The proposed 2013 budget for the city of Plattsburgh has been released. The Mayor says “lack of meaningful reform” in Albany and an “underperforming pension fund” made it one of the most difficult to craft since he has been in office.
The city charter in Plattsburgh mandates that the mayor submit his proposed budget by October first. Mayor Don Kasprzak issued his budget Monday afternoon, with a tax rate that remains at $10.40 per thousand, and a tax levy increase of one-point-nine-three percent. Mayor Kasprzak says for the past six years the city has basically had the same tax rate because they worked hard to save money. But in his release with the proposed budget, he says unfunded mandates and state obligations are adversely affecting the city to the point that it has reached an unsustainable and unaffordable tipping point.
Mayor Kasprzak points to the increasing burden of retirement costs and other mandates from the state for causing the majority of the city’s budgetary challenges.
The proposed budget now goes to the City Council for review. City Councilor Jim Calnon is their Budget Officer, and met with the Mayor as the budget was crafted.
The City Council must finalize the budget by the second Thursday in January.
