Jamestown’s 2024 Budget May Have Between a $1.5 and $2.5 Million Shortfall

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist addresses City Council (December 11, 2023)

The City of Jamestown’s 2024 budget may have between a $1.5 and $2.5 million shortfall.

That’s according to former City Comptroller Joe Bellitto, who has been reviewing the 2023 and 2024 budgets per the request of City Council Finance Chair and Mayor-Elect Kim Ecklund.

The City has not had a full time Comptroller for a year now after former Comptroller John Sellstrom issued his resignation in December 2022.

While specific details of where all the shortages may be in budget were not shared during Council’s work session Monday night, one item Ecklund cited was a $1.6 million shortage on the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program, or CHIPS, line.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist and his budget team issued their own analysis in response to an email sent by Bellitto to City Council members. He said there have been some changes since Bellitto left City government, “..And other deals that we have worked with the state on in order to provide additional funding. The one issues that we’ve identified is the CHIPS item. So, typically when you have CHIPS placed in the budget, we have CHIPS coming in, you have CHIPS going out. So, we just had the one section for CHIPS… so we didn’t appropriately have them both going in and going out. We only had part of them going out.”

Sundquist said recommendations to fix this line include moving the $500,000 in housing demolition funds and $150,000 in the sidewalk repair program line to the CHIPS line, “We think the demolitions are going to be tough, regardless, since we know we’d love to take them all down but I think the timing is going to be a huge issue with the Land Bank already doing them and limited contractors. I think it will be a little more difficult than anticipated. As well as moving that sidewalk funding, moving those adjustments for street maintenance as well should put us back into the numbers that we are looking for.”

Sundquist said that his analysis gave explanations and some possible solutions to handle the budget gap. He said the analysis also will be sent to Bellitto for his review.

Sundquist added that according to guidance from the New York Conference of Mayors, any changes that need made to the 2024 budget will have to wait until 2024.