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Mayor Issues Several Budget Vetoes

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist has issued several vetoes to the 2022 city budget. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Several vetoes have been submitted on the 2022 city budget.

On Monday, Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist issued the vetoes, which included increasing the raises for two management employees; restoring funding to the Jamestown Human Rights Commission; reinstating funding for the mayor’s travel and education and stationery budget back to pre-pandemic levels; fully funding the building maintenance budget and appropriating $10,000 for the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency (JURA).

Before passing the 2022 budget, the Jamestown City Council approved nearly 20 amendments before approving next year’s spending plan.

In Sundquist’s veto message, he states that he would like to reinstate raises for two employees – Ryan Thompson, city comptroller, and Jennifer Williams, city clerk and treasurer. Sundquist said the clerk’s salary is more than $18,000 less than the average state city clerk’s salary. He would like to increase the clerk’s salary by nearly $12,000.

Sundquist said the comptroller’s salary is about $20,000 less than the average city comptroller’s salary in the state and would like to increase it by nearly $9,000.

As for the Human Rights Commission, the council amended the 2022 budget to remove $6,000 that the commission was going to use for a diversity festival and outreach work.

“I was deeply disappointed in the council’s decision to defund this line item and am asking the council to reconsider,” Sundquist stated.

Sundquist is also asking for nearly $10,000 for travel and education expenses and office stationery. He said city officials are anticipating an increase of in-person events both in Albany and Washington, D.C., which is why he would like travel expenses returned to a pre-pandemic level. He added that he would also like office stationery funding returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Sundquist would also like to restore $10,000 to the budget for Jamestown Municipal Building maintenance. He said the building is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and has several issues, including a leak on Tracy Plaza that seeps into the Jamestown Police Department indoor shooting range.

“The council’s decision to defund building maintenance was, in my opinion, short-sighted,” he said.

Another veto is the $10,000 cut to JURA approved by the council last week.

“By cutting JURA’s funding, the city council has signaled a lack of concern for the extraordinary housing issues Jamestown faces every day,” he said. “JURA must be funded as much as possible in the city budget, as their budget relies heavily on city funding.”

To fund the costs of the vetoes, Sundquist is also vetoing how much fund balance, or savings, the city will use in the 2022 budget. The vetoes would increase the use of fund balance by $71,446.

Now with the issuing of the vetoes, the council will have to determine if they would like to override any of the proposed changes. The council has until Dec. 15 to hold a special meeting to possibly override any of the mayor’s budget changes. To override a veto, it will take two-thirds approval or six of the nine council members.

Anthony Dolce, council president and Ward 2 councilman, said Monday during the council’s work session meeting that a veto override meeting will most likely be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13, before the council’s next work session meeting.

The budget approved by the council included a 0.8% tax levy increase – a $130,000 hike. According to the state Department of Taxation and Finances, the tax levy is the amount raised through property taxes.

The 2022 tax rate will remain at $23.69 per $1,000 assessed property value. According to the state Department of Taxation and Finances, the tax rate is determined by dividing the tax levy by the total taxable assessed value of all property in a jurisdiction.

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