Yesterday, Mayor Kamal Johnson presented the proposed 2022 budget to the Common Council. Four Council members--Eileen Halloran (Fifth Ward), John Rosenthal (Fourth Ward), Jane Trombley (First Ward), and Rebecca Wolff (First Ward)--were absent from the Zoom meeting.
In his budget address, Johnson noted that the property tax levy would be the same in 2022 as it was in 2021. He observed that the City of Hudson, with more than a hundred employees, was one of Hudson's largest employers and expressed his commitment to "paying these individuals a fair and appropriate wage." He highlighted the City's renewed interest in providing for seniors, mentioning the creation of the Senior Services Department and effectively doubling the budget--from $75,000 to $150,000--for that department.
Johnson also mentioned Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's Fiscal Stress Scores and said that Hudson's score was 5. Gossips checked, and it appears that Hudson's score is 6.7, which is still very good. The three municipalities in New York identified as having "Significant Fiscal Stress" are Poughkeepsie (78.3), Niagara Falls (72.1), and Caneadea (65.4).
Johnson's entire budget message can be found here. The proposed budget can be found here. The public hearing on the budget will take place on Zoom tomorrow, Friday, November 12, at 5:00 p.m. Click here to join the meeting.
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Does fiscal stress measure the property and school tax burden relative to AMI? Perhaps the mayor knows.
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear they are keeping the tax levy the same, but how much of this year’s budget is being paid with one-time federal covid support and how will that be accounted for next year?
ReplyDeleteAs Gossips has reported elsewhere, ARPA funds are being used to close the gap between revenue and expenditures in 2022. It was never clear exactly what that number was, but it was less than $300,000. They will be able to do the same thing for 2023. It appears it's 2024 that we need to worry about.
DeleteThere are so many financial worries in this city and its government. One metric I've not seen reported on at all is the rate of property tax collections. This is vitally important for planning purposes given the City's obligation to cover nonpayments to both the County and HCSD as well as what it says about the underlying health of the city economy.
DeleteThat seems a valid concern. I know a lot of FHA loans (which help small investors buy multi-family properties, like duplexes and triplexes) were underwater in the Capital Region before ERAP money started hitting accounts, but as money is getting to property owners now, tax revenues will presumably catch up.
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