WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. June 19, 2008. The City Hotel Tax projected to replace $400,000 cut out of the city Reserve for Financing by the Common Council in a budget cut move in April, is not going to happen, WPCNR has learned.  WPCNR has placed calls to city representatives in Albany to find the reasons behind the reported failure of the hotel tax.

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, said the city was going to move forward, and expected the Mayor to make a case for an additional 1/4% sales tax to Assemblyman Adam Bradley and the state legislature, as the city had originally proposed last year. A quarter per cent increase was approved by the legislature this spring with Bradley spearheading the legislation.

Wood said "This is exactly what the Mayor warned (the council) about when the budget was approved with the $400,000 cut out of the reserve for financing. He warned the council about this. It (the hotel sales tax) was only projected by us to bring in $300,000 at the most. I fully expect we may run a deficit next year as a result."

Wood said he expected the city would make its final quarter sales tax projection, but that next year was now in doubt. He said he did not expect projected union increases now being negotiated to be as much as 5%.