The city of Saratoga Springs is facing a $7 million budget decline for 2021. Hopes that federal aid would arrive before January are fading. Layoffs of police and firefighters are possible in next year's budget, said Saratoga's Commissioner of Finance, Michele Madigan.
Her proposed budget is down 10% for salaries, 15% for personnel, and 25% for the Department of Public Works, she said in a recent interview.
She added that layoffs and other cuts are dependent upon the budget and the choices that various departments make about the spending. As the elected finance commissioner, she does not necessarily make choices of what is to be cut. She said the city must find a way to weather this storm.
"Our situation is not good," she said. The budget is planned for ratification by the end of the month.
At the Nov. 2 city council meeting, she said that the city's Video Lottery Tax that it collects from the state was off by more than $400,000. Taxes collected at the Saratoga Racetrack gate were zeroed out because no one was allowed to go to the track this season, a loss of $700,000. Bed taxes levied on hotels and motel are down.
"We are the worst in the state" for sales tax, she said. Her report to the council says sales receipts through the third quarter of this year are down 16%.
She said U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko's office on Tuesday told her not to expect federal help for municipalities in the short-term. She is expecting New York State aid to municipalities to drop 20% for next year's budget.
"We do have a strong economy, a strong tax base" overall, she said. Although other localities such as the town and county of Saratoga are able to keep a balanced budget and real estate tax rates at about the same level in 2021, the city is different.
"We are a big event city," she said, a city that relies heavily on taxes related to travel and tourism, especially in the summer.
Closure of the racetrack, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and conventions at the Saratoga Springs City Center deflated the budget.