would veto, especially something that where the council was very specific on 'we're going to use it to figure out what to do with it, with the housing crisis we have.' And it was very clear. There was email sent out. Even advocates who advocated for the housing study they had, you know, leaned in and stated, you know, based off of what happened in Poughkeepsie, a housing study at this time probably is not appropriate, so the council would keep the money in the budget to really look at housing, the shortage in housing in our city, And I think a number of council members received those emails and they heard those constituents, and that's why they decided to amend it, to amend their ask, and were very surprised that the mayor would veto it," Ellis said.
After their veto override, Councilors believe the money, now being held aside, has the potential to help mitigate what they say is a housing crisis, even if its exact use has not yet been determined.
