Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Property taxes may soon be going up in Buffalo, as the Common Council is planning to vote on a proposal that would allow to the city to increase it's levy beyond New York's 2% tax cap.
Fillmore District Councilman Mitch Nowakowski says the city hasn't raised the property tax in over 16 years. Due to expenses going up and revenue staying the same, the city was forced to pull from its savings.
"We can't do that anymore," said Nowakowski in an interview with WBEN. "For the mayor to propose a budget that's over 2%, the Common Council has to give the mayor that ability to do that. That doesn't mean that just because we will, if we do vote on it, and it's voted in the affirmative, that we agree on some rate. Only the mayor could propose that."
While the money generated from the tax increase will be used to plug budget holes, Nowakowski claims it won't be enough to stabilize the city.
"Everyday, residents rely on strong services like police, fire, infrastructure, lighting, you name it, in order to keep our city operating. This isn't a knee-jerk reaction. Council members aren't doing this flippantly. We understand that we have to address this. This took 16 years in the making," he explained. "Previous administration, previous councils rubber stamped budgets that had no zero tax growth. It shows that if councils and the previous administration were able to lift the residential tax rate by a percent every other year, we would have enough revenue growth to meet our expenses."
If passed, the proposal would only allow for a temporary increase that will last throughout the fiscal year.
"We have to be able to rein in our own house, close in savings that we can but then also see additional revenues through other avenues. And really raising taxes is only one certain avenue. Even the governor of the State of New York made it loud and clear that in order for New York State to help, we have to look at our own tax rate, which is the lowest rate in the State of New York. The City of Buffalo residents pay the least amount of taxes, in comparison to all of our counterparts in the state," Nowakowski said.
Nowakowski is optimistic the proposal will pass at the next council meeting, and that residents should pay attention to how other council members vote.
"We know this is not fun. I think it's really important to make sure that people pay attention to certain council members, not protest voting and just because they're running for mayor, take all the oxygen out of the room and really dissuade us," Nowakowski said. "The fact is that we have to govern and make really hard decisions, and we have to make payroll. We have to meet our expenses in order to operate the City of Buffalo."