CITY OF NEWBURGH – The overall tax levy will remain unchanged, but homeowners and commercial property owners in the of City of Newburgh will pay more in taxes next year under a $44.4 million general fund budget approved by a divided City Council on Monday.

Passage was colored by huge tax increases passed six years ago to stave off bankruptcy, and it came after a tense discussion in which the Council debated whether to approve a 16-cent decrease in the tax rate for homeowners and a 72-cent increase for nonresidential properties.

In the end, Mayor Judy Kennedy and Councilwomen Genie Abrams, Regina Angelo and Karen Mejia voted in favor of increases of 13 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for residential properties, and 30 cents for nonresidential properties.

Kennedy said she was approving an increase for homeowners even though she had downsized to a smaller house herself this year because of the tax bill on her former residence.

“I voted against myself because I have to look at the big picture,” she said. “I voted for fairness; I voted for a shared burden.”

Next year’s budget will mark the third straight in which the Council has left the overall levy unchanged.

Next year, the city is budgeting $19,462,564 for property tax revenues.

The public safety budget, which includes the police and fire departments, will increase by about $1.5 million, and premiums for health insurance will rise by about 10 percent.

The Council also set aside about $30,000 for a one-day bulk trash pickup, a service pushed by Councilman Torrance Harvey.

Based on the new tax rates, a residential property owner will pay about $26.45 more for a home valued at $200,000, and a nonresidential property owner will pay about $59.70 more.

Harvey voiced his displeasure several times about the vote to increase taxes for homeowners, calling it “unethical” and a “crying shame.”

In particular, it will harm senior citizens struggling to pay property tax bills on a fixed income, he said.

“The businesses are the ones who won tonight,” he said.

lsparks@th-record.com