Accardo Makes Waves at Steps of City Hall

Among the items Accardo presented to the press and concerned citizens was a series of graphs to help people understand the exact nature of the challenge. PROJECTED DEFICIT Should Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster win an unprecedented third term, the city will be in the red to the tune of $13.6 million by 2019, the final year of the next mayoral term. PROJECTED DEFICIT 2 "Free" concerts, penguin habitats, a non-existent museum dedicated to the mythology of the city's Underground Railroad heritage, redun-dant canoe launches and more are driving the city closer and closer to the brink of financial insolvency. Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster thinks he can spend his way out of the mess, but challenger John Accardo thinks he has a better way. STRUCTURAL PROBLEM While the city's revenues amount to around $133 million a year, expenditures are close to $350 million. Much, though not all of this is covered by funding sent to Niagara Falls by Washington and Albany, but Dyster's free wheeling spending on non essential projects is stretching things to the breaking point. BUDGET REVIEW The city's principal source of income is property taxes paid by homeowners and those with businesses in Niagara Falls. With the tax rate very near the legal limit here, and the tax base declining as more and more people give up on the city, that income is declining. Since Paul Dyster was first elected mayor, the city has gone from a zero deficit to a $7.2 million shortfall. Continuing along the same path will see the deficit reach $13.6 million in just four years, by which time a control board will have been appointed to oversee city spending.

Last week, John Accardo, the former city Council chairman, held a news conference on the steps of City Hall. He called for state Comptroller Thomas Napoli to again audit city finances, something Napoli last did in 2013. At that time, Napoli found serious flaws with the way the administration of Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster’s fiscal policies, recommending a series of sweeping changes to eliminate what was then tagged as a $3.2 million budget deficit.

At the news conference, Accardo said the deficit now amounted to $7.2 million, and would run as high as $13.6 million by 2019. He was talking of nothing less than the financial apocalypse of a city on the edge.