Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund joins our Terry Frank this week to discuss mainly two topics; the first being her proposed, 45.5-million, 2026 budget plan. Ecklund says there are a number of factors driving up costs for the city... including inflation, along with increasing state retirement costs, along with insurance and other costs. She adds it will also use just over 3.3-million from the undesignated fund balance... reducing that amount by more than half. The tax increase is 7.5%, with a 2.01 increase in the tax rate per 1,000 assessed value. She adds there are also some employee salary increases. However... she adds that revenues are fairly stagnant, with some significant losses in the tax base. She adds they are also no changes in state aid, which has been unchanged for many years. We also discuss next year's major NYS Dept. of Transportation reconstruction of East Second St., and what kind of access people will have to the 35 businesses along that busy street. Ecklund says there will be a plan laid out by the DOT, and they will work with Acting City Public Works Director Mark Roetzer on that.
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