Several city residents are expressing concern with the city’s May vote to override the state’s 2% tax cap.

Earlier this month a local law was presented to the City Council allowing the city to override the required two percent tax cap levy limit that is required annually by the state. While the local law process is that any local law presented will not be voted on for approval until the month after it was proposed, Monday’s voting session saw multiple comments and discussions regarding the city looking to do this again for the year.

Comments and concerns from the public included looking to override the tax cap now compared to during budget season, the city looking to pass this law earlier in the year on an annual basis from now on, other public debates happening in other cities, and the need for a public hearing on approval of the tax cap override, along with every other local law the city passes.

The city has passed a local law the last two years to allow for the tax cap override. Following the normal local law process, the local law allowing for the tax cap override was on the table for Monday’s voting session and tabled for approval until the May voting session to allow for a public hearing to be scheduled.

“Any local law is automatically tabled for 30 days, or a month, unless there is a letter of necessity which has not occurred,” Councilman Tony Dolce, R-Ward 2, said. “There will be a public hearing scheduled before that vote.”

Another concern from the public was that it was believed that the city had not held a public hearing on the tax cap override local law over the past two years. Mayor Kim Ecklund said after a brief search that last year’s public hearing was held May 19 at 6:30 p.m., and Councilman Andrew Faulkner, R-Ward 6, said in 2024 it was held November 4. Both were specifically on the tax cap override, and not the annual budget hearing.

“The budget hearing is usually held in mid-November prior to the actual voting session,” Ecklund said.

Dolce added that the reason the public hearing for the tax cap override was held in November in 2024 was because it was passed later that year, with it being passed earlier last year. Returning to the public comment about debates currently happening in other cities regarding budgets, Dolce said those two cities, Buffalo and Olean, are in the middle of their budget seasons right now, whereas Jamestown’s is not until November.

“Every city and municipality has different budget seasons,” Dolce said. “Some are in the spring, summer. The whole calendar and fiscal years are different for each city, town, that’s why now many villages, towns and other cities are going through their budget season now.”

Dolce gave an example of the state of New York’s budget season going from April 1 to March 31. Dolce said that the city’s budget season is later in the year. It was then asked why this local law is looking to be passed now instead of during budget season.

“Just to clarify, the override vote does not necessarily mean you have to raise taxes, it just means it gives you the ability if you have to do that rather than go through that at the eleventh hour and it makes it even worse to do because you have to go through that time constraint of the 30 day notice, public hearing, so on, so forth,” Dolce said. “So, we did it last year early for that reason, and we’re doing it early this year. If we don’t have to raise taxes then we don’t have to. It doesn’t lock us into raising taxes at any particular percentage. It just gives you that option, that’s all.”

Dolce added he was sure there would be much debate to follow regarding the budget in the fall during the city’s budget season.