Schenectady's City Council voted unanimously Friday in support of an $85 million spending plan. The 2017 budget comes with a four percent property tax cut supported by the first round of revenues from the incoming Rivers Casino and Resort at Mohawk Harbor.
The tax cut included in the plan is slightly higher than included in Democratic Mayor Gary McCarthy's spending proposal. McCarthy had announced a property tax cut for 2017 of around 3.25 percent. However, the number is well below a figure proposed one year ago, when McCarthy had said casino revenues could lead to a ten percent tax cut.
The budget was approved by consent by a council led by a Democratic majority in a meeting that lasted less than five minutes. Independent city councilor Vince Riggi told the Daily Gazettethe vote, where he was not allowed to explain his thoughts on the budget bill, "was the strangest budget vote in my life."
