It is that time of year again where city council is deep into working on the budget for 2026, and as a part of that they are also looking at a resolution for today’s voting session to approve once again reaching out to the state to increase Aid and Incentives for Municipalities funding, along with Temporary Municipal Assistance funding.

According to tonight’s agenda, the 2024-2025 New York State Budget included $50 million in

Temporary Municipal Assistance, marking the first increase in unrestricted municipal aid in over a decade. However, this funding was only authorized for the last two fiscal years, 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026, with no guarantee of continuation beyond that period. As a result, the agenda notes that municipalities face renewed uncertainty and potential fiscal instability in future budgets.

Additionally, the agenda says the AIM program provides vital, unrestricted state funding to cities, towns, and villages across New York. This support helps local governments maintain essential operations, deliver core public services, preserve infrastructure, and ensure public safety for both residents and businesses. Tonight’s proposed resolution will “respectfully urge” the governor and state legislature to extend the TMA program and increase AIM funding in future state budgets, with provisions to adjust AIM annually to reflect inflation.

The resolution itself also notes continuing struggles for Jamestown and other municipalities across the state, including unprecedented pressure on public safety budgets as departments contend with high call volumes, recruitment and retention challenges, and rising overtime, training, and equipment costs; and recent changes in state law — including revisions to bail statutes and expanded discovery requirements — which have increased administrative and compliance burdens on local law enforcement, contributed to higher recidivism among repeat offenders, and placed additional strain on municipal resources, along with the declining population of both the state and city.

Once voted on and approved by council, the resolution will be forwarded to Governor

Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senator George Borrello, Assemblyman Andrew Molitor, and the New York State Conference of Mayors, with the city’s “strong request” that they support these measures in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026-2027 State Budget.

Tonight’s voting session begins at 7:30 p.m. in the second floor council chambers of city hall, following more budget presentations. Tonight’s budget presentations are from the Department of Public Works and Parks Department, set to take place from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Police Training Room.