Mayor Richard David Gives State of the City Address

Binghamton Mayor Richard David says he wants property taxes to go down again next year. In his State of the City address February 27, the Republican also said projects to eliminate blight continue, he wants 10 license plate reading cameras installed in the City and $30 million in infrastructure investment.

David says the new license plate readers to be used under what he calls “Operation Safe City” would be able to scan plates and reference them with the Department of Motor Vehicles, federal, state and local law enforcement databases. The public safety initiative also calls for more street cameras and areas where people on the street can push a button and immediately contact emergency dispatchers.

The Mayor says the City will continue to work with the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, or CHOW, to bring food services to the Northside that has lacked a grocery store for decades. David says work is continuing to try to attract a full-service grocery to the neighborhood.

As for the tax reduction, David says there will be a cut, but he couldn’t say by how much.

Council Members were mostly positive and said they were happy the Mayor addressed areas outside of the downtown and into the other neighborhoods.