[read complete report – pdf]

Purpose 

The purpose of our budget review was to provide an independent evaluation of the City’s proposed budget for 2025.

Background

Chapter 332 of the Laws of 2014, as amended by Chapter 147 of the Laws of 2015 (the Act), authorized the City to issue debt to liquidate the accumulated deficits in the City’s general, water, sewer and refuse funds as of December 31, 2013. The Act requires the City to submit to the State Comptroller each year, beginning January 1, 2015, and for each subsequent fiscal year during which the debt incurred to finance the deficit is outstanding, the proposed budget for the next succeeding fiscal year. 

Key Findings

• Based on the results of our review,  the significant revenue and expenditure projections in the proposed budget appear reasonable.
• We expect 2024 fire department overtime expenditures to be within the adopted budget’s overtime appropriations. The overtime appropriations in the proposed 2025 budget were reasonable.
• In October 2024, after we were presented with the proposed 2025 budget, the Common Council amended the 2024 budget by increasing ambulance purchase appropriations by $156,073 to purchase a new ambulance for the fire department using unanticipated State aid to fund the purchase. The Director of Finance told us that he intends to reduce the fire department’s proposed 2025 budget appropriations by $165,000 because officials do not intend to purchase another ambulance, but these appropriations would be transferred or reallocated to other areas, which were not known at the time of this report. City officials followed our previous recommendations and decreased ambulance revenue estimates closer to actual revenues from $1,025,786 to $991,420; actual collections were approximately $941,000 as of September 30, 2024. The City’s ambulance appropriations and revenue estimates in the proposed 2025 budget were reasonable and conservative.
• The City’s proposed budget includes a tax levy of $13,853,089.

Key Recommendation

1. Be mindful of the legal requirement to maintain the tax levy increase to no more than the tax levy limit as permitted by law, unless it properly overrides the tax levy limit prior to adopting the budget.