By Dan Murphy
Along my travels throughout Yonkers, I spoke to a small business owner on Central Avenue and longtime homeowner in East Yonkers. I asked him if he would be willing to accept an 6 percent property tax increase to help balance the city’s budget and avoid up to 400 job eliminations proposed by Mayor Mike Spano. Without hesitation, the gentleman said: “Yes, I would. The union members deserve their contracts and their raises.”
This individual’s quick response and acceptance to an 6 percent property tax increase caught me by surprise, even though I knew he was a supporter of labor. While Spano and the Yonkers City Council have not agreed to an 6 percent property tax increase, the conversation made me think about what homeowners and taxpayers in Yonkers would be willing to pay in their upcoming tax bills, to be mailed out this summer.
Spano recently penned the following letter, titled “Straight Talk About the Proposed Yonkers Budget:”
“Yonkers must adopt the 2081-19 city and school budgets by June 1. Right now, there is a $46 million gap in the school budget and a $25 million gap in the city budget. That translates into a reduction of about 250 employees in the Board of Education, and nearly 200 city employees. Among the reductions would be teachers, police, firefighters and sanitation workers.
“How do we solve this? We need three partners: The state government, the public employee unions, and the taxpayers.
“Why state government? Because for the last decade the state has frozen, and even reduced, Yonkers’ municipal revenue sharing. In fact, Yonkers gets $5 million a year less in revenue sharing from the state than we got 10 years ago. Yet the amount of taxes that Yonkers residents pay to New York State has risen by $250 million during that time. That’s $250 million more for Albany, and $5 million a year less for Yonkers. Had revenue sharing increased just 2 percent a year, which is about the rate of inflation, the city’s budget deficit would not even exist. We were disappointed that the new state budget once again failed to deal with this inequity, and I have asked the state to reconsider before the legislative session wraps up in June.
“Why the unions? Because our teachers and city employees are among the highest paid in the nation. Our teachers, police, firefighters and other workers are generally in the top third of employee compensation in Westchester County. They do a great job, but if we could get them to agree to a one year pay freeze, we could avoid any layoffs. Right now, the average police salary is $147,000, the average firefighter salary is $146,000, and the average teacher salary is 115,000. The average household income of Yonkers families is about $61,000.
“As for the taxpayers, the City Council has already taken the first step to exceed the state’s 2 percent property tax cap. But even raising the property tax by double-digits still would not raise enough money to close the budget gap.
“I’ve talked to many Yonkers residents. Generally, they are willing to pay higher taxes to preserve essential services and keep our schools growing on the right track. But they aren’t willing, nor can they afford, increases that approach double-digits. That’s why we need the state to unfreeze revenue sharing to the city. That’s why we need the unions to also step up to the plate.
“Finally, some critics say with all the development taking place downtown, why hasn’t that solved our financial problems? It’s true we have nearly 4,000 units under development. But most of them are still under construction. They won’t pay higher taxes until they are occupied. These same critics say the city has given too many tax breaks, known as PILOTS, to developers. But here are the true facts about PILOT payments: In 2012, the year I took office, they amounted to $19.1 million per year. Now they are up to $25.8 million. That’s an increase of 34 percent in six years, which is much higher than the general increase in property taxes. That’s the straight talk about the city budget.” (End of Spano letter.)
That same business owner and homeowner on Central Avenue had the same conversation with his councilman, Anthony Merante, who – along with all the members of the City Council – has been speaking to constituents and trying to get a feel for what the “balance” is in this budget that Spano refers to in his letter.
Editor’s Note-Update: As of Friday June 8, the City of Yonkers has still not adopted a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Councilmembers and Mayor Mike Spano appear to be agreed on a 6% property tax increase, in the hopes that additional funding can be obtained from Albany to close the remaining holes left. A 6% property tax increase will not close the budget enough to avoid layoffs. It also appears that most of the funds coming from Albany would help close the Board of Education-Yonkers Public Schools portion of the budget.
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