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Rochester committee holds multiple budget and tax items ahead of June 12 public hearing
Summary
The council's Budget, Finance and Governance Committee held a series of budget-related items, including the municipal and school budgets, tax levies and related local improvement ordinances, and scheduled a public hearing for June 12 at 6 p.m. Disclosures and recusals were recorded for several members.
The Rochester City Council's Budget, Finance and Governance Committee announced it would hold a slate of budget and tax items for further consideration and set a public hearing for Thursday, June 12, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.
The committee chair said it is customary for the council to hold budget-related matters in committee ahead of the full council meeting to allow more time for deliberation. "It is customary for city council to hold the all the budget related items in committee for the night of the full council meeting to give us more time for deliberation or any actions that need to follow," the chair said.
Why it matters: The items held include the municipal debt limit, municipal and school budget estimates for fiscal year 2025-26, municipal and school tax levies for the 2025-26 fiscal year, local improvement and assessment ordinances tied to street cleaning, snow removal and hazardous sidewalk repair, and a range of related fee and rate changes. Those items require public notice and a hearing before final action.
Details: The committee recorded two disclosures on the debt-limit resolution: one from the meeting speaker who identified themself as the council liaison to the Rochester Public Library Board, and a second disclosure from Council President Melendez, who sits on the Rochester Riverside Convention Center Corporation board. Vice President Harris and Council Member Lupien were noted as required to recuse themselves from discussion and voting on school-budget and school-tax items because they are employed by the school district.
Several items were explicitly held in anticipation of the June 12 public hearing: the resolution approving the 2025-26 debt limit for municipal purposes; adoption of the 2025-26 municipal and school budget estimates and appropriations; levying municipal and school taxes for the 2025-26 fiscal year; a local improvement ordinance for street cleaning, street and sidewalk snow removal and hazardous sidewalk repair for 2025-26; confirmation of assessments and charges to be inserted on the annual tax roll; proposed amendments to the city charter and municipal code related to zoning, permitting and compliance functions in the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development; proposed municipal code changes to water rates and towing/storage fees; and confirmation of assessments to be inserted in the annual tax roll as amended.
The administration asked that an organizational chart for the proposed changes to the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development be provided to council staff as soon as possible. The administration also described the thresholds that will trigger advance council approval for grant applications: the city will seek council approval before applying when a grant would require more than $250,000 in city funds, exceeds $1,000,000, or is a capital project with a one-year completion timeline. The administration said this legislation is its commitment to seek council approval in such cases.
What happened next: The committee held the items for the scheduled public hearing and said many of the holds will be taken up later in the month. No final appropriations or levy votes were taken during the committee session; the items will return to the full council after the hearing.
Ending: The committee recessed its budget business after recording the holds and confirming the June 12 public hearing date at 6:00 p.m.
