Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy has submitted his budget proposal to the city council, and as WAMC’s Jesse Taylor reports, residents are facing a property tax increase.
The more than $120 million budget proposal represents a 3.17 percent, or nearly $4 million, increase over last year’s budget.
McCarthy, a Democrat, says the proposal is the result of a few factors, including rising healthcare costs and the loss of federal funding previously made available under the American Rescue Plan Act.
An increase in the property tax rate – $15.77 per $1,000 of assessed value – is also included, representing a $2.39 increase over last year.
According to McCarthy, the rate means a homeowner in Schenectady with property assessed at $100,000 could see a $20-per-month change.
Schenectady GOP Committee Chair Tom Kennedy blames the proposed tax increase on the mayor’s and Democratic council’s misuse of ARPA funds.
“The mayor and city council’s continued use of funding for city employment with ARPA funds. That’s federal funding that’s going to go away in the past years, has created budget deficits that are now being replaced with tax increases,” Kennedy said.
Because of the property tax increase, the budget would need a supermajority to pass. That means, with former councilor Joseph Mancini’s resignation in August, the budget requires approval from four of the six current council members.
Under the proposal, garbage collection fees would also rise again, increasing by more than $2.00 per week for non-exempt parcels. Exempt parcels would see a nearly $1.50 increase per week.
In a statement Wednesday announcing the proposal, McCarthy said that change was made to better reflect the actual cost of the city’s operations.
Last year, council members approved a $116.7 million spending plan that included a 3 percent property tax hike and a $52-a-year hike in the trash fee.
In recent years, budget negotiations have been contentious between the mayor and council.
In 2023, McCarthy threatened to shut down city government after a week’s long standoff with the council.
Kennedy expects this year’s negotiations to be politically charged.
“What Schenectady is going to be dealing with is a very politically charged budget negotiations and we saw where that landed a couple years ago. The budget went over, nobody wanted to make decisions and again the tax payers paid the price for that,” Kennedy said.
The council has until November to negotiate and adopt a plan.
