Albany's Common Council is considering overriding the New York State property tax cap.
Common Councilmember Meghan Keegan, who chairs the council's finance committee, said overriding Albany's property tax cap isn't a done deal. But, it may be the only way to keep the city financially stable in the face of ballooning costs and declining revenues, caused in part by years of efforts to keep taxes low for residents.
"Labor costs were still rising," Keegan said. "Taxes only went up about 5.25 percent, but our salary expenses and healthcare expenses went up by almost 20 percent, and that's not that's not a right size way to function fiscally as a city."
Keegan's assessment comes on the heels of a budget report from Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs that predicted higher budget deficits than previously predicted. The report projected a $22 million shortfall for 2026, and a preliminary gap of $33 million for 2027, even with an unprecedented $40 million in state aid.
"The administration is aware of the proposal to override the tax cap but did not make the request to introduce such a proposal at this time," Alyson Baker, the deputy chief of staff for Applyrs' office, said in a statement after this article was originally published. "We are working with our budget office daily to explore every available option to strengthen Albany's financial foundation. While this may include exceeding the tax cap for fiscal year 2027, no definitive decisions have been made at this time as we are currently developing the 2027 Proposed Budget."
The tax cap is the maximum percentage that local governments can raise property taxes in a year. The Common Council can vote to override the tax cap if at least 60% of the council votes to approve the increase.
This story was updated Thursday to include comment from the mayor's office.
