Mayor Barlow’s Budget Message 08/14/2017

Mayor Barlow’s Budget Message 08/14/2017

Dear Members of the Oswego Common Council,

The proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Budget for the City of Oswego, New York, is hereby submitted for your consideration.

In 2016, I proposed, and the Oswego Common Council adopted a 2017 budget that shrank the size of City government, responsibly invested in our infrastructure, buildings, equipment and as a result, better positioned our community to grow and progress into a community on the rise.

It is my intention to submit a budget for 2018 with a very similar theme.

My budget calls for a slight property tax increase of 3.6% compared to Fiscal Year 2017.

As you know, the increase is attributed to retirement costs, healthcare costs and $262,000 in contractual raises City wide. Healthcare costs continue to increase and again, the Affordable Care Act costs the City in 2018 a projected $187,000.

We are also anticipating a spike in City utility costs, with an increase in our street lighting alone estimated at $60,000. It is important to keep in mind, 65% of the City of Oswego’s general operating budget is for personnel costs, from salaries to fringe benefits while another 26% consists of contractual costs.

It is for these reasons that I continue to push for shrinking the size of City government and reducing the number of government employees on city payroll. In this budget, I propose eliminating eight positions from City Hall staff.

My budget calls for one less employee in the City Chamberlain’s office, the City Clerk’s office, the City Personnel department and the Community Development office. I propose consolidating the plumbing inspector position into our code enforcement office and will eliminate that position entirely. In addition, after working closely with Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney I am proposing to enter into an Inter-Municipal Agreement with Onondaga County to provide us with purchasing services, while retaining our City’s procurement decision making authority.

We will see substantial cost savings through a reduction in staff, combined volume purchasing, and will give City vendors new business opportunities. This proposal eliminates three more positions and over $135,000 from the City budget.

Consolidating government services has been mandated by law in New York State in an effort to eliminate duplicative services and reduce the overall cost of services to local taxpayers.

I believe reasonable and responsible consolidation is the way of the future for government at all levels and it is my responsibility to find new and creative ways to reduce the City budget and mitigate tax increases.

The total value of eliminating all the positions I’ve mentioned allows us to cut nearly half a million dollars from the City budget between salary and fringe benefits.

In this budget I propose to continue our Oswego Summer Concert Series at Veterans Stage Park and the 4th of July Parade and have again allocated $40,000 to hold and promote these quality events.

This summer we made a long overdue investment in our City owned and operated pool and I intend to follow up that investment by proposing an additional $10,000 allocation to the Oswego skate park operated by the Oswego YMCA.

Making minor investments into our community like the new east park retaining wall, the additional trash receptacles in our parks and along our river walks, improving the marina, enhancing neighborhood services and paying attention to our youth oriented activities like the City pool and local skate park demonstrates that we are a community moving forward and taking the proper steps to become attractive to working class families.

These investments are absolutely necessary if we truly want to be competitive in attracting new residents and retaining our current residents.

I am pleased to note that because last year we secured $3.9 million in New York State Water Grants, the water and sewer rates will not be increased for the second year in a row.

I do want to point out that this administration and the Common Council, working together, have sought out, pursued and obtained alternate funding sources like the grants I have mentioned.

We have also made a concerted effort to determine the actual cost of producing potable water and processing wastewater. As a result of that effort this administration has been able to increase revenues by implementing a commercial sewer rate which we are charging to heavy users within the City limits.

This rate is more in line with the actual cost of the service provided by the City so that heavy users in the City are paying their fair share and City taxpayers are no longer subsidizing such users.

We have also extended our service to additional outside users in Oswego Town at a rate which allows the City to obtain additional revenue from outside the City from the use of our unused additional capacity and struck a transactional exchange with the County of Oswego valued at approximately $200,000 a year.

However, the City is still in the process of negotiating expired contracts for the supply of potable water and the treatment of wastewater for heavy users outside the City limits.

The City of Oswego has been doing everything it can to prevent an increase in the water and sewer fees and as part of those efforts this administration has asked the heavy users to come to the table to fairly re-negotiate new contracts at rates which reflect the actual cost of potable water and wastewater treatment.

Some users, such as SUNY Oswego, have stepped up to shoulder their fair share of costs.

Others, such as Sithe, the town of Scriba and Novelis, have been slower to do so.

The City of Oswego continually invests in and upgrades our equipment and infrastructure so that we can provide these users with adequate service. It is only fair that the residents of the City of Oswego should not subsidize such costs and that such users pay their fair share.

In conclusion, my proposed City budget, for the second year in a row, is designed to cut immediate and long terms costs, makes long overdue, responsible investments in our equipment and buildings and overall better positions our community to sustain our current momentum and proceed with our transformation into a vibrant 21st Century upstate New York community.

The decision is now in the hands of the Oswego Common Council on whether to accept this proposed budget or to amend it by resolution.

Any amendments made by the Common Council by resolution to increase or decrease appropriations will affect the proposed tax rate.

If any increase in the tax levy equals 5% or more, the amended budget must be presented to a public referendum in November per Local Law.

Should the amended budget be voted down in the November election, my proposed budget will become, by default, the 2018 Operating Budget.

And it is after months of hard work and focus that I, William J. Barlow Jr., as Mayor, submit the proposed City of Oswego 2018 Operating Budget to the Oswego Common Council for Consideration.

Dated August 14, 2017

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