Mayor reacts to council’s adoption of Buffalo budget

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Common Council approved a new city budget Wednesday evening that includes a lower property tax increase than was included in the mayor’s budget proposal.

The Common Council adopted the budget Wednesday evening, on time, after numerous debates. Mayor Byron Brown says they negotiated the changes together.

The big change is to lower the council tax rise proposed by the mayor from 9 per cent to 4.19 per cent. This means that for a home in the city of Buffalo with an average value of $160,700, your property taxes will increase by $72 per year.

Despite the agreement, council members still worry they won’t have enough money in the future.

“This tax increase is nothing compared to what’s going to happen in the future. Either they’re going to have to make drastic cuts where it’s going to hurt. We should have made these cuts years ago. It’s our fault, we We should have done it And we kicked it back on the road, we kicked it on the road,” Niagara District Council Member David Rivera said Wednesday.

Mayor Brown added: “There is no doubt that there are financial challenges. This is about the fourth time I’ve raised taxes in 18 budgets, and we have a revenue problem in the city of Buffalo. The cost of everything is increasing. residents need and want, we need to raise more money. »

2 On Your Side’s Kelly Dudzik asked, “How do you plan to do that because you won’t have as much money as you would like by raising taxes by 9 percent.” There will always be a deficit, so get on with it. running out of overtime? What else can you do? »

Mayor Brown responded, “Yes, we will look to reduce overtime, we will increase fees. That’s part of the budget, the increase in fees, so we will look at a whole range of things to increase revenue to protect our services. “.

Mayor Brown has until June 8 to review the budget as approved Wednesday evening by the Buffalo Common Council. Mayor Brown says he plans to sign it.