Bills are about to get pricier in Niagara Falls and everyone at Monday's City Council meeting knew it. With a struggling financial situation and no more casino money, the City of Niagara Falls felt they had no choice but to raise taxes.
Taxes will rise most for businesses. It’s expected to go up over 14%. Business owners fear new businesses won't move to the city.
“A developer needs to know that city is predictable, is on firm ground and knows that the deal it makes today is going to be relatively the same,” said Doug Nickerson, the vice president of American Niagara Hospitality.
Some city councilors hope to bring the tax increase down to 6%.
“We're doing everything in our power to bring that down as far as we can bring that down,” said Councilman Kenny Tompkins.
Bills could also being going up for water in Niagara Falls. The Water Authority could raise water rates as much as 2%. Members of the board hope that's not needed.
The final budget meeting of the year in Niagara Falls will be next Wednesday. The final budget should be complete sometime in the first week in December.
