City of Cortland mayor Scott Steve speaks at Tuesday’s Common Council meeting. (Photo provided by Kevin. L Smith of The Cortland Voice).
The City of Cortland’s tentative 2024 budget has officially been filed and submitted, and it calls for a tax-rate increase and other potential moves.
Aside from a projected 4% tax-rate increase, the city’s $34.4 million ($34,440,683) budget plan comes with a wastewater fund increase and more.
City mayor Scott Steve said at Tuesday’s council meeting that employees and department heads are aware that Cortland proposed an austerity-based budget. The goal, Steve added, is to “reduce as much as we can” and go to “bare minimums.”
“It’s nothing pleasant that we all want to share and have,” Steve said. “It’s been a difficult road, and the work has just begun.”
In Mayor Steve’s 5-page letter attached to the tentative budget, he announced a hiring freeze. It is effective immediately and will continue into 2024.
The projected budget includes personnel increases related to contracts totaling over $900,000, which will be reviewed in the coming weeks and months.
Steve provided further explanation in his letter in regard to the hiring freeze and other personnel items:
“Our employees are what make our city run. Without their efforts and dedication, our residents would not receive important, life and safety, and recreational services that make the City of Cortland a great place to live and work. I have always been committed to providing staff the best we can afford for salaries and benefits. It has been no surprise that the City has struggled to recruit essential positions over the last 24 months and turnover remains high. One reason employees or potential candidates have cited is the starting pay. This budget does include and fully funds contractual obligations to employees. It would be unconscionable to bear the burden of this deficit through cuts in wages. That said, an administrative hiring freeze will be implemented effective immediately and continue into 2024. Requests to fill positions will be reviewed on a bi-weekly basis. This will be balanced with the impact to our residents, other employees, the services offered and managed in a way to mitigate over-time.”
Steve’s letter, which provides highlights on the proposed 2024 budget, noted the potential of a 4% tax-rate increase. Steve’s letter stated that the average Cortland-based homeowner, with a home valued at $90,000, could see an increase of $64.20 in its property taxes. The projected increase would cover about $360,000 of the budget gap.
Steve’s letter mentioned that New York State has a 2% property tax cap, which can be overridden by a 2/3s majority vote from the Cortland Common Council. The 2% property cap generates about $180,000.
Steve noted in his letter that he will ask council members’ support to override the tax cap at its Nov. 21 meeting.
“Taxes remain some of the highest in the region and it is the hope that next year a revaluation will help adjust the revenue source and provide some budgetary relief as well as a lower rate to the residents,” Steve said in his letter. “While this will help with the operating deficit it has to be carefully balanced with the constitutional tax limit as well, of which is already over 80% exhausted; simply put, we cannot tax our way out of this problem.”
The 2024 budget notes a potential 4.8% increase in the wastewater fund, which totals to a project $541,000. The mayor’s letter mentioned that it equates to a $7.20 increase for those who typically receive a minimum bill.
The mayor’s letter also breaks down the impact of the city’s current trash and recycling contract, increases in retirement benefits and health insurance, and the ongoing costs for the former Parker School building. All these summarized topics can be found here.
The breakdown of numbers for the tentative 2024 budget are on pages 6 through 69, located under the mayor’s letter.
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Cortland officials will hold a series of budget hearings, public hearings and budget review sessions this month and in the coming months.
The budget hearing on Oct. 19 will focus on the city’s police department, the youth bureau, the city clerk and the wastewater department. Topics for the budget hearing on Oct. 24 will include the fire department, the department of public works/water, the law department, the finance department, and the mayor and council members.
Budget review sessions are slated for Oct. 26 and Oct. 31. A public hearing on the city’s proposed 2024 budget will be held at the council’s regularly scheduled Dec. 5 meeting.
Mayor Steve and the Common Council will look to adopt the budget at its Dec. 19 meeting. Further details on any of these meetings can be found here.
