The 2025 budget for the city of Jamestown is going to be challenging.

During the Jamestown City Council Work Session, Mayor Kim Ecklund said she met with City Comptroller Ericka Thomas and former Comptroller Joe Bellitto for about four hours on Monday.

“Things are definitely rising, so we’ll have some challenges ahead of us,” she said.

She did not give an indication if she plans on proposing a change to the property tax rate.

Ecklund must present the proposed 2025 budget to city council by Oct. 8 and it has to be adopted by the city council by Dec. 1.

Once she presents the budget, Ecklund said she plans on being more “hands-off” during the budget review and not participate in the council’s budget deliberations this fall.

“I’m going back to what was done years ago. This is your budget when we hand it off to you and it’s yours to discuss,” she said.

Ecklund said she will be available should questions arise.

Council President Anthony Dolce, R-Ward II, said this year’s budget review will have some time constraints. The Monday after the budget presentation is Columbus Day. That will push department reviews to Oct. 21 and 28. Oct. 28 is a voting session.

Then in November, Veterans Day, which is always held on Nov. 11, falls on a Monday this year, so that day is unavailable for a budget review.

Nov. 25, which is the last voting session before the budget is due, falls during the week of Thanksgiving.

Ecklund said the council can always schedule a special meeting if members want more time to review it.

Ecklund was elected in November. This is her first budget she is presenting as mayor.

Earlier this year she said they were looking at a $2.9 million deficit in the city’s 2024 budget, which she blamed on overestimations on revenue, expenses higher than expected, and issues from the previous administration.