Utica Mayor Palmieri proposes nearly 8 percent tax hike

UTICA, N.Y. — Utica taxpayers face a 7.8 percent tax increase under the budget plan offered by Mayor Robert Palmieri on Monday.

Palmieri told the Utica Board of Estimate and Apportionment that rising costs for health care, personnel, retirement expenses, and long-term debt required him to propose the increase, the largest in recent years.

“The increases in these four mandated items create a $3.3 million deficit which would require an 11.2 percent tax increase just to cover this cost,” he said.

 “For the seventh consecutive year, I am proposing a fiscally responsible budget which provides the services needed for continued economic development, funds quality of life initiatives and invests in our city’s infrastructure,” Palmieri contended.

In his budget announcement, Palmieri offered reminders that the city’s bond rating has been upgraded in recent years and city spending has risen on average less than 1 percent a year for the past decade. “While this is a challenging budget given the increases in mandated costs, the track record and credibility of our administration in improving the finances of the city is strong among experts in the financial community” he declared.

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com

Photo credit: 2016 file photo from Utica mayor’s Twitter page