The Jamestown City Council during its May 2016 voting session.
JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council will hold a public hearing Monday on the $35 million dollar 2017 City Budget that was introduced by Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi last month.
The spending plan is $70,000 lower than the current year’s budget but despite the slight decrease, it also contains an $878,736 deficit. That’s mainly due to a lack of revenue along with contracted labor costs the city is not allowed to reduce or cut.
The proposed budget also contains a .96 percent increase in the tax levy, which brings the city up to its constitutional taxing limit of $15,844,270. That equates to a tax rate increase for property owners of .76 percent – or $0.18 per thousand assessed value. Residents are currently paying a tax rate of about $23.59 per thousand.
Despite not being 1 percent, the property tax levy increase is still high enough to exceed the state tax cap rule, which is why the city council approved a tax cap override during its October voting session. Teresi also held a public hearing on the tax cap override on Nov. 7 and during a recent interview with WRFA, he said that despite concerns being raised about the override, the budget deficit means the city will still have no choice but to go with the proposed tax rate.
Monday’s public hearing will be held take place 6 p.m. in the city council chambers, located on the second floor of city hall. It is open to the public.
Meanwhile, city lawmakers will also continue to review and discuss the budget during a budget work session at 6:30 p.m. That meeting will include meeting with local agencies that historically have received funding from the city, including Fenton History Center, James Prendergast Library and Jamestown Area Senior Center – and the city Department of Development. The Senior Center is slated to receive no funding in the proposed budget, and a 70 percent funding cut to the Prendergast Library.
The budget meeting will take place on the fourth floor of City Hall in the Mayor’s Conference Room. A work session will also be held at 7:30 p.m. at the same location. Both meetings are also open to the public.
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