But the approved budget did not pass without dissent as council members Doreen Ditoro and Damonni Farley opposed the spending plan for various reasons. City Council President Marion Porterfield and Council Members John Mootooveren, Carmel Patrick, Damonni Farley, Joseph Mancini and Carl Williams all voted in favor of the 2025 budget, which now heads to Mayor Gary McCarthy for a signature or a veto.

The council’s budget was passed four days before the November 1 deadline, after its third and final budget of last year was approved on December 21.

During budget negotiations, Farley had requested that funding for the city’s youth employment program be doubled to $300,000 in the 2025 budget, from its current level of $150,000. The council ultimately did not increase funding, with the majority agreeing to find increased funding for the program later this year when the city determines how much American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds will be available if previously allocated funds are returned.

Farley said he couldn’t support the plan without a concrete commitment in the budget to increase funds for the jobs program.

“Some of our board members have made it clear, ‘We support this and we can support it with ARPA funds,'” Farley said after Monday’s meeting. “But part of the resistance is that we’re not sure how much ARPA funds we’ll have available once we start settling our contracts. I don’t think kids should have to wait for us to see what’s left. I feel like we just need to prioritize our young people a little more.

Farley said he pushed for additional funding for youth employment, in part because of the return on investment for the community.

“This money stays in our community,” he said. “It’s also an investment in public safety because when your children are doing something and participating in prosocial activities or working, they are less likely to engage in behaviors that require the police and firefighters.” It’s not just about making this investment for young people, but it’s one of the few investments where we know the money will flow into our community.

Mootooveren, who chairs the council’s finance committee, said the council hopes to provide additional funding for the youth employment initiative when the city determines how much ARPA funding will be returned to projects that do not meet the finish line.

“No council member ever said they were against it and that we weren’t going to increase funding,” Mootooveren said after Monday’s meeting. “Where do we find the funding? That was the biggest question. Currently we have $846 available on the ARPA line. We have generally agreed that we will fund this increase when we begin to restore funding to ARPA in the coming weeks.

Mootooveren said he had pushed for the youth employment line to increase from $43,000 in the 2022 budget to $150,000 over the past three years.

Mootooveren said he disagreed with Farley who opposed the budget regarding funding for youth services.

“Mr. Farley’s no vote was unfortunate,” Mootooveren said. “We all promised him (to increase spending on youth) and he decided to do it. It’s bad. It’s sad to see him vote no on something when we all promised him.”

The plan now heads to McCarthy. The mayor vetoed the first two budgets approved by the council last fall, but noted Monday that the budget approved by the council included only slight changes from his proposed budget. The board added $78,324 in expenses to McCarthy’s original $116.6 million budget.

The budget, which includes a 3 percent property tax increase for urban homeowners, includes an investment of $18,281. salary increase for McCarthywhose salary will increase to $118,849 annually. The plan also includes a $20,803 salary increase for Deputy Finance Commissioner Derek Gugumuck and a $12,041 salary increase for City Clerk Samanta Mykoo.

“I think the actual changes are relatively insignificant,” McCarthy said after the budget vote. “We’re going to review the process and look at some things and we look forward to working with the council in the future.”

McCarthy said Tuesday he is still reviewing the approved budget, with the plan expected to arrive on his desk in the coming days for possible approval.

Ditoro said she voted no on the budget because she didn’t think it was financially sound and would negatively impact the 2026 spending plan.

“Unless there are significant unexpected revenues next year, this budget will result in a minimum deficit of $10 million with another tax increase for 2026,” Ditoro said. “At a time when residents are struggling given the state of our economy, we should be looking for ways to reduce spending as a city government, just as our residents must do. Instead, this budget raises taxes and fees, amounting to hundreds of dollars for most households, while giving significant pay raises to administrators and management. I cannot, in good conscience, vote yes for this budget.

Farley also cited raises given to city officials in the budget as part of his reasoning for opposing the plan.

“We’re facing inflation and a deficit, and it’s not just a Schenectady thing,” Farley said after Monday’s meeting. “I think we just need to be really intentional in how we talk about staff raises – when we start doing raises – so that we can support them and they’re equitable.”

The council passed a resolution at its meeting Monday evening to authorize McCarthy to conduct a research analysis on salary levels for city management employees in the future.

“I felt like, until we did this work, maybe we shouldn’t have done anything other than an increase in the cost of living for our staff, because they obviously work really hard,” Farley said.

Mootooveren said he was proud of this year’s budget and highlighted the difficulty of obtaining a unanimous vote.

“People are entitled to their own position and I respect that throughout the process,” he said. “But make sure that when you vote no, it’s legitimate. You don’t vote no for a single little point that we told you we were going to propose. This doesn’t make sense. It just shows that you are not genuine or that you do not trust other members.

The all-Democratic board is made up of almost the same staff as last year’s budget process, with the exception of Councilman Joseph Mancini, who took over from former Councilor John Polimeni on the board starting in January.

During the 2024 budget process, the council was clearly divided into two blocs, with Porterfield, Mootooveren, Farley and Williams voting for each of the council’s three budgets and Ditoro, Patrick and Polimeni opposing each plan.

Porterfield said the council worked better together during this fall’s budget process.

“There is at least one different personality at the table and that person (Polimeni) has brought a lot of unnecessary angst to the process,” she said after Monday’s meeting. “This year we didn’t agree on everything, as evidenced by the vote, but we presented our arguments in a more positive and professional manner.”

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