Officials in Schenectady are advocating for a bump in state funds in pursuit of what they’re calling “regional fairness.”
State Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, whose 111th District encompasses portions of the Mohawk Valley, Amsterdam and Schenectady, met with city and county leaders Friday to publicly call for an increase in the amount of state funding the city is set to receive.
Currently, the Electric City is set to get roughly $11 million in Aid and Incentives for Municipalities, or AIM, funds in the still-outstanding state budget.
Santabarbara, a Democrat, says that’s not on par with other regional cities.
“When you look at Utica, a similar city, population around 65,000, around the same population, they receive, consistently, about $5 million more, $16.1 million in this proposed budget. That’s a big gap, and that gap has been there year after year. That is significant and that needs to be talked about — why is this happening? That’s just one comparison and we could make many others of cities of comparable size to the city of Schenectady that are receiving more,” said Santabarbara.
Santabarbara said AIM funding for his district’s largest municipality has remained relatively flat.
“The formula has not been meaningfully updated in a long time. And what does it do? It leaves Schenectady stuck with trying to keep up with rising costs. It leaves Schenectady in a place where they’re receiving funding that has not kept up with the pace, it has not kept up with recent times," said Santabarbara.
In 2025, Schenectady received $11.2 million in AIM funds and $1.3 million in Temporary Municipal Assistance, or TMA, funding, totaling $12.5 million.
From the same budget, Albany received a combined $14 million from both programs, and Troy received $13.7 million while Utica received a combined $17.9 million.
Santabarbara also set his sights on additional funds received by the state’s capital.
“Albany’s received funding year after year and it has grown over time. This year around $20 million annually is what it’s risen to. That is a big amount of funding. And that would help any city in the capital district however, Schenectady has been excluded from even being considered from that type of funding,” said Santabarbara.
The city of Albany currently faces a multimillion dollar budget deficit that leaders have said could be mitigated by the state budget.
Santabarbara, Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy and Schenectady County Legislature Chair Gary Hughes signed a letter to Governor Hochul asking for an additional $10 million in state funding in the forthcoming budget.
Mayor McCarthy said additional state funding is needed to keep the city’s momentum.
“We’re able to bring businesses, attract people for housing, other things. You look at Schenectady, the things we’ve been able to get done, communities across this state are calling, looking at us as a model of how you do things. And we’ve done it in spite of this inequity and deficit in the overall financing. But our services are the same whether you’re in New York City, Buffalo, Rochester,” said McCarthy.
Meanwhile, the state budget continues to stall — state legislators passed an eighth budget extender Wednesday. The state budget was due April 1.
