City Council members will discuss a local law during Monday’s work session to override the state’s 2% tax cap.

Chapter 97 of the Laws of 2011 of the State of New York established that municipalities may only increase the tax cap or raise property taxes from the previous year by less than 2% or the rate of inflation. The current proposed budget for the city for 2025 by Mayor Kim Ecklund calls for a 7.79% tax increase. As this is in excess of the two percent tax cap limit, the city council will need to establish a local law to override the tax cap.

Even if the council does not pass the proposed budget as is, a local law is still needed in order to pass any budget asking for a tax cap increase in excess of two percent. Subdivision five of the General Municipal Law 3-c allows a local governing body to override the tax cap limit for the upcoming year with the establishment of a local law approved by a vote of 60% of that governing body.

Also on the agenda for Monday’s work session is a resolution allowing for Dan Stone, City Arborist and Parks Manager and Adam Kyle, Tree Trimmer, to attend ACRT Line Clearance Certification and Trimming Trees Around Power Lines Training at the beginning of November, along with a resolution to support the Lakes Before Turbines Act.

The Lakes Before Turbines Act is in opposition to turbines in local lakes and marine bodies. This act comes following Congressman Nick Langowrthy’s call to stop and slow down putting wind turbines in local bodies of water, and multiple other local municipalities have come out in support of it.

The main concern for this comes after NYSERDA released its second version of a Great Lakes Wind Energy Feasibility Study in December 2022. Concerns for the health of Lake Erie and other local lakes remain a priority for groups such as Citizens Against Wind Turbines in Lake Erie, and while NYSERDA has determined there is no advantage to placing wind turbines by Lake Erie in regards to the state Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, having wind turbines placed near Lake Erie remains a possibility.

The proposed resolution for the city acknowledges that much has changed since NYSERDA’s first report and that many questions still remain.