Lockport NY

Here is a PDF copy of the budget as it stands.

Proposed 2012 City of Lockport Budget .

It list income - costs back as far as 2005 line by line through 57 pages. I won't have time to look at it until lunch. I'll give some thoughts then. Thank you to to Alderman Chapman for getting it to me.

The Buffalo News reported on last nights approval of it by the council.

Angry taxpayers verbally pummelled the Common Council on Wednesday as it voted 4-2 in favor of a 2012 city budget that increases the amount of taxes to be collected by 9 percent.

Voting for the budget and for a measure to lift the state’s 2 percent tax cap levy were Council President Richelle J. Pasceri and Aldermen Joseph C. Kibler and Kenneth M. Genewick, who are running for re-election, and Alderwoman Flora M. McKenzie, who is not.

Opposition came from Aldermen Andrew D. Chapman, who is running for the County Legislature, and Jack L. Smith Jr., who lost a bid for mayor in the Democratic primary.

Chapman said the city would have had to lay off 23 employees to avoid overriding the tax cap.
There were no layoffs; the budget actually adds one job, a $36,699-a-year housing inspector.
“The intent of the property tax [cap] law was to produce meaningful reform in local government,” Smith said. “There just wasn’t any meaningful reform in this budget.”

Spending in the budget rises $1.84 million, or 8.6 percent, to $23.3 million. Most of the difference comes under salaries and benefits...

...Mayor Michael W. Tucker, who is
running for re-election, said the exceptions the state put in the tax cap law doomed any hope the city would have had to comply with it.

“Pension costs are the biggest one,” Tucker said. “Even if we had no increases in anything else, the pension costs would have put us above the 2 percent.”...

 Similar to the school system the legacy costs of employees is the largest burden. Until real reform comes to how they are structured both budgets will continue to grow grow grow and we hack at away at items which would probably serve us well.

For example, the owner of a $100,000 house whose assessment was unchanged will save $52 on his taxes. But if the $100,000 assessment was raised to $110,000 this year, the tax bill will rise by $95. 

It seems those owning houses over 100k get an increase, those under get a tax decrease.