BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Leaders of cities from across the state are calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to provide more money for their cash-strapped budgets, and that includes Buffalo.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says without an increase, taxpayers could face higher taxes. He wants the Buffalo Common Council to join in his plea to Albany.
7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley headed to City Hall to find out what lawmakers were saying.
“I think it's imperative because we're staring down the barrel of a structural deficit,” commented Mitch Nowakowski, Fillmore District Common Council Member.
I met with Common Council Member Nowakowski who is also chair of the Council's finance committee. He tells me he supports the mayor’s push to increase Aid and Incentives for Municipalities, known as AIM funding.
This is money that helps the city balance its budget but has remained flat for more than a decade.
“We know that the amount of taxes that we collect in the City of Buffalo does not cover all of our expenses. So, AIM funding is a source of revenue from the state that helps the City of Buffalo pay its bills and provide services,” replied Nowakowski.
The mayor is warning that without an increase in the aim funding, he could be forced to raise property taxes for city homeowners and businesses.
“We’re going to be in turbulent times,” Nowakowski stated.
“And the mayor's right to say that if there isn't aim support, then the fulfilling of essential services then falls onto the residents and therefore onto property taxes,” remarked Fred Floss, secretary, Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority.
I also reached a member of Buffalo's Fiscal Stability Authority, the soft control board that helps monitor city spending.
SUNY Buffalo State Economic Professor Fred Floss tells me the state must recognize it needs to support all Big Five cities, struggling financially.
“AIM is critical to the City of Buffalo,” Floss noted.
“I think what is so important, why we need state AIM funding in the upcoming budget, is because the more funding that we're able to get from that avenue is the less burden that will be able to be inflicted on residents and taxpayers,” Nowakowski commented.
Tuesday, at 11 a.m. Mayor Brown will join mayors from across the state at a rally at Buffalo's City Hall to urge state lawmakers and the governor to increase AIM funding for cities and villages.
