Mayor Malik Evans presented his 2026-27 budget proposal on Friday, a $707 million plan that increases spending over the current year.
Most of the increase is attributed to rising pension, healthcare and utilities costs, all of which have seen double-digit percentage increases in recent years.
Homeowners could see a slight decrease in taxes, while businesses would pay more. Parking fines and other fees would increase.
There remains some uncertainty in the details, with the exact level of state aid still being worked out in Albany. City Council will begin deliberating on the budget later this month, needing to approve a final budget next month.
The proposed budget would take effect July 1.
“Our revenue options are limited because your three largest sources of revenue are sales tax, property tax and state aid,” said Suzanne Warren, budget director for the city. “Neither one of them has really been keeping up with inflation.
“You might think sales tax would keep up with inflation,” she continued, “but I think what we found is that the poverty levels in our city get to the point where the sales tax revenue that is being generated is limited because those individuals, they're forced to pay for food and rent, and neither one of those generate any sales tax.”
The city’s total police and fire pension bill is estimated to reach almost $9 million in the year ahead – the highest it’s been since the early 1970s. Evans is proposing the city defer nearly all of that expense, and instead pay it over multiple years.
Key highlights of the mayor’s budget include:
Concern over a fiscal gap
Each year, the city’s budget process begins with a shortfall or budget gap, as costs continue to rise. Last year, the projected fiscal gap for 2027 landed at $108 million. In drafting the budget this year, the number has increased to $131 million.
State aid is budgeted at $88.2 million again this year — the same amount it’s been since 2013. If the number had been adjusted for inflation, the city's estimates it would have received an additional $33.8 million from the state.
In his budget release, the mayor wrote that the city traditionally has budgeted conservatively and maintained healthy reserves to help offset rising or fluctuating costs.
“However this continuing upward expense pressure has eaten away at that safety net,” Evans wrote in the budget, and finding one-shot revenues or continuing to draw on reserves is "simply not the way to address these fiscal challenges in the long term.”
To meet the gap, the total property tax levy – meaning the overall amount collected – is proposed to increase by 4%. The typical homeowner can expect a $28.28 increase in their annual payments to the city, when including increased service charges, while the average commercial property owner can expect an increase of $768.06.
The PAB sees a significant cut
In March, an Appellate court ruling upheld a decision stripping the Police Accountability Board of its ability to investigate claims of police misconduct.
While City Council, the parent body of the PAB, is appealing that decision, this year’s budget eliminates the PAB positions connected to investigations. Eight positions at the PAB are being cut specifically due to the Appellate Court decision. Two other positions, a director of public affairs and community engagement and a part-time secretary, were also eliminated. Most, if not all, of those job cuts already have happened.
In total, funding to the PAB has been cut by $745,400 to $2.6 million.
Police Department sees hits lowest staffing in a decade
The total budget of the Rochester Police Department rose by 2% to $118 million in Evans’ proposal. But its budgeted staff numbers are now at their lowest point in a decade, with 812 sworn and non-sworn positions.
The budget eliminates six sworn officer positions compared to last year, and 10 non-sworn positions. Among the eliminations are a police stenographer and clerk position.
The elimination of sworn positions likely will have little effect on the actual number of officers on the street. The department has for years operated with fewer officers than it had budgeted, with the current shortfall estimated at 100 positions.
The budget proposal also funds two police recruit classes of 25 each.
Development from Hochul funds
What exactly the city is going to do with an expected $300 million from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget this year is still up in the air. But the list of projects on the table stand as longtime goals of city capital development.
Among them are investments in ESL Ballpark, a renovation of the Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial, remediation and restructuring of the rivershore at the site of the former Vacuum Oil building south of downtown, and the Inner Loop North fill-in.
Deputy Mayor Mike Burns, who was formerly budget director for the city, said the city is waiting to receive the money before making commitments.
“Get the money first, then go through the process to determine how to allocate and engage stakeholders, and then take it from there,” Burns said.
Of the planned $300 million, $75 million is dedicated to the development of High Falls State Park.
