In the 2021-2022 Legislative Session the New York State Assembly Bill A7072 was passed. The bill was called the 2% “two percent property tax cap act”. However we are facing almost a 8% increase in our taxes. How can that possibly be?

The law states that the tax levy cannot exceed the 2% cap unless 60 percent of voters (for school districts) or 60 percent of the total voting power of the governing body (for local governments) approves the increase.

The law is as useless as a Russian Visa Card and here is why. There are almost 28,000 people in Jamestown give or take. Kim Ecklund became Mayor of Jamestown on January 1, 2024 with 2,413 yes votes and 2,204 no votes which represents a meager 17% of the voters. Embarrassing turnout but nonetheless a turn out.

In order for a no vote for the increase in property taxes 60% of our residents would have to vote no. So, we cannot come even close to voting down the increase which is probably by design. The law also states that 60% of our governing body (City Council) would have to vote yes which is about 5 votes. It is a placebo for we the gullible, not we the people. It is absolute craziness.

Plus a raise increase was approved by a Salary Review Committee on December 16, 2022, to take affect in 2024 of 4% and 2.5% step raise for most city workers. The mayor and the council president conveniently get to pick who is on the committee. The whole process doesn’t seem fair.

The recommendation by the Salary Review Commission was to increase council member salaries to $7,000 dollars a year, the council president to $8,000 dollars a year, and the mayor to $82,000 dollars a year – a total increase of $28,000. And now we are facing 8% increases in our taxes.

The two processes, Salary Review Committee and the “2% property tax cap act”, appear to be what you might find in a third world country. It’s a not so nice play on words to Jamestown’s taxpayers.

As for myself the 8% tax increase would amount to $325. That’s not chump change. Couple with the printing of money and the value of the dollar being 75 cents it’s hard to digest. This is absolute craziness.

To call the mayor’s office would be the wrong thing to do. The mayor did not cause these issues. Her predecessors did and now she is stuck with the problem and consequences. I voted for the mayor and I would vote for her again. I realize that the tax increase is just in case, however contingencies generally tend to be used out of necessity. It would be nice of course if we didn’t need it. History has demonstrated that it is usually implemented.

Where I disagree with the mayor is the reluctance to lay off employees. You should start from the top and work your way down. No one should be immune. Why should the taxpayers have to shoulder the responsibility? We didn’t cause this problem. And with the BPU increase and a possible charge for the yard waste sticker it makes matters even worse. I have looked at the salaries. They are public record. The taxpayers of Jamestown are quite generous.

I have lived here all my life and have made many friends – friends who work in competitive employment and government agencies including Jamestown. I hope I didn’t offend anyone because I didn’t mean to. But gee-whiz folks, the only reason you do what you do is because you can get away with it.

If you can’t make any changes to existing policies and practices then the least you can do is let us know when the city of Jamestown is going to go into bankruptcy. To say we will not is just plain foolishness. We cannot follow this path in perpetuity. You’ve got to realize that. Stop foisting it over to the next guy. That’s not fair to the people who pay taxes. Please stop the craziness.

Bruce A Piatz is a Jamestown resident.