Mayor Byron W. Brown will call for a 3.8% increase on residential and commercial property taxes and higher fees for sanitation services when he presents his 18th annual State of the City address on Monday.
The budget recommended by the mayor is $582 million, up 2.69% from last year’s $566 million spending plan.
“For most budgets I have prepared, we have held the line on taxes or reduced taxes,” Brown said. “When we look at the effects of Covid, the economy and inflation, we see expenses rising at a much faster rate than revenues. And so to keep the city financially strong we have to increase revenues in a reasonable way.”
Expected to be one of the highlights of the mayor’s announcement is financial assistance for around 2,000 residents citywide to pay off outstanding utility bills, user fees and taxes. That money will come from $331 million provided by the American Rescue Plan, which passed Congress in 2021.
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“This budget is focused on the future of the city and is developed to produce significant positive change for the city and its residents,” Brown said.
Money also will be in the budget for equipment for police, fire and public works.
The mayor on Monday will share highlights from his 2023-2024 budget, the city’s proposed capital budget, a budget for the American Rescue Plan and the city’s annual action plan that involves HUD funding, with each expected to be filed in the coming weeks.
The proposed property tax increase would add $5.8 million to the city’s coffers “to provide essential services the public expects and needs,” the mayor said.
It will boost the homestead tax rate from $10.27 to $10.73 for every $1,000 in assessed value of a home, and bring commercial rates from $18.17 to $18.72 a thousand.
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That computes to an additional $46 on a $100,000 home, $92 more for a $200,000 home and an additional $230 on a $500,000 home.
Commercial properties valued at $250,000 will be charged an additional $137.50, with $500,000 properties paying an additional $275 and $1 million properties paying $550 more.
Sanitation fees will go up about 8% for residential properties and 11% for commercial properties.
A 65-gallon tote will go up $19.89 a year for homeowners, with a 95-gallon tote increasing to $22.28. A 65-gallon tote for commercial properties will go up to $29.25, with a 95-gallon tote rising to $32.75.
Brown said the sanitation fee increases will still be lower than neighboring municipalities and other upstate cities.
“The user fee wasn’t paying for itself, so the city’s general fund had to make up the deficit in the user fee,” he said. “The last few years, the deficit has been roughly $15 million dollars. This will make the user fee self-sustaining.”
American Rescue Plan dollars will be blended with state money to help people pay off delinquent taxes and water, sewer and sanitation bills, Brown said. Last June, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she was setting aside $20 million to help around 4,000 homeowners do that on the East Side, offering to pay off debts of up to $5,000 per household.
“We believe it’s a way to keep people across the city in their homes and give them a fresh financial start,” the mayor said.
Brown said a decision will come soon on how the program will be implemented.
The city has also decided not to conduct a tax foreclosure sale in 2023 as another way to help struggling homeowners, Brown said.
The sale was halted in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
Mark Sommer covers preservation, development, the waterfront, culture and more. He’s also a former arts editor at The News.
