Saratoga Springs finance commissioner presents conservative 2026 budget; recommends occupancy-tax money for senior center

The city’s finance commissioner presented the 2026 comprehensive budget at a public hearing on Oct. 21, telling residents the draft is conservative because it was prepared before several revenue sources — including an occupancy tax and the city’s short-term-rental registry — were available.

The presentation said the comprehensive budget totals $61,370,000 and that most revenue is non–property-tax (primarily sales tax), with property tax providing about 30 percent of total revenues. The commissioner said personnel costs and benefits account for roughly 84 percent of the budget and left little room for discretionary spending.

The commissioner told the council and about two dozen public speakers that the city has seen sharp cost increases: retirement costs rose from about $4 million to $8 million, an 86 percent increase overall and a roughly $1.2 million increase from 2025 to 2026; health-insurance costs rose from $7.8 million to $9.9 million (27 percent); and liability insurance rose from about $834,000 to $2.4 million (188 percent). Capital costs also rose sharply, the presentation said, noting an ambulance that cost $180,000 in 2019 would cost about $587,000 in 2025.

To limit the budget’s impact on taxpayers, the draft includes a recommended 2 percent property-tax levy increase. The presenter said the 2 percent increase would equal $14.66 per $100,000 of assessed value for residents in the inside district (about $14.88 for…