The James Prendergast Library

JAMESTOWN – The first of two community conversations involving the future of the James Prendergast Library will be taking place Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier this month the library board of trustees wrote an article in the Jamestown Post-Journal saying the library could possibly close down within three to four years unless recently cut funding can be restored to help balance its annual operating budget.

Library officials say recent cuts in aid by the city of Jamestown is the main reason why it may be forced to close.

Up until three years ago, the city was committed to giving $350,000 or more to the library – which help to cover anywhere between 25 to 33% of its annual operating budget. But in 2017 the city reduced its aid by $250,000 and another $50,000 was cut in 2018. So for the last two years, the libary has seen just $50,000 a year from the city, which only covers about 6% of the library budget.

Compounding the challenge is an upcoming reduction in state aid. The state library aid formula includes funding from a library’s host community and if that funding sees a significant cut, then the state aid is also cut. Library officials say that means an additional $110,000 in state aid will be eliminated from the library’s revenue stream for next year.

The library’s operating budget for this year is $817,500 (See Chart Below for 11-year budget figures). Just four years earlier in 2016 – when city funding was $350,000 – the total expenses for the library was over $1,280,000. Most of the cuts over the past four years has come out of staffing. In 2016 total salaries and benefits for library staff amounted to over $820,000. This year it is at just $556,000.

But if the library is to see its community funding fulling restored, it’s not likely to come from the city government. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi has presented a city budget for next year that includes $60,000 for the library – a slight increase over the current year but no where near what the library says it needs. And because of the city’s own financial challenges, it’s unlikely it will be able to fully restore funding back to the $350,000+ level on an annual basis.

As a result, the library board last week said they would be pursuing a 259 vote next May as part of the Jamestown School budget vote. Under New York Education Law §259, libraries are permitted to seek funding directly from school district voters. The matter will simply appear on the school ballot as part of the annual budget vote.

Library officials said they will propose an annual tax levy of $350,000 for the library – the same amount that the city of Jamestown had been giving the library up until two years ago.

The tax rate for the city of Jamestown is currently $23.85 per $1,000 assessed value, but only 3 cents of that rate is earmarked for the library. If the 259 vote is approved, the library “tax rate” would be 23 cents per $1,000 assessed value. That would mean a property in Jamestown valued at $50,000 would pay $11.30 a year for the library.

The library attempted a similar taxing district vote in June 2016, but the total amount it wanted to raise then was $850,000. That effort failed by a vote of 1306 against and 856 in favor. The Library Board is hopeful that reducing that amount by more than half this time around, along with the message that the library could likely close in 3 to 4 years if funding isn’t secured, will lead to a positive outcome this time around.

Wednesday’s meeting begins at 3:30 p.m. in the library fireplace room. A second meeting is also scheduled for Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.

The above chart shows the Prendergast Library budget figures for the past 11 years. The information is based on past 990 Tax Forms as well as the finalized budget numbers provided at the library website for both 2018 and 2019.  Some information is listed as “NA” due to the 990 tax forms not being available for those respective years. Categories including total Expenses, total staff Salary expenses (including benefits),  Total Revenue, All Community/Grant Contributions (includes city funding), All Government Grants (including city funding), Fundraising Revenue, the % of Public Support (5-year average), City Funding total (and the % of Total Expenses it covered for the respective year), Endowment Fund Total, the amount of Endowment Money used for the respective year, and the Total number of employees and volunteers provided.

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During this week’s Jamestown City Council work session, independent auditor and public accountant John Trussalo presented his review of the 2018 city budget, noting that the city had finished with a $555,000 surplus. That’s nearly $140,000 more than the surplus city comptroller Joe Bellitto had reported for the city in April of this year when he went over the final budget numbers with the city council.

Final spending for the year was $35,931,000 compared to $36,480,000 in final revenue.

It was the second year the city finished in the black.

The audit also confirmed the city was again at 100 percent of its constitutional taxing limit, but was only at 29 percent the maximum debt limit allowed under state law.

City Comptroller Joe Bellitto (standing) reviews financial numbers with the Jamestown City Council, Mayor Sam Teresi, and staff.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council received positive news regarding last year’s budget, as well as some promising signs for the current fiscal year.

City Comptroller Joe Bellitto went over the final numbers for the 2018 city budget and said that Jamestown finished the year with a $416,000 surplus – marking the second year in a row that revenues exceeded expenses for the budget.

For 2018, city revenue was $762,000 higher than what was budgeted, while expenses were $346,000 over budget.

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Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi acknowledged the hard work of the city council and city employees for working to keep the budget balanced during the year, while also giving special thanks to the State for providing additional aid to the tune of $1 million. The mayor said had that supplemental aid not have come in, the city would instead by looking at nearly a $600,000 deficit.

The public presentation of the audit came only after the city council and mayor went into an executive session.

A formal independent audit of the budget will be made later this year.

Bellitto also went over some of the first quarter numbers for the current 2019 fiscal year – with revenues and expenses both falling generally within normal budget range.

Comptroller Joe Bellitto released the sales tax numbers for the final quarter of 2018, showing the city collected $1,569,000 in sales tax revenue from October through December. That number was $41,000 – or 2.7 percent -higher compared to the 4th quarter the previous year.

The final quarter numbers also show the city had a much higher sales tax total for the entire year, compared to what had been budgeted in the 2018 City Budget.

The final sales tax total for the year was nearly $6,435,000 – 7.25 percent higher than the $6 million that was budgeted. That total was also 5.3 percent more than what the city collected in 2017.

For this year, the city budgeted $6.2 million in sales tax. A report on the first quarter for this year is expected in early May.

Jamestown City Councilman Andrew Liuzzo (R-At Large) (Center) announced his intention to run for Mayor in the 2019 election on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019.

JAMESTOWN – Jamestown City Councilman Andrew Liuzzo (R-At Large) on Saturday announced his intention to run for mayor of Jamestown in the 2019 Election. Liuzzo made the announcement at A1 Auto on Harrison Street with more than three dozen supporters in attendance.

“I ran for city council [in 2017] because I wanted to make a difference instead of complaining,” the first-term councilman said. “My time on the council has revealed that reform and changes are impossible without the help of my colleagues and public input on the decisions that are made.”

In his announcement speech, Liuzzo said its time for new leadership in the city that will help to bring balance back to city government. He said that during the past three decades there’s been a shifting of power in city government away from the city council, with the office of mayor gaining power. To illustrate his point, he displayed copies of both the original city charter and most recent version of the charter, which appears much larger.

“Many amendments have been added and approved to give the mayor more authority than the original founders had intended,” Liuzzo said. “However, the first line in both the original charter and the amended charter states, ‘The city of Jamestown shall be governed by the mayor-slash-city council.’ I plan to review the amendments that have been added and return to a more well-rounded and governed city government.”

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Liuzzo also pointed out several challenges the city faces that have not diminished in recent years but have instead only grown. They include a lower-than-average housing values, a higher-than-average crime rate, property taxes that have reached the highest level allowed by state law, and a shrinking population with an ever-increasing number of residents living at or below the poverty level.

“The poverty rate in Jamestown is at 30 percent for a city that has less than 30,000 people. We have a disturbing number of at-risk children. The median income is just over $18,500. That is half of the $36,000 that is the median income in the state of NY,” Liuzzo said, adding, “From 1960 to 1970 our population was close to 60,000 people. Currently we are less than 30,000. Our city leaders watched as our citizens migrated out of town.”

Liuzzo said his vision for the city is to empower residents and make the city a place where people want to move to, not move away from.

“I’d like to see Jamestown be a place where our young people stay. Where they can start their families. Where they can have better paying jobs. A place where the people who have moved out might want to come back. We can not establish ourselves as a national destination until we empower the residents who already live here,” Liuzzo added.

While Liuzzo acknowledged that some ground has been made in reviving the local economy, he said the current administration is too focused on just the downtown of the city and not on the other outlying areas, such as the city’s east side. He said if elected, he would focus more attention on those areas that serve as a the gateway into the downtown, making the city appear more welcoming to both residents from the greater Jamestown area as well as visitors.

Since joining the city council in January 2018, Liuzzo has been the only member of the nine-member council to be critical of current Mayor Sam Teresi, a Democrat. The current composite of the council is five Democrats to four Republicans.  Among the items Liuzzo has been critical of and voted against is the process by which mayoral appointments have been vetted and approved by the council, a parking contract with for 40 spaces with Lynn Development, and the 2018 city budget, which did not receive any amendments from the executive proposal presented by the mayor.  Of all the voting sessions that took place in 2018 and with dozens of resolutions brought before the council for consideration, Liuzzo was the only city council member to cast a “no” vote – which he did eight different times.

A lifelong city resident, Liuzzo is a 1971 graduate of Jamestown High School and former owner of Yankee Painter & Wallpapering, Inc. – which operated for 20 years. He has been a physical therapist for the past 15+ years, although he stepped away from doing that full time since being elected to the city council. In addition to his work on the council he currently works part time for the Chautauqua Area Regional Transit System (CARTS).

Liuzzo is the father of five children, all of whom live and work in Jamestown, and is married to M. Christina (Tina) Turnquist Liuzzo.

Liuzzo is the first candidate to announce their intention to run for Mayor of Jamestown. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, who was first elected to office in 1999 and has served five terms as mayor, has not said yet whether or not he plans to run for a sixth straight term.

Jamestown City Council during its Nov. 26 voting session.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council will hold its final voting session of 2018 Monday night in City Hall.

The agenda contains mostly routine resolutions but among them is an emergency purchase of a new Trackless MT-7 Machine for the Department of Public Works, at a cost not to exceed $137,897.20.  DPW director Jeff Lehman said the purchase is required because one of the four trackless machines owned by the city broke down while dealing with the recent November snowstorm and has to be replaced.

Money for the purchase will come from what’s left of the city’s contingency account – about $43,000 – along with money that may be available following an over/under reconciliation of the 2018 budget by city comptroller Joe Bellitto.

Monday’s meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. on the second floor of city hall and is open to the public.

The Jamestown Post-Journal is reporting that during Monday night’s city council work session, DPW director Jeff Lehman said that a major snow storm that hit the area at the end of November led to the end of one of the city’s four trackless vehicle machines that are currently in its fleet of vehicles. Lehman said the machines are not only used to help with snow removal, but for other tasks throughout the year. He said that because of their frequent and heavy use, the city is unable to make due with just three of them.

The cost for a new trackless machine is $138,000 and to pay for the replacement later this month, the city will spend the remaining amount of its contingency fund. Just over $43,000 remains in the fund, so the remaining cost of the machine will be covered by funds from the end of the year over/under account, which is expected to see a surplus due to city revenue – primarily from Sales tax – coming in higher this year than expected.

The city contingency account started the year with $250,000. The majority of that money ($148,530) will have been put toward vehicle and equipment purchases for the city DPW and Parks department.  In February the council used $30,135.30 to purchase a Toro Reelmaster 311-D Reel mower for the Park Department. In June $31,747 was used to purchase a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Pickup Truck for the DPW. And just last month $43,648 was allocated toward the purchase of a new crew truck for the DPW.

The other contingency allocations for this year was $87,000 in May toward unanticipated renovation work at Russell E. Diethrick Jr. Memorial Park and just over $14,000 for landfill material disposal.

The council will act on on allocating the $43,000 from the contingency account for the purchase of the new trackless machine during its December voting session on Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in city hall.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi (center) during his 2018 executive budget presentation on  Oct. 10, 2017. The mayor will present his 2019 executive budget on Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 9.

JAMESTOWN –  Mayor Sam Teresi will present his executive budget for next year during a presentation Tuesday in City Hall.

Under the city charter, the Mayor is required complete and present his budget by Oct. 8 each year, unless the day falls on a weekend or holiday. When that happens, the Mayor can present the budget the first business day available following the deadline, which is today.

In recent months the mayor has said 2019 will be another financially challenging year for the city – largely due to increased costs with government without increased revenues to help close the spending gap. That’s largely due to the city having reached its maximum limit with property taxes under state law.

For both the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, Teresi presented an unbalanced budget as a result of the lack of projected revenue. Each time the state has been able to provide additional aid to help plug the gap. And even though the city saw a significant surplus at the end of 2017, it will still likely need outside help from Albany in order to balance its books.

Last year Teresi presented a $35.7 million spending plan for 2018 that included a budget deficit of $947,000, along with a 0.88 percent property tax increase. That increase brought the city’s tax rate to $23.98 per thousand assessed value, the constitutional taxing limit for the city.

Once the mayor presents his 2019 executive budget, the Jamestown City Council will begin the process of reviewing, amending, and finalizing the plan before the Dec. 1 deadline. This year the council is tentatively scheduled to act on the plan during its Nov. 26 voting session.  A hearing on the budget will take place a week prior, at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19.

The mayor will present his 2019 spending plan today at 4 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room, fourth floor of city hall. That meeting is open to the public.

Jamestown, NY

JAMESTOWN – Later this year, Jamestown city officials will be focusing their attention on the 2019 City Budget. In October Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi will present his executive spending plan to the Jamestown City Council, which will then have the opportunity to make any final adjustments before finalizing the spending plan by the end of November.

If previous recent years are any indication, the council won’t be able to make many, if any, adjustments. The mayor has typically presented a bare bones budget that leaves little for council members to work with. The past two years, the mayor has actually presented budgets that include a deficit, due to the city’s revenue not meeting fixed expenses. It’s taken bailouts from Albany the past two years to help balance the books.

About half of the city’s general budget relies on property taxes. The 2018 spending plan totals $35.7 million, with $16,012,000 covered by property taxes. This amount is known as the Tax Levy. The Tax Rate is factored by dividing the tax levy by the Total Taxable Property Value in the city (the value of all privately held properties that are not tax exempt) and then multiplying by 1000. For the 2018 the Tax Rate in Jamestown is $23.98 per thousand assessed value.

State law requires a Constitutional Taxing Limit that municipalities are not allowed to exceed and Jamestown is now at that taxing limit. Even if the mayor and city council wanted to increase taxes further they are unable to under state law. The Tax Levy could still be increased, but that would depend on an increase in taxable properties and/or values within the city. So with increased cost and little ability to raise additional tax revenue, the city will be looking at another tough budget season this fall.

HOW JAMESTOWN PROPERTY TAXES COMPARE TO REST OF STATE

According to 2011 census estimates, the average population of 58 upstate NY cities* was 35,751. Jamestown’s was 31,020.

According to data provided at the State Comptroller’s Office, the average Tax Levy for those 58 cities in 2017 (the most recent year data is available) was $17,905,000. Jamestown was actually lower at $15,844,000.

And the average full value tax rate in 2017 for those 58 cites was $12.50 per thousand. But Jamestown was $23.77 (second highest in NY State, second only to Binghamton).

Why the disparity? The total value of taxable properties has a lot to do with it. The average full value taxable properties for those 58 cities in 2017 was $1,868,246,000. Jamestown was nearly one third of that at $666,597,000.

If the taxable property of Jamestown was in proportion to the state average based on population, the number would be closer to $1,621,017,000. Using that number, the average full value tax rate for Jamestown in 2017 would have been $9.77 per thousand.

The main contributing factor to Jamestown’s low taxable property figure is the fact that residential property value is lower in Jamestown compared to other upstate communities. A $55,000 valued property in Jamestown could be twice that much in other communities in the Upstate New York, especially the further east you go.

A second contributing factor is the number of properties that are tax exempt. According to a report WRFA released earlier this year, total of $387,313,378 in properties withing the cit are exempt from property taxes, comprising 37 percent of all property value (the state average is 30 percent).

Although there are various other expense factors to consider as well – including robust benefits in labor contracts agreed to decades ago that now can not be altered without both sides agreeing to the changes – the property tax levy vs. property tax rate dilemma is also an important factor to consider on the revenue side when asking why tax rates are so high in Jamestown.

*The 58 cities include those that are not on Long Island, not New York City, and not counting Poughkeepsie because data was incomplete.

City Comptroller Joe Bellitto reported to the finance committee that sales tax revenues totaled $1,600,710 for the second quarter , which was an increase of more than $60,000 over the second quarter from last year.

Bellitto added through the first half of the year, city officials have received $144,000, or 5 percent, more in sales tax revenues than they did through the first six months of 2017.

The city has now received 51 percent of the $6 million in sales tax that was budgeted for this year, with the third and fourth quarters being traditionally the two strongest sales tax quarters of the year.