City Made the Tough Decisions To Survive Crisis

This past year presented a great many challenges for Niagara Falls - perhaps a record-setting number of challenges.

The ultimate end-of-the-year good news is that we were able to hold the line on homeowner taxes and lower business taxes while guaranteeing no loss in city services for 2013. By taking some much-needed steps, the council brought the 2013 budget into balance.

The most contested step was the elimination of the city subsidy to USA Niagara. At a time when city casino funds are up in the air, it isn’t feasible for the city to keep contributing $3 million per year to USA Niagara.

The Niagara Falls Reporter, to their credit, reported several times in 2012 that the subsidy to USA Niagara could be seen as costly in view of return on investment. It’s fair to say that USA Niagara has had both hits and misses. If the city’s future financial outlook brightens, we may be able to reconsider the fiscal relationship between the city and USA Niagara.

I want to note that at our December 26, 2012 meeting, the council voted, at no cost to the city, to support USA Niagara as the on-going manager of Old Falls Street for 2013.

A large part of our 2013 city fiscal picture centers on how the State and Seneca arbitration concludes. The city can end up with a whole loaf, a half-loaf or no loaf of bread. As a result, we have to be prepared for a good day, a so-so day or a very bad day.

This makes budgeting difficult. The inconvenient lesson learned from losing our casino revenue has been the realization that there’s no free lunch and charity begins at home. It’s our fault if we fail to appreciate that lesson as we move forward.
But there’s a good deal we can do to help ourselves in the coming year. We’re going to look at new fees for raising city revenue. We’re going to make budget reductions as needed and we will freeze unnecessary spending at the first sign of budget trouble.

The train station project has been touted as a game changer but it’s also, as noted by Councilman Glenn Choolokian, a possible budget breaker. We have to keep close tabs on the project or the city will end up with a building it can’t afford to own.

Councilman Bob Anderson worked with me last year to develop an ambitious demolition plan and we hope to keep those plans on track for 2013. In addition the council will propose a program to register demolition companies and charge a related fee.

This step will raise funds and regulate the demolition business within the city.

It’s time for taking a hard look at the city’s bed tax account and, to that end, we will be auditing the bed tax funds and assessing the return on investment of the nearly $1 million in bed tax revenue we annually give to the NTCC. With the bed tax money and $1 million in annual casino funds that the city gives to the NTCC, the time has come to review those dollars in relation to the city’s financial health.

In the spring, the city will renew the Time Warner agreement and we will be auditing the cable revenue. We want to guarantee that the city receives all possible benefits from the contract.

The partnership between the city and Hard Rock has been mutually beneficial but it’s time to learn how to do more with less.

Our financial commitment to the downtown concert series will be limited in 2013. The Hard Rock is going to work with the city in light of the budget limitations to present the best concert series possible.

In the past year, State Senator George Maziarz and Assemblyman John Ceretto were helpful on a number of issues that affected our residents and businesses. This across-the-aisle cooperation between city council and state representatives will continue in 2013. Political bickering may delay progress in Washington, D.C., but there’s no reason for the same to happen here in Niagara Falls. Political shortsightedness benefits no one, least of all the taxpayers.

Responsible budgeting, careful program management and government transparency are the keys to a successful 2013 and beyond for the City of Niagara Falls.