City of Corning passes 2019 fiscal year budget
CORNING, N.Y. (WENY) -- Corning's City Council not only passed their 2019 fiscal year budget unanimously, but by passing it they also made history.
"This was again difficult to put together," said Corning City Manager, Mark Ryckman. "We have very limited staff resources. We've reduced the size of the city staff by over twenty percent the last six or seven years. This budget keeps all the remaining staff, one hundred and two employees and no further layoffs, but no additions. It calls for a one-point-two percent increase in the tax rate."
The Corning City Council met on Monday night for their monthly meeting. During the meeting the council made history as the budget became the city's first to come in below the property tax cap.
"It's a significant achievement to be able to stay under the tax cap, yet add an additional one hundred thousand dollars for streets," said Ryckman. "So in past years, the city council has exceeded the tax cap because they wanted more money for street paving. This year, we've been able to remain under the cap and have our additional street money. That's a significant accomplishment."
Before all the votes were cast, several members of the council praised the city manager for all the hard work he and his team put in to bringing the budget together. But what does this new budget mean for the residents of Corning?
"On an eighty-five thousand dollar house, that's about ninety-seven cents a month," said Ryckman. "So if your mortgage payment comes in at six hundred dollars a month, it'll now be six hundred dollars and ninety seven cents. So it's a very minimal increase in order to keep all of the services that the public has come to expect."
The newly adopted budget will go into effect on July 1st and will expire on June 30th of next year.