Mayor Brown to deliver 17th State of the City Address

Mayor Brown will present his State of the City Address at 3 p.m. We will stream it live on this page.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Byron Brown made history as the first Mayor of Buffalo to be elected to five terms. On Monday afternoon, he’ll be giving his 17th annual State of the City of Address.

During the address, he’s planning to announce a property tax increase of 3.8 percent, as well as plans to improve streets, sidewalks and parks.

“The 3.8 percent increase averages out to approximately an additional $46 a year on a home assessed at $100,000,” the city says.

Additionally, the city says Mayor Brown is planning to announce a bill forgiveness plan to help low-income homeowners with taxes, water and sewer bills.

Last year around this time, Mayor Brown proposed a 4.5 percent increase on property taxes in the city during his 2022 State of the City Address.

In defense of this proposal, Brown said “Our new tax rate will still be less than half of what it was before I took office.”

Byron Brown defends his tax increase after criticizing India Walton’s smaller proposal

Buffalo suffered through more than one brutal snowstorm this past winter, storms that took dozens of lives and caused significant financial burdens.

The City of Buffalo has received criticism for its handling of the Christmas blizzard, and there have been calls for the city to change how it plans for events like this. Ahead of Monday’s address, the city says new fleet additions, including “snow fighting equipment” are part of the plan.