By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – Despite reservations, the Ogdensburg City Council voted Monday to hold a public hearing on a resolution allowing the city to override the state’s 2 percent tax cap.

The council agreed to hold the hearing in a 6-1 vote with William Hosmer voting against the measure.

“Since we raised the sales tax, I will never support this,” he said of exceeding the cap.

Councilor Jennifer Stevenson said she would not support a budget that exceeded the cap either, but was not opposed to holding a public hearing that would allow the city to do pass the cap if necessary.

Mayor William Nelson said the recommendation came from city comptroller Phil Cosmo.

Cosmo explained that passing a resolution to override the cap is a way to protect the city from any problems that could occur if a state audit found that a budget passed under the 2 percent cap, actually exceeded it.

Cosmo said this is something that can occur because the 2 percent cap is a misnomer. The cap is not an actual flat 2 percent. He said the state uses a formula to determine what the cap actually is and that a calculating area could leave the city vulnerable.

He said the New York Conference of Mayors recommends the city pass the override.

“It doesn’t mean you have to exceed the cap, it just means you can,” Cosmo said.