Tomorrow (Thursday) night will be the 2nd meeting for the City of Batavia’s 2016 budget. If you have any questions or concerns, the meeting is at 7pm, City Hall.

From last week’s meeting:
Not touched (assumed to be a given): 6% electricity rate increase, 3% water increase, 6% sewer increase

Discussed and leaning toward: increase leaf and brush pickup fee $12/yr (total $48/yr), increase gas tax $.01/gal (total $.02/gal), new 2% liquor tax, no property tax increase

City Finance Director Peggy Colby did an excellent job of laying out possible budget cuts, but unfortunately, the Council got sidetracked by “how to increase taxes more here to avoid increasing taxes there” and did not fully explore the options for cutting expenses. Maybe this week?