City Council passes 2019 city budget
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> The proposed $47.1 million 2019 city budget was successfully passed during Wednesday night’s Saratoga Springs City Council meeting.
The room where the event was held at the City Center was permeated with a spirit of collegiality and gratification for a job performed well during the year that held many unforeseen and challenging circumstances.
After welcoming those present at the sparsely attended event, Mayor Meg Kelly turned the evening’s presentation over to Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan, who presented the seventh budget she has produced for city taxpayers.
“I believe this is an excellent budget for city departments and taxpayers. The council has joined me in setting priorities while delivering excellent city services.”
Madigan thanked council members for “a positive and productive 2019 budget season” that was conducted effectively considering lightning had struck City Hall the day after requested budgets were due, forcing city operations to relocate to the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center in August.
After reviewing the process of constructing the city’s budget in listener friendly detail, Madigan listed line items that had been revised, including:
• Mortgage Tax decreased to $1.3 million; property tax rate remains stable in 2019.
• NYRA Admissions Tax increase of $132,000, based
on 2018 performance. The Saratoga Race Course drew over 1.1 million paid admissions for the third consecutive year, benefitting the city from increased ticket cost.
• Sales Tax and Hotel Occupancy: Increased for best annual performance in City history.
• Several departmental income lines revised slightly.
Madigan stated that while Saratoga Springs continues to be “one of the most desirable places to live in the state, the city housing market will likely face rising interest rates and low inventory, especially for more moderately priced homes.”
Those residing in the inside district will see a .33% increase to a rate of $6.0755 while those in the outer district will see a .043% increase to $6.0102 due to increased borrowing costs by the city.
Moving to expenses, the data presented showed that personnel, the city’s largest expense, increased .4.4%, driven by new hires.
Additions include a Department of Public Works Dispatch, a laborer and a city-wide Communications Manager, and a parttime Department of Public Safety Traffic position. A position in Accounts and the city’s Recreation Director were upgraded.
The 2019 capital budget is $9.3 million, or $7.6 million, excluding water and sewer expenses.
That amount was amended due to a $1.9 million increase for the reconstruction of City Hall.
The overall cost for City Hall is estimated to be $11.2 million. The remaining funding for the project is coming from capital already bonded, city reserves, and insurance proceeds estimated to cover about half the cost of the entire project.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Anthony Scirocco participated at the meeting. “Each department made sacrifices to their Capital Fund needs so the money would be there for this renovation.”
Other capital projects include the replacement of a 20-year old fire engine, and an 11-year old ambulance required to assure the safety of city residents and personnel, and the Loughberry Lake Dam Project. Three recreation projects include the rehabilitation at The Ice Rinks, replacement of playground equipment and upgrades at both the Eastside and Westside Recs.
The water and sewer budgets include a water main capital improvement to replace aged city infrastructure and improvements at city water treatment facilities.
Madigan concluded her presentation by stating that “a government that communicates and works well together is not a given in any form of government, but if lightning was destined to strike City Hall during my time in office, I’m thankful it was with this City Council.”