The city is facing a $24 million gap in the year starting July 1, spurring officials to

warn of looming spending cuts.

Still, Mayor Byron W. Brown does not plan to raise property taxes in a budget he will

unveil by May 1.

&#8220The mayor said a tax increase isn&#8217t on the table,&#8221 First Deputy Mayor

Steven M. Casey said last week. &#8220For four years, we&#8217ve worked hard not to raise

taxes. But this news would make it very difficult to do another tax cut.&#8221

School officials, meanwhile, are asking the city to increase aid to help close a $34.2

million budget gap and reduce layoffs. Casey said commenting would be premature, since the

Board of Education has yet to specify a sum.

&#8220But anybody asking for more money at this juncture may face difficulty,&#8221 he

warned.

Outrages & Insights blog: Buffalo's budget blues

Skyrocketing pension and health insurance costs, coupled with a $3.4 million cut in state

aid, have contributed to &#8220economic stress&#8221 the likes of which Buffalo hasn&#8217t

seen since before a control board was established in 2003, budget officials acknowledged. City

Budget Director Donna J. Estrich added that the general economic downturn also has resulted in

lower revenue collections for building permits, licenses and other city fees.

Finance Commissioner Janet E. Penksa wouldn&#8217t speculate on whether closing the gap

will involve layoffs.

&#8220It&#8217s going to be challenging,&#8221 she said. &#8220Just doing conservative

budgeting won&#8217t solve this problem. We&#8217re going to have to dig deep to make spending

reductions.&#8221

School Superintendent James A. Williams and the School Board, meanwhile, are asking the

city for more aid.

&#8220Never before in my five-year tenure as superintendent have I been faced with a budget

situation that I could not handle internally,&#8221 Williams said in a letter to Common

Council President David A. Franczyk. &#8220However, this year is presenting challenges that

the district cannot solve by itself. The board and I are reaching out to the Common Council

and the mayor to assist the district in these very trying times.&#8221

Williams previously said that the school system will be forced to lay off 680 staff members

&#8212 or nearly 10 percent of its work force &#8212 if Gov. David A. Paterson&#8217s proposed

state aid cuts are enacted. The school system relies on the state for 80 percent of its

funding &#8212 the largest percentage for any school district in the state.

The request for help from the city &#8212 which does not specify a particular amount &#8212

will be discussed at a meeting between city and school officials at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the

Council Chambers. Any increase in city education aid would have to come with some

&#8220strings attached,&#8221 said South Council Member Michael P. Kearns, chairman of the

Council&#8217s Finance Committee.

&#8220We can&#8217t maintain a top-heavy administration in our education system,&#8221

Kearns said. &#8220If there&#8217s any increase in city aid, then we need to make sure it goes

into the classrooms for teachers &#8212 not to high-paid administrators.&#8221

Kearns plans to ask the school system to provide a list of administrative salaries. In

prior years, the Council has balked at what lawmakers considered bloated bureaucracy in the

school system.

&#8220With this current crisis, there&#8217s an opportunity to change things,&#8221 Kearns

said.

Brown was instrumental in increasing city funding to schools to $70.8 million from $68.7

million in the 2006-07 school year, a level that has remained largely steady.

&#8220They could do more,&#8221 said Louis J. Petrucci, the School Board&#8217s Park

District member and chairman of the board&#8217s Finance Committee. &#8220It would send a

welcome message to the City of Buffalo that education is a priority.&#8221

The request to the city is part of a broader strategy of restraining spending and

maximizing revenue, said John Licata, an at-large School Board member.

&#8220No single entity is going to come up with $34 million,&#8221 he said. &#8220I think

we&#8217ve got to look at all of our sources.&#8221

Franczyk, the Common Council president, welcomed Tuesday&#8217s discussion but said

prospects remain unclear.

&#8220We&#8217ll see what kind of case they can make,&#8221 he said. &#8220The great

unknown is the state budget. We don&#8217t know what we&#8217re going to get, and they

don&#8217t know what they&#8217re going to get.&#8221

Ralph R. Hernandez, School Board president, said the meeting also is intended to establish

a &#8220direct connect&#8221 between the board and the Council.

&#8220Whether or not this translates into more money remains to be seen,&#8221 he said.

Casey pointed out that some cities grappling with budget problems plan to cut school aid.

Last week, for example, Syracuse&#8217s mayor proposed reducing city funding of schools by

$1.3 million.

Buffalo is in far better shape than some other cities across the state, Casey and Penksa

said. For one thing, the city has about $82 million in reserves. But Penksa said $34 million

can be used only for emergencies, while another $28 million has been earmarked to help balance

budgets in future years. She warned that using a large chunk of the surplus to close the gap

projected in the budget that will take effect July 1 would be unwise.

The new fiscal problems cast uncertainty over the mayor&#8217s recent proposal to use some

of the surplus for a $15 million fund to finance economic development and quality-of-life

programs and to help lower property taxes. Penksa said the first priority must be to close the

budget gap.