Your property taxes are going up, oh for sure

So here's the deal— the Buffalo Common Council finally landed on a city budget, and I'm not even kidding, your property tax levy is jumping by 19%. Now, before you start throwing your sponge candy at the TV, remember it coulda been worse. Mayor Byron Brown's original ask was a whopping 25%. So, they shaved off six whole percentage points. That's still a big hit for folks, especially when you're already feeling the pinch everywhere else.

This ain't just some number crunching in a back room at City Hall. This impacts everyone from Kaisertown to Hertel Avenue, from the people trying to keep their storefronts open on Elmwood to the families out in South Buffalo. The budget passed 8-1, with Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski being the lone "no" vote. They hammered this thing out after a lot of back and forth, and you can bet there were some fireworks.

* **What This Means for Buffalo:**

* **Higher Bills:** Your next property tax bill is gonna reflect this 19% increase. Plan accordingly.

* **City Services:** The aim is to keep city services like street plowing and garbage collection running, which, let's be real, are non-negotiable in a place like Buffalo.

* **Long-term Impact:** This is gonna affect property values and the cost of living, which for a city that's finally seeing some growth, is a double-edged sword.

Look, nobody *wants* to pay more taxes. But the city's gotta keep the lights on, literally. We've got a lot of infrastructure that needs love, from our roads to our parks. And while it's tough medicine to swallow, especially with everything else going on, we gotta hope this helps keep Buffalo moving forward. Bills by a billion — and yeah, the city too.

Catch Sal and the crew breaking this all down every morning — tune in live at mornings.live.