Schenectady City Council passes 2025 budget

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published October 30, 2024 at 10:37 AM EDT

Schenectady City Council Meeting, October 28, 2024

The Schenectady City Council has passed Mayor Gary McCarthy's 2025 budget proposal.

Councilors voted 5 to 2 Monday to approve $116.7 million spending plan that carries a 3% property tax hike and a $52 a year hike in the trash fee.

There won't be a repeat of last year's weeks-long standoff between the council and the mayor that threatened to shut down city government.

Democratic Council President Marion Porterfield says "no budget is perfect."

"I know that no one wants a tax increase, but sometimes, with the cost of things going up, that is what happens."

The council also approved a raise for McCarthy, a fourth-term Democrat, boosting his annual pay by 18%. The budget was sent to him for review.

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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