JAMESTOWN, N.Y. (WKBW) — The mayor of Jamestown has vetoed the City Council's approved budget for 2023.
On Monday night, Mayor Edward Sundquist sent a formal veto letter to the Jamestown City Council, citing five items in the budget as reasons for the veto.
Item 1: City sales tax
Sundquist says the 6.2% sales tax increase in the approved budget is too high and that the city typically only budgets for a 2-3% increase each year. He said, quote: "I do not want to set us up for failure and strongly encourage Council to consider reducing the sales tax line to the amount in the Executive Budget, or some other agreed upon number."
Item 2: Mayor's office travel expenses
The mayor says the current approved budget for the 2023 fiscal year does not include enough funding for travel and other expenses the mayor's office now incurs post-pandemic. Sundquist's veto says that because of the increase in in-person meetings, travel costs are near pre-COVID levels, meaning the budget's current $5,000 mark is too low. He proposed bringing the total to at least $11,050, as it was for the 2022 fiscal year.
Item 3: Engineering supply funding
Mayor Sundquist vetoed the amount City Council wants to budget for engineering and infrastructure in the city, saying that amount needs to be increased.
"We anticipate another record year of streets projects and project engineering costs will continue until 2026, requiring more funding in this line item," said Sundquist.
Item 4: Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency (JURA) funding
Sundquist decided to veto the City Council's budget for the city's Urban Renewal Agency, saying more funds need to be directed to JURA. He said housing issues have been a top priority for his administration and that "low property values, vacant homes, and disrepair across the City" are an extremely large burden for taxpayers.
He went on to say, "Cutting JURA's funding from the executive budget, as Council has done the past few years, reflects poorly on our shared concern for extraordinary housing issues Jamestown faces every day."
Item 5: Appropriated fund balance
The final item Sundquist vetoed was the amount City Council planned to include from appropriations in the event that the vetoes were overridden. He said this veto would enable council members to accurately pull the amount they need to amend the budget from the unrestricted fund balance.
Sundquist set a December 15 deadline for the City Council to amend the 2023 budget.
