Albany leaders said Friday that the city's estimated budget gap for the 2025 fiscal year is now at $19.6 million.
That’s $4.6 million more than Mayor Dorcey Applyrs said it was in March, when she said it was a roughly $15 million structural deficit in the 2025 fiscal year and a $22 million deficit estimated for the 2026 fiscal year.
At a press conference Friday to update the public on the budget, Applyrs said the 2025 deficit is actually $19.6 million. She said poor budget management oversight by former Mayor Kathy Sheehan's administration and unbudgeted expenses contributed to the deficit.
The current mayor said the number has also climbed further, in part, because her administration has discovered $3.6 million in invoices that were not filed promptly. In addition, Applyrs said police are filing overtime, especially as the department is short 75 officers.
Applyrs was the Albany city auditor before becoming mayor. When asked Friday who is to blame for the lack of oversight, the current mayor said it was an administrative responsibility that mayors handle.
“The administration really is responsible for providing the oversight to budget development, implementation and oversight, and so that includes not just the mayor's office, but the budget department, administrative services, payroll, as well as our city department heads,” Applyrs said. “So really it requires shared accountability across the administration.”
When asked what that meant, she said Sheehan’s administration was in charge of oversight.
“Under Mayor Sheehan's administration, there was a lack of oversight of the budget, a lack of management, and even looking at how the budget was implemented,” Applyrs said.
She did not take any further questions about her role as city auditor or how she may have played a role in the budget gap increase.
Sheehan told WAMC that the budget deficit exceeds what she was told when she was in office and that she’s “outraged,” as the residents of Albany deserve answers.
Applyrs said she has managed to gather $5.3 million in savings for the 2026 fiscal year, which makes up 24% of the projected structural deficit. She said $4.1 million of those savings comes from operating expenses like reducing duplicate contracts, training employees in-house instead of through a third party, and making use of grant money instead of general funds. The mayor said the remaining savings come from a hiring freeze she enacted.
Meanwhile, Albany is set to get $35 million in the state budget, but that allotment is in limbo as state lawmakers have passed eight budget extenders, and are now a month late on passing a spending plan.
The Times Union reported Friday that there were rumblings within the Albany Common Council's Finance Committee of possibly bringing in the state comptroller for a municipal budget review. The committee believed it could be useful to help navigate the current situation.
Applyrs told reporters Friday that she did not think that was necessary.
“I think that it would be a waste of state taxpayer dollars to bring in the comptroller to do something that my team has a firm handle on,” Applyrs said.
Sheehan, on the other hand, said it might be time to get the state’s comptroller involved. In her opinion, the city’s charter calls for shared oversight by the city mayor, treasurer and auditor to stop these kinds of budgetary woes from developing.
