Aliya Schneider is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Hudson's Board of Estimate and Apportionment will hand the city's $11.9-million 2021 budget to Common Council this week. A public hearing will take place November 17, and the full council will meet November 19, to discuss and vote on the spending plan. The budget, as is, represents a spending decrease of just over $89,000. Mayor Kamal Johnson is awaiting word from the police union and the Civil Service Employees Association on whether their members will forego their 2021 contractual raises, which could result in an additional $100,000 in savings. Under the city charter, the council is able to make cuts, but it cannot add to the budget. The general fund does not include the cemetery, sewer and water budgets. The sewer and water revenue are dedicated funds that must be retained by those departments, Common Council President Tom DePietro said. The proposed spending plan does not include an increase in property taxes, Johnson said. Each of the city's departments will be working with a 2021 budget that is lower than or equal to their 2020 adjusted budget, the mayor said. The city’s projected shortfall has decreased from $1.5 million to just under $500,000 due to budget modifications. If the police union and the CSEA agree to the city's requests the shortfall would fall to less than $400,000. “The budget process was particularly difficult this year, but I think we did an excellent job making cuts while preserving essential services,” DePietro said. “Moreover, we managed to anticipate a possible decline in future revenue by keeping the budget under last year’s. And at the same time, there will be no property tax increase,” DePietro said. NOTE: Johnson and DePietro are WGXC volunteer on-air programmers. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.