Key points about the proposed 2024 Rome budget

Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch
·3 min read

There’s no tax increase in the 2024 budget proposed by Rome Mayor Jacqueline Izzo.

“The 2024 spending plan represents the administration’s dedication to protecting the taxpayers’ investment in their government,” Izzo said in highlighting key points of the budget during an address last week,  “by presenting a solid financial plan that includes improving public safety with necessary personnel and equipment, continuing to invest in infrastructure improvements, providing the equipment and resource required by our many departments which enables the employees to deliver constituent services at a very high level and ensure the city will remain on its progressive path in the area of economic development.”

Izzo's proposed budget is slightly over $51 million.

City of Rome Mayor Jacqueline Izzo has proposed her city budget for 2024.
City of Rome Mayor Jacqueline Izzo has proposed her city budget for 2024.

Here are other key points Izzo raised about her proposed budget:

Bottom line

  • There will be neither a property tax increase nor increases in water, sewer or refuse rates. This is the seventh year in a row without a tax increase.

  • The budget does use a little over $2.5 million from the city’s fund balance, but the fund balance will remain at just over $17 million. The city has been putting money aside to plan for inflation.

  • The mayor received requests for $17 million worth of equipment purchases, but scaled them back to a capital spending plan of about $9.7 million.

  • Department heads asked for spending of just over $39.5 million, but the mayor and her budget team scaled that back to about $38.5 million.

  • Sales tax revenue is estimated to grow by 5.5%, or about $840,000.

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Positions

  • The administration is limiting the number of new positions because of inflation.

  • The budget defunds a confidential secretary in the Corporation Counsel’s office and removes the unfilled position of a community economic development specialist.

  • The Codes department will hire an assistant building inspector, given the city’s near 600 open building permits.

  • The city will continue recruiting an Engineer 1 because of all public works projects underway.

  • The electrical department will hire a signal electrician to deal with its growing workload.

  • The city will recruit a planning aide for the community and economic development department to help with the dozens of projects on the department’s docket.

  • A senior account clerk job in public works will get upgraded to an administrative aide.

  • The city is replacing four laborer positions with motor equipment operators.

Cost increases/decreases

  • The city renegotiated all four of its collective bargaining agreements in 2023 and tried to “rightsize” its wages given the increase in the minimum wage and the need to stay competitive with other, similar communities in the state. All four contracts contain 3.5 percent wage increases for the next three years; the CSEA contract calls for 2 percent increases n years four and five.

  • Health insurance costs will go up 6.6 percent, or $445,696. A rate increase announced by the state comptroller will increase the New York State and Local Retirement System costs by about $300,000. But workers compensation costs will go down by about $400,000.

  • The police department budget will increase by about $138,000, mostly for more overtime. “This administration will not compromise public safety expenses under any circumstance,” Izzo declared.

The Rome Common Council will now look over Izzo's proposed budget and vote on it in the next several weeks.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Mayor Izzo proposes 2024 Rome budget without tax increase