City of Rochester
News Release
(Friday, May 17, 2013) – Mayor Thomas S. Richards presented the City Council with the proposed fiscal year 2013-2014 City budget today that continues to invest in the city’s residents, neighborhoods and commercial districts without raising taxes or cutting services.
“It is vital that we have a City budget that closes our sizable spending gap while still investing in children, neighborhoods and the business core of our city,” said Mayor Richards. “This budget will not empty our reserves or savage vital services and programs that make Rochester a city worth living in. This budget will allow us the flexibility to manage ourselves in the face of several more years of structural deficits.”
Continuing the theme of Rochester’s transformation that he described in the State of the City Address on May 6, Mayor Richards said the budget was crafted to continue investment while he works with the State to find a new way to finance cities like Rochester.
“This budget keeps this city in a position to control our own fate for the next several years while we work to find a permanent, structural solution to our financial future,” he said.
The Mayor presented a $481.7 million budget that is $10.1 million, or 2 percent, smaller than last year’s spending plan, noting that “despite increased investment in some areas, we continue to spend prudently.”
Mayor Richards opted to take advantage of the State’s Pension Amortization program, which allows the City to defer a $10.9 million payment to the pension fund this year, which is a portion of its total bill.
“Paying next year’s bill without amortizing would unduly drain our reserves, force deep cuts to our workforce and slash vital city services,” the Mayor said. “While this would pay the bill, our city would not be a place where people would want to live, work and raise a family.
The budget pays for such investments as four new firefighters, competitive crime-reduction grants for city neighborhoods, bolstered learning programs in the City libraries, the next phases of the La Avenida project on North Clinton Avenue and the Midtown project in Downtown, faster response times of residential snow plows during storms, an accelerated schedule for vacant-house demolitions, home-rehabilitation grants and increased spending for youth programs including new playground equipment, after-school programs and gang-intervention outreach.
Mayor Richards refused to raise the property tax rate for a second consecutive year.
“Our residents can ill afford more in property taxes,” he said. “Once again, trying to fund a modern city with property taxes is not feasible. We must seek other solutions than taxes.”
However, the typical homeowner will see a slight increase in his or her property tax bill because of a state mandate that shifts some commercial taxes to residential properties. The impact of the tax shift on the typical homeowner is an increase of $23.80. The impact on the typical business is a decrease of $246.37. Combined with small fee increases for water, local works and refuse collection, the typical home owner will pay an additional $42.32.
“Although the gap was not closed through large budget reductions, there were reductions in some areas among and within departments in order to preserve, and in some cases, enhance services,” the Mayor said.
The Police Department’s Mounted Patrol Unit will be eliminated and the seven officers in the unit will be reassigned to the Tactical Unit to address gangs and violent crime. It also cuts the 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. shift in the 311 Call Center.
The Mayor increased the size of the Fire Department by four officers and will add additional positions to the Pathways to Peace youth-intervention and gang outreach program. The budget also includes $200,000 for competitive grants that neighborhood organizations can use to develop their own crime-reduction strategies using citizen-based budgeting.
Mayor Richards will continue his focus on improving diversity in the Police and Fire Departments by budgeting funds for one Police Academy and two Fire Academies, which will benefit from aggressive recruitment efforts that generated highly diverse lists of public safety candidates.
The budget takes advantage of many decisions and actions made in previous years, including savings from the move to self-insurance for health care, the early retirement program and borrowing at historic low interest rates to accelerate capital projects.
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News Media: For more information, contact Office of Management and Budget Director Chris Wagner at 428-6186.