Property tax not due for hike by Masiello (Buffalo, NY)

Mayor Anthony M. Masiello will unveil a spending plan soon that will likely hold the line on the property tax levy but will call for a double-digit increase in the garbage user fee, The Buffalo News has learned. The unpopular fee could go up by anywhere from 10 to 15 percent July 1, sources confirmed Sunday.

There would be few, if any, layoffs in the proposed budget, but many vacant jobs would be cut.

City officials continued working this weekend on a plan that must be submitted to the Common Council and the state financial control board by May 2. They cautioned that there are still key issues in play but said that they are confident the budget will call for no increase in the tax levy - the money Buffalo gets from property taxes.

"You'll see the fruits of some very difficult decisions we've had to make, but they were the right decisions," Masiello said.

He was alluding to efforts that included shrinking the size of the city's work force from more than 2,800 two years ago to just over 2,500 as of last week.

Still, some property owners face likely increases in their bills. Nearly 10,000 properties saw their assessments go up this year as part of an annual revaluation program.

Other variables that could affect tax rates are the state's complex equalization formulas that try to distribute tax burdens fairly among municipalities. The formulas, which will be released this month, also take into account shifts in tax burdens between residential and commercial properties.

The spending plan will likely contain one highly controversial component - another increase in the garbage user fee. Masiello blamed the expected increase on a decision by the county to turn back operations of a garbage-handling facility on South Ogden Street to the city.

The county has been operating the city's East Side Transfer Station since 2001. The city recently received notice that the cash-strapped county will soon turn back the facility to the city, Masiello said Sunday.

"Quite frankly, we wouldn't need an increase in the user fee if this wasn't happening," Masiello said. "It's unfortunate, but we'll have to make it work."

Idiot Loser Mayor Masiello (who is so inept the state appointed a control board to oversee the city) still thinks the people are too stupid to realize that 'garbage fee increase' is actually a 'tax hike'

This is the same incompetant boob who created the 'garbage fee' in the first place, in an effort to tax everyone (including churches)

I'm still smarting from the national attention Buffalo received regarding of the lack of toilet paper in our esteemed city buildings. Living here has gotten to be an embarassment.

Well AirForceMom, we may not have toilet paper in our county office building but we do have that wonderful waterfront area with resturants, entertainment, river walk,....wait no we don't do we. But the mayor and our civic "leaders" are hard at work on it, rest assured. They have been for the last 35 years!

It's just amazing just how inept they ALL are here. Doesn't matter if they're dems or repubs, they all bite.

Nice how it's coming out that this one AND that one haven't paid their taxes, some of them late for years. Makes me sick.

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