Proposed Schenectady budget keeps tax hike under 2 percent (with document)

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kathleen Moore

Acting Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy is asking the City Council to approve a $79.2 million 2012 city budget — up from $77.4 million this year — with a 1.89 percent tax increase.

Schenectady city budget proposal

To read acting Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy’s proposed 2012 city budget, click HERE.

For a homeowner with the average house, assessed at $100,000, taxes would go up $24, to a total of $1,333.

City fees would go up too: $24 more for garbage collection, $22.92 for sewer and $20.64 for water. That means the average homeowner would see a total increase of $91.56 next year.

But McCarthy said the proposal was far better than the original spending plan, which had a 20 percent tax increase.

His budget focuses on the issues he has said can be improved through creative budgeting: slow police response times and abandoned houses.

If the City Council approves McCarthy’s budget, police will start fining property owners for loud parties, rather than simply asking them to quiet down. The budget estimates $10,000 would be collected over the next year.

McCarthy’s spending plan also calls for the city to purchase about 20 abandoned houses and sell them, bringing in about $400,000 in revenue. The goal is to sell houses that still have some value and can be repaired, rather than only taking properties that must be demolished at the city’s expense.

McCarthy also wants to make money while reducing commercial traffic on local roads. Under his spending plan, police will start doing truck inspections next year — enforcing weight limits and other issues that damage roads and lead to residential complaints.