The math says Gloversville must trim $2 million in spending to achieve a 2026 budget that doesn’t increase spending, but the math is a bit misleading.

Mayor Vincent DeSantis passed the $24.5 million in requests from department heads directly to City Council, and officials will meet next week with those managers to go through the budget line-by-line to reduce costs, which he attributes largely to increases in medical and retirement costs. That spending is up from a $22.5 million budget for 2025, but the city projects it will spend only $21.8 million.

In addition, the city expects to have $7.2 to $7.7 million in unallocated cash by the end of the year, when budgeting practices suggest it should have closer to $5 million. So it has cash to defray increases — at least for a while.

“If we use up that fund balance, then it’s depleted and you have nowhere to go,” DeSantis said Friday. “It’s irresponsible to not have a substantial fund balance.”

The spending would be funded by a $7.9 million property tax levy, up from $7.5 million, budget documents show. But that could be reduced by increases in sales tax revenue.

“We have the potential of ramping up that revenue in 2026 steeper than ever,” DeSantis said.

“The only way to remain solvent is for the city to grow,” he added. “That produces income.”

Development has meant the city has been able to cut property tax rates three times since 2016, he said, and remained flat the other seven years.

“We’re not in dire straits,” he said. “My department heads are superb; they’re really professional.”

Jahnn Gibson holds a sign for clean energy on S. Main Street in Johnstown recently. She has been doing this since 2014.

Hopes for future

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., left, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., return to their offices after meeting with reporters on the third day of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday in Washington, as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., looks on.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Washington.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Washington.

The Capitol is illuminated at sunrise to begin day three of a government shutdown, in Washington, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown faded Friday as Democrats refused to budge in a Senate vote and President Donald Trump readied plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government.

On the third day of the shutdown, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would reopen the government failed on a 54-44 tally — well short of the 60 needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the chamber would close for legislative business next week, a move meant to force the Senate to work with the government funding bill that has been passed by House Republicans.

Following the failed vote, senators quickly headed for the exits of the Capitol, expecting no more votes over the weekend and showing few signs of any real progress towards ending the congressional standoff. Instead, both sides dug in for a prolonged shutdown fight that thrusts federal workers into more uncertainty, threatens to ripple into the broader economy and gives the Trump administration an opportunity to reshape the federal government.

“I don’t know how many times you’re going to give them a chance to vote no,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said at a news conference Friday. After the vote, he said he was flying home to South Dakota for the weekend, adding, “I’ll be available.”

The vote showed hardening lines in the Senate. The same three members of the Democratic Caucus — Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Angus King — who voted for the funding bill previously did so again, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was once again the only Republican opposed.

“They thought they could bludgeon us and threaten us and scare us. It ain’t working,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Democrats are demanding that Congress extend healthcare benefits, while Republicans are refusing to commit to anything until the government is reopened. They are trying to wear Democrats down to vote for a House-passed........

© The Leader Herald