Vetoes are expected on amendments made to the 2022 Jamestown city budget. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

On Monday, the Jamestown City Council made numerous budget amendments to the executive budget prepared by Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist before approving a 2022 spending plan.

After the council approved next year’s budget, Sundquist said he will evaluate the amendments made to determine if he will veto any of the changes. He has five business days, or Monday, to announce any vetoes.

“We’ll evaluate each one, although I do anticipate some vetoes will be on the way,” he said.

If Sundquist does issue any budget vetoes, the council will then have until Dec. 15 to hold a special meeting to possibly override any of the mayor’s budget changes. To override a veto, it will take two-thirds approval or six of the nine council members.

On Monday, only two of the amendments made to the executive budget received fewer than six votes. One of the amendments was a $10,000 cut to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency (JURA), which was approved 5-4 with Anthony Dolce, council president; Kimberly Ecklund, At-Large councilwoman and Finance Committee chairwoman; Marie Carrubba, Ward 4 councilwoman; Jeff Russell, At-Large councilman; and Brent Sheldon, Ward 1 councilman; voting for the amendment. Those who voted against the amendment included Regina Brackman, Ward 3 councilwoman; Tom Nelson, Ward 6 councilman; Grant Olson, Ward 5 councilman; and Tamu Graham-Reinhardt, At-Large councilwoman.

On Monday, Sundquist said he was also “surprised” the council reduced funding to the JURA by $10,000. He said any cut to JURA impacts housing in the city.

The other amendment to the executive budget approved by the council that received fewer than six votes was a $6,000 cut to the Human Rights Commission. The funding was going to be used for a diversity festival in the city and outreach work. The vote for this amendment was the same as the cut to JURA with Dolce, Ecklund, Carrubba, Russell and Sheldon in favor while Brackman, Nelson, Olson and Graham-Reinhardt opposed the change.

On Monday, two amendment votes tallied 6-3. One amendment was an $11,975 decrease for the summer playground program. The decrease is to reduce the number of hours to 30 hours a week. This change was approved by Dolce, Ecklund, Brackman, Carrubba, Russell and Shelton and opposed by Nelson, Olson and Graham-Reinhardt.

The other amendment vote that was approved 6-3 was a $10,000 cut for building maintenance to the Jamestown Municipal Building. Those in favor of this cut were Brackman, Carrubba, Ecklund, Olson and Shelton while Dolce, Nelson and Russell voted against the amendment.

All of the other amendments were either approved 7-2, 8-1 or unanimously.

After all of the amendments were approved, all nine members of the council unanimously approved the 2022 budget.

The budget approved by the council included a 0.8% tax levy increase – a $130,000 hike. According to the state Department of Taxation and Finances, the tax levy is the amount raised through property taxes.

The 2022 tax rate will remain at $23.69 per $1,000 assessed property value. According to the state Department of Taxation and Finances, the tax rate is determined by dividing the tax levy by the total taxable assessed value of all property in a jurisdiction.