Utica budget includes 18.19 percent tax increase and proposed fees on nonprofits

The Utica OD reported on Mayor Robert Palmieri’s first budget presentation Thursday hit with a thud against the expectations of city officials who had hoped for a more optimistic picture.

It included the elimination of 38 positions – many of them in the police and fire departments – and an 18.19 percent property tax increase. For a home assessed at $50,000, that means $230 more a year.

Still, Palmieri promised that his spending plan was an “honest and real” accounting of the city’s financial situation, and said he will focus on getting Utica back on sound footing.

“These are real numbers,” the mayor said. “It’s very transparent.”

And it promises tense weeks ahead for the Common Council – which has roughly a month to vet the budget, recommend changes and then to approve it.

Under the proposal, 60 percent of the council would have to vote to circumvent the state-imposed 2 percent property tax cap and approve corresponding legislation to lower the staffing limits in city departments.

“I don’t think anybody’s surprised by what was presented,” said Councilman Edward Bucciero, D-at-large, who chairs the council Finance Committee. “The council needs to analyze the cuts proposed and the appropriation of funds to seek additional cuts.”

The mayor proposed his budget Thursday at the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. It passed 4-0, with council President William Morehouse absent.

Public safety leaders, meanwhile, immediately sounded the alarm about the cuts. In addition to the other cuts, Palmieri’s proposal also would trim seven senior officers out of the police and fire departments through attrition.

“I’m worried about the safety of my officers,” police Chief Mark Williams said. “I’m worried about the safety of my citizens.”

Before the cuts, staffing levels included 135 firefighters and 180 police officers -- though the police department only currently has 154 officers because of long-term injuries, military leave and vacancies.

The path to oblivion

Palmieri called it a “day of reckoning,” but how did the city get to this point?

Palmieri’s recent predecessors spent through millions of dollars in reserves to gird against tax increases and layoffs. By the time Palmieri took office, 55 days ago, there was nothing left.

But costs such as retirement and health care again rose dramatically, by $2.2 million.

In all, it added up to a multi-million dollar budget hole that the administration had to plug.

The storm has been brewing for years, but Thursday was the culmination of several weeks of particularly bad news.

Read more here including the Mayor's idea of fees for nonprofits