FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 4, 2020 

Mayor Noble Proposes Economic Recovery Plan in Phased Approach

KINGSTON, NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble and the City of Kingston Comptroller have proposed a plan to the Common Council to address the impending deficit to the 2020 budget, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the necessity for local businesses to close and for the state to be on PAUSE, the City expects to collect drastically less sales and property tax revenue than the 2020 budgeted estimates. Other income sources such as investment interest, parking revenue, fees, permits and others will also be impacted. City Comptroller John Tuey is expecting the City of Kingston to have revenue decreases between $2,500,000-$5,000,000.

The Comptroller’s office has formulated three estimates of potential revenue losses: a low loss estimate, a mid-range loss estimate, and a high loss estimate. Mayor Noble’s economic recovery plan includes three phases that would address each scenario.  Noble has asked the Common Council to implement the first phase of the plan now, which will have minimal negative impact on city services.

“It has become clear that we should prepare ourselves in the event that the federal government fails to adequately aid our City and, in turn, our ability to deliver essential services to residents,” said Mayor Noble. “If our Federal government will not take desperately-needed action, we’ll be forced to make very difficult decisions.”  

The next two phases of Mayor Noble’s economic recovery plan would be implemented as the City learns more about federal aid and sales tax figures. The plan outlined below is subject to change based on the emerging financial picture of the City over the coming months ahead.

Phase 1 (Immediate): Departmental budget cuts, hiring freeze, and overtime pay reductions. By strictly cutting back budgetary spending across all City departments, leaving currently unoccupied positions unfilled, and limiting overtime pay across City Departments, the City will save approximately 1,611,889.58. In order to meet the planned reduction in revenue, this phase would also include allocating up to $1.6 million from the Fund Balance to cover budget shortfalls expected under the low-loss estimate forecast.

Phase 2 (June 1): Phase 2 would be implemented if mid-range estimates become more realistic based on early sales tax returns and/or confirmation of local aid cuts by New York State. During this phase, temporary layoffs would occur in multiple areas of City government and would cause a temporary impact in the delivery of some City services. Phase 2 could also include a targeted retirement incentive for those employees who may be eligible.

Phase 3 (September 1): Phase 3 would be implemented if the fiscal outlook showed signs of the high-loss scenario and would include far-reaching permanent layoffs along with severe cuts to City services.

“The Coronavirus has devastated on our local economy, but we don’t know yet how severe and long-lasting those effects will be,” said Mayor Noble. “I hope we won’t have to execute all phases of this plan, but I know we must do whatever we can to pull our community out of this dark economic time. By having a strong municipal financial plan, we can make sure that we continue to serve our community during this time.”

See Mayor Noble's communication to the Common Council and more details here.