MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

This budget reflects the culmination of the seven previous budgets I have proposed to you. The lesson is that we can do more with less, and in this economic climate, we must do more with less. In fact, as I stated in my State of the City address earlier this year, we do not do enough to promote exactly how much more the City of Troy accomplishes these days with significantly less personnel and less revenue.

There is no Chief of Staff, Budget Director, policy analyst, or any other unique patronage titles. We make due without even the basic senior staff positions such as Treasurer or Public Works Commissioner. The front-line employees who remain are to be commended for increasingly taking on more responsibilities. Still, the numbers do not lie. We have cut over $700,000 worth of salaries and regularly face cuts in aid but have been able to propose an average annual tax increase of 1.4% since 2005.

The costs for many things are fixed or rising. As usual, approximately half of our budget goes to fund police and fire services, whether it’s as a total in the general fund or for pension and healthcare costs. Across all departments, just over 83% of the budget is slated for debt service, salaries, and benefits. Fully one-third of our annual revenue alone is dedicated MAC debt service. The city continues to face rising costs in health care and pension expenses.

There are only two ways to generate revenue for any municipality: raise taxes or expand taxable property. I’m proud to say that, due to my administration’s focus on economic development, we have created over 1,200 new jobs leveraging $110 million in private investment. We’ve seen valuable economic development projects completed or property returned to taxable status in projects like City Station, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and the Hilton Garden Inn hotel. In fact, there is $1.36 million in newly taxable property.

Following the principles of conservative budgeting and responsible financial management, we have ended each and every fiscal year of my administration with a positive fund balance. The combined practices of cutting waste, reducing spending, and promoting economic development has led my administration to be recognized by the State Comptroller’s office. Both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s credit rating agencies have improved the City’s credit ratings. This is why I have made it a point in my budget proposals to offer a tax increase only when absolutely necessary.

Therefore, I’m proud to inform you that, for the third time, I propose a budget that does not increase taxes.

Last year, my initial budget proposal carried a 5.5% tax increase. We were able to cut the proposed increased by refinancing MAC debt bonds and amortizing our pension obligations. In fact, the City Council could have eliminated the tax increase and chose not to. This year, following the same guiding principles, I have eliminated any tax increase.

I am also pleased to report that for the fifth straight year, we are proposing no increases in our water and sewer rates.

This proposal reflects what I believe to be a responsible, fair, and realistic budget that maintains the quality of life in our neighborhoods, adequately funds public safety, and provides every department with the resources necessary to continue performing at an optimal level. It wasn’t simple but we achieved through a number of different avenues, such as:

• All city department heads were asked to use a zero-based budgeting method that required justification for any spending requests
• There is continued allocation of a large portion of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to the General Fund for the purpose of reimbursing Code Enforcement salaries
• We have amortized $2.6 million in pensions obligations ($1.8 million in police and fire and $800,000 in civilian) to be paid over the next 10 years
• We continued zero funding several department head positions, including reduced salary for several staff positions
• There is projected revenue increases in several areas, including the Water Fund settlement payments and 3% growth in sales tax revenue
• The Police Department alone cut overtime costs by 25%; this is overtime that is charged to the City and not reimbursable by grants or other funding

As mentioned previously, thanks to our fiscally conservative approach and responsible budgeting, my administration has managed to avoid the disastrous budgets other municipalities have been forced to enact.

This is increasingly more of a challenge as the entire country – from the federal government on down to municipalities – continues to face a bleak economic output. Affecting us specifically were a 2% reduction in state Aid to Municipalities and a 2% increase in healthcare and pension costs.

Let me be clear: any further reductions in the city’s proposed budget must come from layoffs or a reduction in the City’s capital plan, both of which will have a severe impact on the city’s quality of life.

I am asking you to put aside election year politics and work with me in adopting a budget that is both honest with taxpayers and maintains the city’s delivery of quality basic services.

In closing, I want to thank the Acting City Comptroller Joe Mazzariello and Director of Operations Bill Chamberlain for their hard work assembling this year’s budget.