[0:01] foreign

[0:04] [Music]

[1:02] thank you

[1:04] [Music]

[1:06] foreign

[1:08] [Music]

[1:40] I don't know

[1:57] anymore

[1:58] [Music]

[2:21] thank you

[2:25] [Music]

[2:43] again

[2:49] everybody

[2:59] else

[3:13] [Music]

[3:38] um yeah I don't know if I should

[3:40] probably

[3:40] [Music]

[3:41] Michelle do did you want to uh be posted

[3:47] to the city website or something you

[3:51] could do that you could it's gonna it's

[3:52] live right now okay yeah it's up to you

[3:55] I mean you can do it after or whatever

[3:58] okay

[4:01] so do you want me to just send how do

[4:03] you want me to just uh send you the link

[4:06] or how do you want to do it

[4:09] oh you actually put it on the website or

[4:12] yeah or on the Facebook or whatever you want to do yeah it doesn't

[4:16] matter whenever you want to do it it'll

[4:18] be on the osm Facebook page the link or

[4:21] YouTube

[4:22] um

[4:24] it's so we're live streaming now but I

[4:28] have like a slate that runs and then

[4:30] once it does I'll take

[4:41] [Music]

[4:51] foreign

[4:52] [Music]

[5:39] Philadelphia

[5:51] designers

[6:00] you want to just check right here in the

[6:02] office to make sure it clicks over

[6:07] oh okay cool yeah I'm streaming I'm

[6:10] streaming now

[6:18] all right thanks man yep

[6:36] see you

[6:38] [Music]

[6:40] again

[6:41] [Music]

[7:20] um

[7:56] foreign

[8:29] shut up

[8:56] I want to thank everyone for uh

[8:59] coming out this afternoon and having the

[9:01] opportunity to formally present to the

[9:04] city council uh the proposed 2024 city

[9:09] of Schenectady operating budget

[9:12] uh again I want to thank council

[9:15] president Porterfield the members of the

[9:17] city council for your being here and

[9:21] look forward to working with you on the

[9:24] formal adoption of our operating budget

[9:27] uh thank you to our department heads and

[9:30] all the city employees for the work in

[9:32] preparation of this budget and the work

[9:35] they do on behalf of the residents of

[9:37] this city every day specifically want to

[9:40] acknowledge and thank Anthony Ferrari

[9:42] Derek gukamuk and Liz Nelson from the

[9:45] finance department and the time and

[9:47] effort that they've put in this Michelle

[9:49] Carr Brendan Savage and John coluccio

[9:53] who's running a slideshow and will make

[9:56] me look semi-good in this presentation

[10:01] I want to thank our partners that enable

[10:05] projects and initiatives to happen in

[10:07] our city that makes us stronger makes us

[10:10] more vibrant and adds a level of

[10:13] excitement to Schenectady

[10:15] you know we have a number of projects

[10:17] that are underway or will be in 2024.

[10:21] the upper left is the housing project on

[10:23] Crane Street

[10:25] the lower left is the Block House at

[10:27] frog alley the SI group moved to Mohawk

[10:30] Harbor Old World Provisions has moved to

[10:34] Broadway the center photo is showing a

[10:37] rendering of the rehab the old wedgeway

[10:39] building it's state and Erie Armory

[10:42] Studio has been host to the van Gogh

[10:45] exhibit which brought approximately 130

[10:49] 000 people to the city of Schenectady

[10:52] uh this will be pre replaced in this uh

[10:55] coming roughly month by an exhibit on

[10:59] Monet

[11:00] uh in GE Verona announced a 50 million

[11:04] dollar investment recently in the

[11:06] production facilities for wind turbines

[11:09] here in the city of Schenectady

[11:11] we continue to develop affordable

[11:13] housing the North Side village the rehab

[11:17] of the old Elmer Avenue School the Old

[11:20] Saint Mary's rectory or just to name a

[11:23] few we have completed or have underway a

[11:29] quarter of a billion dollars worth of

[11:32] affordable housing projects in the city

[11:35] of Schenectady and I want to thank Ray

[11:37] Gillen for joining us today that

[11:41] partnership with Metroplex our

[11:43] relationship with the county the

[11:45] business Community is really unique in

[11:48] terms of how we come together and how we

[11:50] provide services and actually make

[11:52] things happen within this community

[11:56] uh the construction continues at the new

[11:58] Central Park Pool again that will be

[12:02] completed next year and I hope everybody

[12:04] will be joining us as we cut the ribbon

[12:06] there and bring a facility that

[12:09] complements the Investments that we've

[12:11] made in the a diamond and music Haven

[12:14] the partnership with the Rose Garden

[12:16] committee

[12:18] there are things that are happening

[12:20] there all the time an exciting Adventure

[12:24] last week we did a ribbon cutting at the

[12:27] new pickleball courts in Hillhurst Park

[12:30] in the new tennis courts across the

[12:33] street in Fairview Park are also open

[12:37] Monday we announced a 500 thousand

[12:40] dollar Grant from assemblyman Angelo

[12:43] Santa Barbara for the rehab of the

[12:45] Central Park casino and I've included in

[12:49] the budget I've submitted the council

[12:50] today and a request for an additional

[12:53] 250 thousand dollars in our capital

[12:55] budget to make sure that we are able to

[12:58] complete the projected work on that

[13:01] facility

[13:04] again I'm going to

[13:06] step off a little bit and spend some

[13:08] time on cyber security

[13:12] we need to defend the city of

[13:14] Schenectady against cyber crime and

[13:16] cyber security is everyone's job and

[13:19] while this really represents a

[13:21] relatively small portion of the budget

[13:24] we pay about thirty thousand dollars for

[13:27] insurance uh

[13:30] malicious cyber actors aren't making the

[13:34] same holiday plans as you and I uh

[13:38] recent history tells us that they look

[13:40] at these events and times

[13:43] to uh

[13:47] engage in persistent acts that are big

[13:51] and small look to disrupt our critical

[13:53] networks and systems where they're

[13:55] really operating around the world and we

[13:58] have to be cognizant of that every day

[14:02] and so while we're

[14:05] looking at some of the city operations

[14:07] as members of the media here individuals

[14:11] that are here part of the message when

[14:12] you leave here today is you have to be

[14:14] cognizant of it every day and spread the

[14:17] words to your family and friends and

[14:18] some of the quick points are slow down

[14:22] scammers often create a sense of urgency

[14:25] so that they can bypass your better

[14:28] instincts take your time and ask

[14:30] questions to avoid being rushed into a

[14:33] bad situation do not click on links or

[14:36] attachments from senders that you do not

[14:39] recognize

[14:41] spot check do your research to double

[14:44] check the details you're getting if you

[14:47] get an unexpected phone call just hang

[14:51] up if you get an unexpected email about

[14:54] your bank account then please verify by

[14:57] calling the bank and make sure it's

[14:59] legitimate do your spot check a red flag

[15:03] or something fishy if you

[15:05] spot a red flag or something fishy about

[15:07] an email verify the suspicious email

[15:11] with a sender through a phone or some

[15:13] other mechanism

[15:15] and don't send money stop and don't send

[15:19] money no reputable person or agency will

[15:22] ever demand payment on the spot

[15:25] often scammers tell you to go off and

[15:27] buy gift cards that are meant only to be

[15:30] given as a gift not as payment under the

[15:33] threat and so if you get these type of

[15:36] requests or things don't hesitate to

[15:39] call the police department or reach out

[15:41] to some family member or somebody that

[15:45] you trust

[15:46] to avoid these just tragic set of

[15:49] circumstances that all that happen all

[15:51] too often

[15:54] this slide Recaps the larger projected

[15:58] changes in our revenue and I look

[16:01] forward to going over these numbers in

[16:03] Greater detail when the council holds

[16:05] its budget review sessions and I won't

[16:08] get into that tonight or today

[16:13] again this slide talks about our arpa

[16:16] funds uh that this will be our last time

[16:21] to use arpa money for the general fund

[16:24] in no arpa funds will be available for

[16:28] 2025 and this depending on the final

[16:31] numbers we adopt and work with I creates

[16:34] approximately a 7.4 million dollar issue

[16:39] that we're going to have to deal with in

[16:41] future years

[16:44] this in the next slide recap projected

[16:46] adjustments and expenses and again if

[16:49] you look forward to going over with the

[16:52] council and department heads in Greater

[16:54] detail as we get into the budget review

[16:56] sessions

[16:58] the next one I have is I'm projecting in

[17:02] this budget uh four million dollars in

[17:05] sales through our homes program and

[17:09] we've had a remarkable track record in

[17:13] creating uh home ownership opportunities

[17:15] for individuals within the community

[17:17] some of those have gone up and down

[17:20] covid we had a general Trend up covid

[17:23] slowed things down we couldn't do

[17:25] foreclosures that is now back in process

[17:30] we've taken a little over a hundred

[17:33] houses

[17:34] that we have in the pipeline for sale

[17:37] and I these numbers show that our

[17:40] current Revenue in 2023 is down a little

[17:43] bit I expect that to be up around a

[17:45] million dollars when we close out the

[17:47] year for homes that we have in the

[17:50] pipeline and again appreciate the city

[17:52] council working with staff as we go

[17:54] through that process

[17:55] and some of those purchases we know are

[17:58] a little bit more complicated and there

[18:00] are options that we weigh and try and

[18:02] get the best value for the city as a

[18:05] whole

[18:06] again this Recaps property sales

[18:10] historically it also looks at it

[18:13] geographically one of our esri mapping

[18:17] systems it shows that this is not

[18:22] targeted to any one area in the city but

[18:25] really across the whole city where we've

[18:28] had foreclosures we've worked to with

[18:32] our Realtors Bankers other real estate

[18:33] professionals to Market home ownership

[18:37] in investment opportunities

[18:40] within the city of Schenectady

[18:43] the next two slides this slide and the

[18:46] other ones recap the departmental budget

[18:49] summaries I'm not going to spend time

[18:52] going through each one you know Public

[18:55] Safety is a major expense major concern

[18:59] I compliment Chief Clifford and the

[19:02] staff in the police department

[19:04] our crime in the city of Schenectady is

[19:08] down approximately 33 percent

[19:11] when you compare it to the 2022 numbers

[19:15] if you do the five-year average which we

[19:18] normally do to level it out so it takes

[19:22] away from the anomalies that may occur

[19:24] in any one year our numbers are up about

[19:27] 2.1 percent you wonder how does that

[19:30] happen

[19:31] and again it was the phenomenon where

[19:33] Covent where our general Trend in crime

[19:37] and other things were heading in the

[19:39] right direction covid

[19:42] stopped everything

[19:43] there wasn't any commercial activity

[19:45] there wasn't

[19:47] we didn't sell houses we weren't doing

[19:49] foreclosures people were staying in

[19:51] their houses so crime dropped

[19:54] really down to almost nothing in some

[19:56] cases but when you then take the year

[19:59] after covet as we started to come back

[20:01] it looks like crime went up dramatically

[20:04] but it really didn't it's when you do

[20:07] the averages it Compares it against that

[20:10] one year it looks abnormally low or it

[20:13] looks abnormally high so we have to sort

[20:16] through those and do an appropriate

[20:18] analytic review so that we're telling

[20:21] the real story of what's happening and

[20:24] in terms of working with the council how

[20:26] do we invest the money that we're going

[20:28] to spend in the most effective way to

[20:30] leverage the resources and while I've

[20:32] just talked about the police department

[20:34] the same thing is with the fire

[20:35] department the office of General

[20:37] services so that we're getting the

[20:40] biggest payback for the taxpayer dollar

[20:42] here

[20:44] uh again those departmental numbers are

[20:48] there and we'll go over it the uh

[20:52] general fund I'm submitting is a little

[20:55] over 111 million dollars this year

[20:59] the assessed value the taxable value

[21:03] within the city of Schenectady continues

[21:05] to increase

[21:07] it shows that our Collective efforts and

[21:10] again I complement Metroplex our

[21:13] partners County government in the work

[21:16] that the men and women who are employees

[21:17] of the city do every day that we're

[21:20] creating real value

[21:24] uh the tax levy

[21:27] again for the last decade his remained

[21:31] fairly stable

[21:32] it's up a little bit down a little bit

[21:35] the budget that I'm submitting to the

[21:38] council today sees a rise of about 1.3

[21:42] percent in the tax levy and that's the

[21:45] amount of total tax dollars that we

[21:47] collect via the property tax

[21:50] uh the budget that I'm proposing would

[21:53] keep the tax rate at

[21:56] 12.98

[21:57] uh per thousand dollars of assessed

[22:01] evaluation and that chart again breaks

[22:04] out where your tax dollars uh go a

[22:08] little under half goes to the school

[22:10] district the city is a little over 30

[22:14] percent and then the county makes up the

[22:17] difference of that

[22:20] uh this chart outlines where the tax

[22:24] rate has been

[22:26] we were

[22:28] much higher in 2015 we had

[22:32] systematically lowered the tax rate uh

[22:36] coveted

[22:37] again shifted everything we saw an

[22:41] increase in 2021

[22:45] 2022 2023 held it

[22:49] stable effect last year when I

[22:52] recommended the budget to you I asked

[22:55] for a tax rate of 12.99

[22:58] which is what the council adopted in the

[23:01] budget and it's when we do that final

[23:03] calculation when the assessed value of

[23:06] the property comes in

[23:08] there's a lot of times there's a little

[23:10] bit of variance in that number because

[23:11] we don't get that information from the

[23:13] county until

[23:15] mid-november after the budget is adapted

[23:19] so our tax rate even though the council

[23:21] adopted at 12.99 last year the effective

[23:24] rate was 12.98 so it went down a little

[23:27] bit because of that growth in assessment

[23:31] in other factors that play into the

[23:33] formula but I'm asking again for the

[23:36] council's consideration to continue that

[23:38] tax rate at 12.98

[23:41] cents

[23:43] the cost of our trash collection and

[23:45] Disposal continue to rise

[23:49] uh and I am asking and believe it'll

[23:52] require a fee increase to keep providing

[23:55] this service at the level we do to our

[23:57] residents I'm submitting for the

[23:59] council's consideration uh increase of a

[24:03] dollar fifty per week uh and keeping our

[24:07] exemption process in place our Municipal

[24:10] service is still very cost competitive

[24:13] with private contractors in our

[24:15] neighboring neighboring communities in

[24:18] suburbs in what this will do is actually

[24:21] bring the revenue closer to actually

[24:24] covering the cost of garbage collection

[24:28] so today the general fund subsidizes

[24:32] garbage collection and looking to

[24:34] equalize that and level that out and

[24:36] again look forward to working with the

[24:39] Council on ways that we could modify

[24:42] that collection build efficiencies into

[24:44] it better educate the public to again

[24:48] appreciate the service we have and

[24:50] continue to deliver it at a manner that

[24:52] they appreciate and shows real value

[24:56] our water and sewer funds looking

[25:01] for a funding at the water level of 9.8

[25:05] million in the sewer fund at

[25:08] 15.7 million dollars

[25:11] we have made major investments in our

[25:14] water and sewer system you know just the

[25:17] force Main and pump station and North

[25:21] ferry

[25:22] the new wells that we're putting in in

[25:25] our water fields in Rotterdam to keep

[25:27] these funds balanced we need small rate

[25:31] increases and I'm asking for rate

[25:34] increases of what would be effectively

[25:37] be slightly under five cents a day in

[25:42] the water fund and approximately 20

[25:44] cents a day in the sewer fund these are

[25:48] Big operations they really affect the

[25:50] dramatically the quality of life in our

[25:53] community but we at the same time have

[25:55] to pay for them

[25:58] uh in The Proposal submitting to the

[26:01] council I'm asking for uh 7.4 million

[26:06] dollars in capital budgets again look

[26:09] forward to the opportunity to go through

[26:11] that with you in the department heads

[26:13] and explain where these uh investments

[26:17] will continue to allow us to deliver

[26:19] Services build efficiencies in and again

[26:24] hopefully create overall value for the

[26:28] city of Schenectady detailed that prior

[26:31] Slide the golf fund there's numbers

[26:34] there but that fund is fluid and

[26:37] actually will have zero effect on the

[26:40] overall capital budget and again it's

[26:42] treated as a separate fund

[26:47] that uh

[26:49] just one of the success stories in

[26:52] Schenectady

[26:53] Livingston energy has been a partner a

[26:57] number of projects we've done here

[26:59] they started a few years ago with two

[27:02] employees today they have over a hundred

[27:06] full-time equivalent employees and

[27:09] installed over 2 000 charging stations

[27:12] and they have 5 000 charging stations in

[27:17] the pipeline

[27:18] so they're now in 25 states in Canada it

[27:24] is a robust in growing company and it's

[27:27] just one of the many success stories

[27:29] that we have within the city of

[27:31] Schenectady talked about GE and their 50

[27:33] million dollar investment there are a

[27:36] number of entities like Livingston that

[27:38] again Metroplex has helped bring in and

[27:41] grow that the diversity and the vibrancy

[27:45] of our economic base is really amazing

[27:50] and so Livingston has been a partner in

[27:53] those charging stations but also in

[27:56] promoting the transition to electric

[27:58] vehicles

[28:00] this is National Drive electric week

[28:05] our event on that will be Sunday

[28:09] coinciding with the Schenectady Green

[28:11] Market

[28:13] we've been contenders in that for the

[28:16] last three years last year we were

[28:18] number one in the country in terms of

[28:20] participation

[28:22] we won't know until next week if we're

[28:26] where we finish in this but we are in

[28:29] line again to be number one in the

[28:31] country

[28:32] in this uh Endeavor and so if you're not

[28:35] doing anything Sunday from 10 to 2 stop

[28:39] down to the Green Market and swing by

[28:41] the displays that we'll have out on

[28:43] Liberty Street for the electric vehicle

[28:48] week

[28:50] our Smart City

[28:52] uh

[28:53] deployment continues through the cares

[28:57] project it's providing for 304 access

[29:00] points we've got a 193 wireless access

[29:04] points deployed through the city for

[29:07] Wi-Fi for public use and to support the

[29:10] delivery of city services

[29:12] again if you look at the utilization

[29:15] it's steadily increased

[29:19] we are seeing uh

[29:22] in excessive 2.2 million dollar or yeah

[29:25] I wish it was 2.2 million dollars 2.2

[29:28] million hits a day website visits so

[29:33] people are using this people are seeing

[29:35] the value it's something that again

[29:38] other communities have done very small

[29:40] areas they do business districts they do

[29:43] streets Schenectady we're building it

[29:45] out city-wide again to create value to

[29:49] create equity and improve overall

[29:52] efficiencies within the city

[29:55] uh

[29:57] Thursday night uh had the opportunity it

[30:00] was Wednesday night had the opportunity

[30:02] to

[30:03] participate in the uh 30th anniversary

[30:06] of the center for technology and

[30:08] governments uh Milestone at the

[30:12] University at Albany they're the applied

[30:14] Research Unit there they awarded the

[30:18] city of Schenectady their outstanding

[30:20] partner award for our work together over

[30:22] the last 10 years so again we're getting

[30:26] recognition for the work that we're

[30:30] doing

[30:31] it is humbling

[30:34] from my perspective but again it

[30:37] reflects on the Investments we're making

[30:39] the budgetary decisions that the council

[30:42] has made and it really creates real

[30:45] value within the city of Schenectady

[30:48] and uh with that I again look forward to

[30:52] working with the council in a

[30:55] thorough review as we move forward and

[30:58] adopt a formal budget by the first of

[31:00] November

[31:01] I thank you and everyone enjoy your

[31:04] weekend

[31:06] foreign

[31:18] [Music]

Schenectady Proposed Budget 2024

Transcript