March 18th, 2019
HORNELL, NY – Hornell Mayor John Buckley told the Common Council Monday night that balancing this year’s budget will be the hardest Hornell has faced in a long time. According to Buckley, the city has lost over 2 million is assessed property value taxes from previous years along with numerous unexpected incurred expenses.
“Just starting with that shortfall, we are already behind the eight ball,” said Buckley, “The assessments are something that neither I, nor the council controls and we are working closely with the Finance Committee and the City Chamberlain to try our hardest to make ends meet.”
Buckley said he will try to his best to keep taxes down, but it will be a huge challenge. “There’s not that huge revenue we have had in the past, with expired pilots and the loss of substantial property taxes, but we plan on doing our best in the next few weeks to have a minimal impact on tax payers.”
Buckley and the council also added precautionary measures Monday night by allowing the city to override the 2% tax cap if necessary. “At this point, nothing is planned as far as overriding the cap, but we do this every year in case different scenarios arise. We can be docked for a clerical error or if HPG (who has a separate budget) come in with an unexpected figure and therefore we have to be prepared.”
There will be a Public Hearing in April before the monthly meeting and the final budget presentation directly after. Anyone with questions is highly encouraged to attend the meeting and ask questions.
