Some Upstate Cities Heading For ‘Fiscal Precipice’

Many New York state mayors celebrated a long-awaited increase in state funding for their municipalities under the recently passed state budget.

AIM, or Aid and Incentives to Municipalities, will see a $50 million increase in unrestricted funding for cities – the first in 15 years.

But according to municipal budgeting expert Greg Rabb, an assistant professor of public administration at Buffalo State University and former Jamestown City Council president, that’s far from enough and some municipalities, including cities of Buffalo and Dunkirk, are heading towards difficulties.

“($50 million) is just a drop in the ocean,” Rabb said. Capital tonightespecially if you divide it among the state’s 62 cities.

“Cities, especially right now when COVID money is disappearing, are not going to be able to pay their bills very soon,” Rabb continued. “Part of the reason is that expenses keep increasing. We know this from our own household budgets which continue to increase.

Another part of the problem, Rabb said, is that taxable properties don’t increase with the rate of inflation and municipalities can’t raise taxes fast enough to keep up with spending.

Rabb explained why population loss in upstate cities is also helping to exacerbate the problem, which has been compounded by the cost of health care and retirement obligations.