Schenectady

Homeowners in the Electric City will be getting a 4 percent property tax reduction next year even as some on the City Council sounded the alarm about the fiscal health of the city.

Some members of the governing body had all but guaranteed a 5 percent reduction.

"I feel like there is absolutely room for another 1 percent, but we don't always get what we want," Council President Leesa Perazzo, chairwoman of the finance committee, said.

After meeting for about three hours Wednesday to discuss Mayor Gary McCarthy's proposed $84 million spending plan for 2017, the majority of the council settled on a 4 percent tax cut. McCarthy's proposal carried a 3.26 percent tax cut.

City leaders will vote on the budget on Friday.

Perazzo acknowledged some of her colleagues expressed anxieties that the city's financial picture is not as rosy as it may seem, even with millions of dollars in fees and projected revenue from the casino being built off Erie Boulevard.

Some of that uncertainty is in part because of upcoming contract negotiations with employee unions and the expected settlement with the company that handled the city's foreclosures before the city took it over.

Other notable proposed budget amendments include hiring a $47,000-a-year full-time affirmative action officer. Currently, the city shares a position with the county.

The budget would eliminate several positions, generally described as information technology jobs, the mayor put in his 2017 spending plan.

Councilman Vince Riggi said he was shocked that the city isn't in better fiscal health.

"We're not in as great a financial shape as we're being led to believe," he said. "My reaction is that I'm really surprised. I thought it would be fairly easy to get to 5 percent."

He warned his colleagues about being overly dependent on casino cash and wants to see a hiring freeze.

"We shouldn't be counting on that every year to fund our daily operations. That should just be a windfall that we should be grateful for, and use it prudently, but just to spend it by creating positions, I don't think that's the way to go," Riggi said.

He noted McCarthy wants to rehire former Finance Commissioner Deborah DeGenova.

On Thursday, council member John Polimeni declined comment and John Mootooveren could not be immediately reached for comment.

Besides Riggi and Perazzo, council members Ed Kosiur and Marion Porterfield are expected to provide the four votes needed for the revised budget to be adopted during Friday's special meeting. It is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

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