Jamestown City Council holds their monthly voting session (November 24, 2025)
Jamestown City Council has approved a budget for 2026 with a 5.5% tax increase.
This tax increase is 2% less than what was initially proposed by Mayor Kim Ecklund.
Council passed four amendments to the executive budget.
One amendment increased the amount budgeted for sales tax revenue in 2026 from $8,895,847 to $9,244,704. This represents an increase of $348,857, or a 2% to 6% increase over the 2025 sales tax revenue budget. City administration proposed this increase based on favorable sales tax receipts through third quarter of 2025.
Another amendment decreased the amount budgeted for 2026 for health insurance by $670,192. This move is the result of negotiations by the City with Highmark of Western New York that were finalized in the last week.
The third amendment put forward by City Administration that was approved was a decrease in the Police and Fire Retirement Budget in the amount of $51,626.
Council also approved an amendment made by Council Member at Large Jeff Russell to reduce the Police Department auto and van’s line in the budget by $48,129 because enough funding is available in the Department’s asset forfeiture account to pay for a new police vehicle.
Council also passed an amendment to each resolution to distribute 60% of the savings back to the General Fund Balance with the remaining 40% going toward lowering the proposed tax rate. The amount returned to the fund balance is $500,747, for a total of unassigned fund balance used toward balancing the budget at $2.8 million.
City Comptroller Ericka Thomas said the tax rate for 2026 will be $25.76 per $1,000 assessed property value.
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