Most roads lead to the budget for Monday’s city council work session.

A public hearing is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. to hear input from the Jamestown community regarding the proposed local law authorizing a property tax increase in excess of the 2% limit. The public hearing will be held on the fourth floor of the city building, 200 East Third Street, in the Police Training Room.

The proposed 7.79% tax increase means an increase of $1.82 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to the city’s tax rate from $23.35 per $1,000 to $25.17 per $1,000. The proposed budget for 2025 amounts to $43,315,323. Mayor Kim Ecklund said pension system payments are expected to increase by $580,000, health care costs are expected to increase by $827,000, stop-loss insurance claims are increasing and Medicare Advantage costs for retirees who are not eligible are expected to increase. included in the 2024 budget will cost an additional $018,000. Costs are also unknown as contracts with the police and fire departments, as well as CSEA employees, end in December. The budget does not include capital expenditures, except for CHIPS highway projects, and salaries and benefits comprise 76% of the budget.

The city began the year with $7,682,845 in its unallocated fund balance. Resolving the 2024 deficit, plus the $700,000 Ecklund proposes to use in the 2025 budget, leaves the city with a little more than $4.5 million in its 2025 fund balance. Ecklund said he expects the 2023 audit, which is nearing completion, show at least a break-even year in 2023 that does not generate additional cash flow to the fund balance.

Following the public hearing on the tax cap overturn, council members will begin budget talks at 6:15 p.m. for the Department of Development and the Fenton History Center. The presentations will last until 7:30 p.m. when the regular work session takes place.

There is only one resolution on the agenda for Monday night’s work session. This resolution comes from the finance department and focuses on the application for grant funding through Round Nine of the RESTORE NY Community Initiative Municipal Grant Program for the Prendergast Landing Project. The funding would help a long-discussed project at the former Joyce’s Keg Room building.

Rahsann Graham, founder of Jade Empire LLC, purchased the former Joyce’s Keg Room building in 2020 and wants to convert the 12,000-square-foot building into a family-friendly destination that will feature water sports rentals, office space, vacation rentals and other rentals. . sales. The project budget had been estimated at between $2.4 million and $2.6 million, but could be higher as inflation drives up construction costs. The project received a state grant through the Jamestown Renaissance Corp. and tax breaks from the county’s Industrial Development Agency.

The first floor of Prendergast Landing will be dedicated to retail, while the second floor will be shared office space. The third and fourth floors will be short-term housing units and the bottom floor is projected to be a kayak rental business.

Funds from the incubator could be used to work on the first two floors. Graham said the storefront will be available to artisans or food vendors who have outgrown farmers markets but are not yet big enough for their own storefront. There will be a kitchen available for small sandwiches or salads and a cafeteria.

The second floor will be a shared office space that could be used by those who work from home and need a workspace outside the home or for small businesses that need office space but cannot absorb the cost of a long-term lease in a larger office. building.

Aside from the general discussion areas, the only other item noted on the agenda is a note about the city’s upcoming Veterans Day Service on Nov. 11 at the corner of Third Street and Main Street.