The Niagara Falls City Council’s public hearing on Mayor Robert Restaino’s proposed 2026 city budget took just 7 minutes Thursday evening.
There were only two speakers. One resident questioned a recent change to the city’s fund balance policy. A Department of Public Works union leader complained that the overtime budgets for parks workers and snow removal crews were smaller than those for police and firefighters.
After that, city lawmakers raised few questions as they began a line-by-line review of the spending plan with Restaino, City Administrator Anthony Restaino and City Controller Maria Brown.
Restaino has proposed a 2026 city budget of $103,554,690 that would see a 1% increase in property taxes. The spending plan is just under $2 million more than the 2025 budget.
The mayor has said the budget increase is largely driven by the rising cost of health benefits and state pension contributions for city employees. Personnel costs represent more than 60% of city spending.
“City government is a government of people,” the mayor said, noting that the largest expenses in the budget are public safety and public works.
The budget review on Thursday evening covered 11 city departments. Other departments will be looked at in public sessions set for Monday and Tuesday. A budget amendment meeting, if necessary, is scheduled for Nov. 25.
None of the departments that were examined on Thursday saw large changes in staffing or expenses from the 2025 budget. For example, a $24,000 increase in costs in the Department of Human Resources was tied to medical insurance increases. Decreases in salary costs in other departments were attributable to newer employees replacing more senior, retiring workers.
The city administrator told council members that the position of chief electrical inspector has been vacant for four years, so that budget line has been reduced to $1 pending the hiring of someone to fill the post.
“It’s been hard to get someone at the salary we’re offering,” Anthony Restaino said.
Mayor Restaino said efforts are continuing to find a candidate to fill the post of director of Community Development.
Clifford Scott left his posts as both the city’s director of Community Development and acting director of Code Enforcement in January.
The proposed 2026 budget includes a property tax increase of 1.38% on Homestead (residential) properties and “just under 1.1%” on Non-Homestead (business) properties. Those increases both fall below New York state’s 2% on property tax increases.
In the six years of the Restaino administration, Homestead and Non-Homestead property taxes have averaged an annual 1% increase.
“From 2023 to 2026, we have held Homestead property tax increases to 20 cents per thousand (dollars assessed valuation), the mayor said. “We have held the Homestead rate to a minimal amount.”
The proposed 2026 Homestead tax rate equates to 27 cents per thousand dollars assessed valuation or a $40.50 increase for the tax bill of a home assessed at $150,000.
“You will find there are no real line item changes (from the 2025 budget),” Restaino told the city lawmakers. “Nothing you’re going to find is much more year over year.”
The council has already voted to renew the city’s refuse and recycling user fee for the 2026 fiscal year, without an increase. The fee remains at $181 for a single residential user tote and $225 for a single commercial user tote.
Brown estimates that user fee revenue for 2026 will be $3,985,452. Brown estimates the 2026 cost of the recycling and refuse program will be $4,823,328, under a contract with the city’s third-party provider, Casella Waste Management.
The $837,876 deficit between the revenue generated by the use fee and the cost of the recycling and refuse program will be closed with a revenue transfer taken from the budget’s general fund.