Grand Island Town Board to hold a public hearing on breaching tax cap

By Alice Gerard

The Grand Island Town Board has set a public hearing to discuss the tax cap for 8 p.m. Oct. 17 in Grand Island Town Hall. In addition, the Town Board has scheduled two workshop meetings to be held to discuss the 2023 town budget. These meetings will be held at 4 p.m. Oct. 17 and 11:15 a.m. Oct. 19.

Town Councilman Mike Madigan said, “In order to breach the tax cap, we have to pass a local law. That is what the hearing is for. On the 17^th and the 19^th, you’ll see us going through the budget and challenging stuff.”

The Town Board has to consider breaching the tax cap because of the effects of inflation, which currently is at 8% to 10%.

“We’re looking at raises that we are negotiating with the unions. The inflation rate, the material costs. There are a lot of things that are putting on pressure. We are making every effort to cut and reduce costs, but the hard reality is that our spending will go down in dollar-adjusted averages,” Madigan said. “The reality is we would be shrinking and would have to reduce services. We’re in a tough bind. We recognize that more taxes is not a good thing. We will try and reduce spending, but we’re up against a wall.”

In other news, the Grand Island Town Board:

√ Issued a negative SEQRA declaration for the Radisson redevelopment at 100 Whitehaven.

√ Approved the concept plan for the Radisson redevelopment, with the stipulation of public land access from the path to the dock.

√ Referred the detail plan for the Radisson redevelopment to the Planning Board.

√ Set a public hearing for 8 p.m. Oct. 17 on community development block grants.

√ Approved a Staley Road speed study. According to Sharon Kern, who spoke during public comment time, the road is unsafe.

“There is no place to walk,” she said. “There are no shoulders, and there is no place to ride bicycles. It is unsafe for kids. We are looking for input from school bus drivers. We’re asking for shoulders. The shoulders are 6-7 inches and are in bad shape.”