ALBANY – The withholding of 20 percent of the state’s Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM funding) puts the City of Poughkeepsie in a “cash crunch,” Mayor Rob Rolison said.
The city has no fund balance and cutting that state aid will make a bad financial situation worse, he said.
“We are looking at an anticipated shortfall with falling funding because the revenues were drying up during the pandemic, which at one point was $2 million and we were able to make some cuts and some savings and we were looking at a potential $1 million shortfall by the end of the year,” he said. “Now with the 20 percent withholding of AIM, which is $800,000, that is $1.8 million.”
Port Jervis Mayor Kelly Decker said the state’s withholding of aid is across the board, meaning more belt-tightening for that city.
“The bottom line is we cut four full-time positions and some part-time hours of our police dispatchers and these are essential positions the city needs. Fortunately, nobody s losing their job or being laid off. These positions need to be made back up and we can only do it if we get back our sales tax revenue and our state aid,” he said.
The Port Jervis Common Council Monday night adopted the city’s 2021 budget, which was under the state tax cap.
