The Niagara Falls City Council held a public hearing Thursday evening on Mayor Robert Restaino’s proposed $101 million-plus 2025 city budget.
The hearing lasted 3 minutes. The council members heard one public speaker, Niagara Falls Library Board Trustee Sharon Bailey, who asked that future budget proposals contain the complete proposed line item budget for the city libraries so that the public will better understand how their “taxpayer dollars” are being spent.
With Restaino, City Administrator Anthony Restaino and acting City Controller Maria Brown all standing by to answer questions from city residents, there were none.
Restaino has already said his 2025 budget proposal doesn’t contain “many changes or drastic changes from the 2024 budget.”
The $101,644,324 proposed budget reflects roughly half a million dollars in increased spending, offset by a similar projected increase in revenue. The mayor said the proposed budget also calls for “again reducing our dependence on casino revenues” to fill gaps.
What the mayor has described as a “sharp decrease” in the value of Non-Homestead (business) properties combined with a modest increase in the value of Homestead (residential) properties would lead to a hike in residential property taxes.
Taxes for residential properties will increase by 54 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation. Taxes for business properties will drop by $1.50 per $1,000 assessed valuation.
The roughly 2.8% hike in 2025 residential property taxes follows a 3.1% reduction in those taxes in 2024. An average home, assessed at $100,000, would see a property tax increase of $54.
A business property, assessed at $100,000, would see its property tax bill decrease by $150 under the proposed budget. There is no change in the tax levy.
The largest expense in the proposed budget remains the cost of public safety, the police and fire departments. The next largest expense is the Department of Public Works.
The mayor has also warned that the city’s operation of the downtown train station is leading to an annual loss of about $130,000. A deficit Restaino says he will need to be addressed by city council members.
The budget proposes spending $31 million on capital projects, with the largest portion of that, $14 million, going to improvements at municipal buildings and facilities. It also calls for equipment purchases for police, fire and public works and for repairs to 87th Street.
After the public hearing, council members began a line-by-line review of each city department’s proposed budget. They will continue that review on Nov. 18 and 21.
The lawmakers will then meet on Nov. 25 to propose any amendments to the spending plan.