Photo by Howard Owens
When she suggested that the city of Batavia could lower its tax rate by 50 cents earlier this week, City Manager Rachael Tabelski reserved other aspects of her proposed 2026 budget for more formal discussions, including the biggest expenses, utility increases of $300 a year for an average family, and being able to maintain a same level of services.
UPDATE 1/18/25: Tabelski said on Saturday that the 2024 estimated water and sewer total of $600 that she provided was incorrect and did not include meter and capital improvement fees. That number should have been $850, making this year’s increase about $50 for a family of four.
City Council has agreed to a budget workshop schedule that is to begin Jan. 27. However, Tabelski agreed to review the $22.4 million general fund budget Friday, the first time she had done so before council workshops began, she said.
What are some key takeaways?
Two drivers of budget expenses are a $628,000 increase in health insurance costs and about $400,000 more in retirement fees, she said.
The unassigned fund balance is at a healthy 21% level, which is close enough to the ideal percentage of 25%, she said. As a result, Tabelski is suggesting moving $526,000 from that fund balance into the general fund revenue to help balance it out with expenses.
The property tax levy is expected to be $7.2 million from a total taxable assessed value that increased by $102 million from this last year, she said, and a flat sales tax to be at $7.8 million.
“We typically do not see an increase in value like this in the city of Batavia. Not only have residential property sales and comps and the hot seller's market contributed to this increase but so has the reassessment of commercial properties that have done work and added to their value. So we're seeing the economic development strategies starting to actually add value to the overall assessment,” she said. “And when we add new assessment, especially in our commercial buildings, we're spreading out the tax payments across the community and across the residential properties as well. So the point being, it's always great to add value, especially in commercial buildings to your city.”
In 2017, the city started tracking all of the projects being managed by the private sector, in addition to what was being tracked in the public sector, “and we've had over 152 million in completed projects, 30 million right now under construction, and another 70 million planned by 2028,” she said.
“So again, the investment in the private sector projects will equate to increased tax base over time,” she said.
Video lottery terminal revenue is not being used because there is no guarantee from year to year that the city will receive this aid and how much it will get, she said. The recent yearly amount has been $440,000.
Major expenses include $10.5 million for public safety, $5.1 million for public works, $4.9 million for health care, $2.9 million for retirement, $1.2 million for street and sidewalk repair and replacements; $540,000 of capital costs — vehicles, buildings, and parking lots/sport court resurfacing; and $1 million being put away in reserve to pay the first bond payment for a new city police facility when that time comes.
“The goal is to not let our debt payment affect the taxpayers,” she said.
The city’s debt service, paying off prior purchases, still includes construction of City Hall, a fire truck, water project, and now the $15.5 million police station will get added to the list.
The property tax rate may decrease by 50 cents per $1,000, which would mean a rate of $8.46 per $1,000 assessed value, or a savings of $50 a year on a home assessed at $100,000 if assessments are stable from last year.
Tabelski has proposed water and sewer rate increases. A 1% water increase would add 6 cents per 1,000 gallons, and a 3% sewer rate increase would tack on 9 cents per 1,000 gallons. A family of four can expect its total annual bill to be about $900, she said, including water, sewer, and the meters and capital improvement fee (which are not slated for an increase).
In 2024, she estimated that the family of four’s total would be $149 per quarter, or a total of $600, making this new water and sewer bill $225 a quarter, or $300 more per year.
In an inflationary world, with rising labor, supplies, and materials costs, “the city will need to continue to prepare for economic unpredictability and continue to invest in infrastructure and safety for our citizens,” Tableksi said in her budget message.
In order to do that, priority must be placed on security, health, and safety of city employees and residents, she said.
Speaking of infrastructure
More than $4 1/2 million has been invested into the water plant to “keep it going for the next, we’d say, 15 years,” she said.
“We’re about 85% done with the projects inside of that. We again partnered with the county with Phase Three moving forward of the water project, we still see the plant being able to continue to produce water with these investments for about the next 15 years. And then, if we need to continue to use the plant, we’ll have to look at more investments,” she said. The wastewater treatment plant, we're planning for multiple projects, including sludge removal, some bypass systems. Our wastewater plant is one of the most unique systems east of the Mississippi. There's no other plant like it in New York. It's a fully biological system, unlike all other wastewater plants in New York, which are chemical systems.”
The new ice rink chiller system will be installed once the season is over this spring, the Bank Street streetscape project will continue this summer, another main Cohocton and Walnut water project bid has just been awarded for a spring construction start, and the Austin Park playground has been delayed due to New York State parks legal easement language that had to be inserted into the documents since grant money is tied to that project, she said.
Street and sidewalk resurfacing and replacement is scheduled in this budget for Kingsbury, Watson, Morton, Ganson, South Spruce and Union Square, using $900,000 of consolidated highway improvement program (CHIPs) funds and two parking lot mill and repavings near City Centre.
There will be a tree removal and planting project to add 1,000 trees to the city’s urban forest over the next three years, mainly in the Fifth and Sixth wards, with a portion also in the Second Ward, she said.
The first budget session is set for 6 p.m. Jan. 27 at City Hall.
To view the proposed 2025-26 budget, go HERE.
