P-J photos by Eric Tichy

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a four-part series featuring the three mayoral candidates.

One issue impacting Jamestown city government is being at 100% of the Constitutional tax limit.

The constitutional tax limit is the amount of money the city can ask its property taxpayers to provide compared to the total taxable assessed value of all property in the community.

The city’s constitutional tax limit is 2% of the five-year average of the total taxable assessed value of all property in the community. The city hit its taxing limit in 2017.

In order for the city to lower taxes and no longer hit its tax limit, the tax base in the city needs to grow. The Post-Journal asked each of the three candidates running for mayor, Andrew Liuzzo, city councilman running on the Libertarian Party line, Eddie Sundquist, local attorney running on the Democrat, Independence and Working Families Party lines, and David Wilfong, county legislator running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, “What would you do as mayor to increase the tax base in Jamestown to give the city room under the Constitutional tax limit?”

Liuzzo started the debate by describing the current conditions in the city of Jamestown that have led to the city hitting the tax limit.

“The loss of business, lack of jobs, decline of neighborhoods, the migration of our citizens to find employment elsewhere all have contributed to the maximum tax rate we have,” he said.

Liuzzo said the one way for the city to be below the Constitutional tax limit is to add properties to the tax rolls.

He said that a change in the zoning code to allow for prefabricated houses to be built on the 3,000 vacant lots in the city would lead to more property tax revenue and increase the total accessed value of taxable property in the city.

“Right now our code will not allow someone to build a house on an existing lot because the lot is too small for what the code calls for. These are city codes that can be changed,” he said. “By increasing the amount of of taxable properties, we increase the revenue and decrease the burden on existing homeowners.”

Liuzzo proposed to repurpose one of the old factories in the city to construct the prefabricated houses that could be placed on the vacant lots.

“If we could build one of these homes in one of these factories we are creating jobs with the workforce we have in the city of Jamestown,” he said. “If we have investors to do this, we can allow employees to buy into this prefabricated home industry. Not only are they getting a pay check, they will be given a dividend when these homes are sold.”

Liuzzo said if 100 of these houses were sold at $60,000, that’s $6,000,000 added to the tax roll and would increase exponentially for every house that is sold.

Wilfong followed by stating that the state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding of $10 million the city received in 2016 should have been used on properties that pay property taxes. He said a majority of the funding the city received went toward tax exempt properties, of which he used the Jackson Center renovations as an example. Other nonprofits organizations that also received DRI money for renovations included the Lucille Ball Little Theatre and Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.

“Broadening the tax base is one example I would like to speak of,” he said. “Of the DRI funding, 56% of it was given to tax exempt properties. It would have been much smarter to invest in (business like) the brewery downtown to expand the tax base. Growing that base to make sure we’re getting something out of it. We need to take the money we are already are getting and use it a little smarter.”

The Jamestown Brewing Company; DoubleTree by Hilton; and Jamestown City Center, which is the renovation project for the former Key Bank building located along North Main Street; all received funding through the DRI program.

Sundquist said the way to grow the city’s tax base is to invest in the technologies of the future. He wants to position the city as a hub for manufacturing and information technology.

“We can do that with aggressive out of state marketing and private/public partnerships that attract tech businesses to the city,” he said. “It’s no secret Jamestown won’t be creating Crescent wrenches again and stamping out tools. We need to look toward the 21st century.”

Sundquist used an example of a future technology by discussing how students at Jamestown Community College’ Manufacturing Technology Institute are currently learning how to make state-of-the-art products.

“Imagine if here in Jamestown we manufactured the Wi-Fi circuit boards that go in our wireless thermostats. These are things JCC is starting to teach in its manufacturing program,” he said. “We need to make sure we have a development department to attract the companies we want as well as train a new type of workforce.”

Liuzzo followed Sundquist statements about bringing in new technology companies by discussing how city officials should be trying to help those already in the city find jobs that will remove them from welfare and a possible life of crime.

“I want to address unemployment in the city. Before we attract new businesses, we need to get the people in the city to work.,” he said. “We have 30% of the population below the poverty level. They’re reliant on an $800 check because we don’t have the jobs they can do. When you put someone in a position of having only $800 a month, how do you think they will supplement their income? They’re going to deal drugs. They’re going to steal because $800 a month isn’t enough. If we can give them the dignity of a job, we can get them out of their socio economic class.”

Wilfong followed by stating that Jamestown officials need to do a better job of keeping businesses located in the city. He discussed the recent decision by the Stannard Group Inc. to move three of its businesses, which also include Weaver Material Services and Naco Express trucking, from inside the city to the Mason Industrial Park in the town of Ellicott. The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency assisted in keeping the Stannard Group in the greater Jamestown area.

“We’ve got to stop people from leaving Jamestown,” he said. “I heard when Naco was going to move to the industrial park that the current (city) administration said they didn’t know they were going to move. The IDA is five blocks from the city of Jamestown (Municipal Building). There is no reason the city of Jamestown (officials) didn’t know what was going on. We got companies leaving the city. Thank God they only went to the (Mason) Industrial Park because the jobs are staying local.”

Sundquist said the people of Jamestown have always had unique ides when it comes to solving problems from the first furniture makers who floated wood down the Chadakoin River to city officials developing the largest municipal power plant (Jamestown Board of Public Utilities) in the state.

“Jamestown has a history of being creative,” he said. “We need to move toward technology, which will grow the tax base and bring skilled workers to the area to fix what we have gotten ourselves into.”