Batavia aldermen criticize plan to tap reserve fund

The Batavia City Council is poised to approve a $130.5 million budget for the next fiscal year that calls for the city to spend some of its reserve cash.

However, six of the 14 aldermen want the city to defer some purchases and projects a year, rather than dipping into those savings, because of uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aldermen Mark Uher, Nick Cerone, Joe Knopp, Marty Callahan, Michael Russotto and Elliot Meitzler voted against the proposed spending plan during last week's committee-of-the-whole meeting. Seven other aldermen voted in favor of the proposal, and one who was absent - Alderman Alan Wolff - said Friday he plans to vote "yes."

Uher has led the charge against using the reserves.

"I think there's a lot of things we could defer a year - vehicle purchases, repaving of roads - things that we normally do. One year is not going to hurt that bad," Uher said. "We can't just go spending money the way we always do."

Wolff said deferring capital projects and purchases usually means spending more money on them later on.

Uher acknowledged that and said that in normal times he would agree that sticking to the city's schedule is a good idea. But given the uncertainty of how revenue will be affected by COVID-19 in 2021 - including perhaps receiving less in taxes from local sales and from restaurants and bars - he believes the city should retain its rainy-day money.

He also said spending that money may prevent the city from being able to offer aid to businesses trying to get back on their feet once the pandemic is over.

Uher's suggestions include deferring scheduled vehicle replacements, other than purchasing a new fire truck; postponing some remodeling at the Batavia Government Center, which was proposed several years ago; and delaying projects such as sanitary-sewer lining and road resurfacing.

"We need to do what we can to not take so much from our reserves," Uher said. "We are in an emergency situation now."

A vote on the proposed budget is scheduled for Dec. 7. The fiscal year starts Jan. 1 and ends Dec. 31.

Of the $130.5 million, $74.7 million would be for the electric, sewer and water utilities. The utilities are supported by customer charges.

The general fund is budgeted at $29.9 million. Police, fire and public works operations account for 73% of the planned spending. Sales taxes account for 31% of the fund's revenue, followed by property taxes at 28%.

The proposed budget calls for increasing water rates by 3%. Finance director Peggy Colby said the average household would pay about $1.20 more per month. Electric rates will remain the same as they have since 2015.