A conservative look at sales tax revenue for the city is driving a proposal to raise property taxes by 16 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, City Manager Jason Molino told City Council members Monday night during his 2015-16 budget presentation.
The drop in fuel prices benefits consumers, but plays havoc on local government, which derives 18 percent of sales tax revenue from fuel sales.
Sales tax accounts for 40 percent of the city's overall general fund revenue.
Molino projects $15,848,884 in general fund spending for 2015-16, a 1.08-percent reduction (or $253,001) in spending from the current fiscal year.
Even with the reduced spending, the projected shortfall in sales tax means local property owners will be asked to help pick up the slack.
The new city tax rate would be $9.30 cents.
On a home assessed at $90,000, the property owner would pay $69.75 per month, up $1.20 over this year.
For property taxes that are roughly half what many households pay these days for mobile phone service, residents receive a bevy of city services, including police and fire protection, road and sidewalk maintenance and parks. The value, he suggested, was just as great or greater than mobile phone service.
"I thought it (the analogy) would help put things in perspective," Molino said after the meeting.
While the local economy is improving, and by some measures is stronger than the state or national economy, there is a lot of room for improvement, Molino noted.
There is the potential for even better job growth, especially if plans for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park and WNY STAMP continue to come together, but in the here and now, the city needs to be conservative in its budgeting process, Molino said.
The city also needs to take a close look at its aging sewer and water infrastructure.
He is proposing a revised rate structure -- one that does away with the current two-tier system -- and includes a projected $1 per month increase for the average consumer to help pay for maintenance and upgrades to the system.
The proposal calls for $22 million in capital investment in sewer and water over a 10-year period.
Without the changes, not only will needed replacements and upgrades not take place, the city's sewer and water system will soon start losing money.
As modern, water-saving appliances become more common in local homes, local water consumption has decreased. That's a trend, Molino said, he expects to see continue.
However, it costs just as much to deliver two million gallons of water as it does three million gallons. The reduction in consumption doesn't reduce the cost of the system that delivers the water, but reduced consumption does decrease revenue.
The city will need to increase water rates, he said, to keep pace with water delivery costs.
What Molino presented Monday is a budget proposal. It will now be up to the council to go through the budget, ask questions and potentially suggest changes. There will be a public hearing on the budget before it is adopted.
The proposed budget will be posted on the city's Web site later today.
For property taxes that are
For property taxes that are roughly half what many households pay these days for mobile phone service, ............
did he really say that? comparing a phone bill to a property tax. well Mr. Molino there are a lot of property owners who don't have cell phones because they can't afford them....
all this gasoline tax money has been a windfall for you Mr. Molino.... did you think it would last forever?
When the price of gasoline went up and your tax revenue went up, did you lower property taxes? I'll bet everything I own you did not lower property taxes.
Here is an awful idea but one that is probably right up your alley.... why don't you impose a city tax on cell phone service?
David, the City School
David, the City School District already did that (cell phone tax).
What it is...as always, short
What it is...as always, short sighted, city management. They always couch it in a "small" increase on a median home because "anticipated" revenue didn't materialize.I think taxes should be frozen. And the city MUST work within its budget from the prior year receipts .Now, that would require MANAGEMENT and if the manager(s) can t make it work...it is up to the council to.find someone who can..( I am so sick of government reaching into my pocket with lame, inept reasoning and lazy minded planning).
Molino, Has the assistant
Molino,
Has the assistant city manager finished their work on flood insurance? If not, why not? That position should have never been a full time job. It should not have been created out of our garbage money.
Now you want more money because sales taxes on gas are down, but you push business out of the city with the Dunkin Donuts location. Shouldn't you have seen an increase with the new McDonald's you so happily celebrated instead of working?
You continue to lie to the people of this city and take their money.
Peter, try to get it right. I
Peter, try to get it right.
I agree we do not need the Assistant, but no matter who works on the flood insurance issue, it will take more than a few months.
Molino had nothing to do with the Dunkin Donut rejection.
There is plenty to be upset with Molino about, you don't have to make things up.
I propose we change the city
I propose we change the city charter and institute a mayoral system to remove this tax and spend piece of work from power.
John, I'll take you at your
John, I'll take you at your word. A few questions to my fellow readers, How did the city school district get the authority to charge and collect a tax on cell phone service?
What else do they collect tax on? I mean the list could be long, pizza tax? wine tax? pen and pencil tax? hot dog tax?
I'm going to piss you all off and I'm going to tax you every time you log on to the Batavian. I held a meeting with me, myself and I and we believe $.25 is a fair fee.
I will make you feel better by saying this fee is less than a stick of chewing gum.
ching ching
Oh yea, add another layer of
Oh yea, add another layer of politics. That is sure to work.
What you need is to elect people who will make him work for them, or fire him as was done once before. Right now we have too many on Council who are willing to just do what he says. What in the world makes you think they would not just do what a mayor told them to do?
The mayor would be an elected
The mayor would be an elected position and we could get rid of him. As it is, the people have no power to remove the City Manager
David, for the City of
David, for the City of Batavia school district, the cell phone tax is $5.00. It should be on your bill.
Peter, you are stuck with a
Peter, you are stuck with a mayor for his/her term. Right now City Council, with a vote of 5 out of 9 can remove the manager at any time. And they did about 14 years ago.
And again, why do you think the Council would not just go along with a mayor, who they could not fire any more than the manager who they can? It just does not make sense
Don't forget Peter and John
Don't forget Peter and John the city takes in taxes from your utilities bill in the from of a excise tax and sales tax..The city also collects money from the cable bill in the form of a franchise fee....This is all on top of property tax...So city taxpayers pay in many different ways..We will see what kind of city council we have during this budget..If the ones who said they were against the hiring of an Asst manager, will now have their chance to cut that position out of the budget and save the tax payer 100,000 dollars...Or were they just paying us all a bunch of lip service.....His example of a cell phone doesn't wash for me either..I only pay 400 dollars a year for my phone and if i'm not happy with my service i can drop them...If i'm not happy with my city services i can't drop them...........
Mark, I am very aware of the
Mark, I am very aware of the utility taxes. I was just responding to David who may not have known his joke was in fact real in the City of Batavia School District..
Since each $50,000 in the budget equals about 1% in taxes, cutting the unneeded Assistant City Manager would almost eliminate the proposed tax increase.
We also give $70,000 to the BDC so they can pay one employee and $40,000 for Vibrant Batavia. After getting our money for two years, if VB cannot make it on their own by now, then good bye. I see no reason to raise my taxes to fund them.
i prefer a city manager to a
i prefer a city manager to a mayor for a couple reasons. The first John Roach already mentioned. The manager serves at the pleasure of City Council and can be replaced by a majority vote of council. With an elected Mayor in charge, we have little to no ability to replace that person until the next election. But more importantly, regardless of what anyone thinks of the City Manager's job performance, his job requires a particular skill set and experience level with public administration (preferably in NYS) that an elected mayor may or may not possess. I worry about putting a political operative in charge of the city. If we elect an unqualified person as Mayor (quite possible) then we should expect to suffer through her/his costly on the job training. If we went to a mayoral system in the city of Batavia, the next Major would likely be whoever the city republican majority nominated. No offense intended to the republicans. I don't want the Republicans, or the Democrats, or for that matter the Conservatives or the Libertarians turning the operation of the city into a political contest. I want the best qualified person doing the job.