Two people spoke out against the budget in the public comments section of Monday night’s City Council Business meeting before council voted 6-2 to override the tax cap and then voted 6-2 to raise taxes by 7.5 % to make ends meet.
After NYS advised many communities in WNY they would not be receiving VLT monies this year, many local governments have been scrambling to make up the difference in their budgets.
Besides overriding the tax cap, and raising taxes, the City of Batavia also made close to $350,000 in cuts.
a. General government operations: $60,165
b. Youth Bureau: $18,230
c. Information Systems: $20,000
d. Public Works: $117,114
e. Police: $77,870
f. Fire: $54,950
Total Cuts: $348,329 After the meeting, Council President Eugene Jankowski said even if Gov. Cuomo decides to reinstate the VLT money next month, the City cannot change the increased tax rate after Monday night’s vote. They could restore some of the expense cuts. They could also lower the tax rate in next year’s budget process.
Councilmembers Rosemary Christian and Paul Viele were the only no votes, and Councilmember Jeremy Karas was absent.
City Manager Marty Moore also gave council an update on the deer committee and their plans to meet with council soon. They have been working with the DEC and scoping out the areas of the City where the deer population needs to be addressed.
There was also a discussion of the raising of water rates and why and how much.