BUFFALO, N.Y. — The City of Buffalo is facing a difficult financial future with efforts to raise revenues and cut costs especially fervent this budget season, as lawmakers work to avoid the financial cliff that some including the city comptroller have warned about.
One new revenue proposal is meeting a pretty harsh reality, however, and is likely to leave a $4.2 million hole in the city budget set to be signed by Mayor Brown at the end of the week.
The proposal would implement a hotel occupancy tax in Buffalo that requires the passage of a state law to implement. The text of the bill calls for a tax of up to 5% to be levied on all hotel or motel stays in the City of Buffalo.
The tax took up a lot of discussion time during the Buffalo Common Council's Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday, during which several members pointed out, that the new tax won't be ready in time.
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal-Peoples Stokes (D-Buffalo) has introduced a bill that would authorize the tax but so far it lacks a sponsor in the State Senate. Not to mention, the state legislative session ends on June 6.
"We are fully aware in regards to we don't have full support at this point although I believe one branch of the NYS Assembly did approve it so I think we're jumping the gun in regards to whether the City of Buffalo will be able to implement an occupancy tax in fiscal year 2025," said Commissioner of Administration and Finance Delano Dowell during Tuesday's finance committee meeting.
Ellicott District Councilmember Leah Halton-Pope however challenged Dowell's comments regarding when the tax could be implemented.
"Just as a point of clarification, the sponsor who put the bill in has not been approved, they just introduced the bill this year... the likelihood of it passing when they are out this week is slim to none so I don't think we'd see anything on it next year anyway," Halton-Pope said.
The tax would add an estimated $10 to a $200-a-night stay if enacted at the 5% level, although some discussion was had Tuesday about negotiating a lowering percentage.
According to Councilmember Halton-Pope, a 5% occupancy tax would make Buffalo the third highest bed tax of any city in the country.
Dowell urged council members to collaborate with the Mayor's office and help find new ways to raise revenue or cut expenses in the city rather than only take issue when the administration proposes something.
Niagara District Councilmember David Rivera inquired how the administration might weather not having the revenue from hotel occupancy tax.
"That revenue from that tax was budgeted for certain things and certainly they're not going to be able to pay off those things," said Niagara District Councilmember David Rivera.
The Commissioner of Administration and Finance explained that adjustments would be made as needed and that available funds from budget items that end up costing less than expected would likely have to be used.