Laurie Oltramari

Facing a reduced budget for the coming year, Laurie Oltramari said she decided that the time was right to reassess her personal goals and submit her resignation as director of the Batavia Downtown Business Improvement District.

Oltramari, speaking publicly today for the first time since informing BID directors last week that she will be leaving effective Oct. 2, said that “after re-evaluating myself and the BID, taking into account a budget that is drastically limited this year, I felt it was the best thing for me to move on.”

Oltramari, a native of Wellsville, took the full-time position a year ago following a four-year stint as the assistant to then-director Don Burkel.

She said she has mixed feelings about resigning – “I really enjoyed meeting everyone downtown and working with the businesses,” she said – but was quick to add that “the time has come to think about myself.”

The downtown taxing jurisdiction’s budget has been scrutinized, of late, primarily by the Batavia City Council, which on Tuesday night passed a local law amending the BID plan to address district assessment charges that exceeded the amount authorized for operations and debt service payments under the General Municipal Law, and adherence to Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Laws.

The city actually is holding onto $49,571 in BID assessment money that has been designated as “excessive.”

Despite these proceedings, Oltramari said that had no effect on her decision.

“It’s more about what I want to do,” she said. “I understand why the BID’s funding had to be downsized, it was by law.”

Oltramari said the BID’s annual budget has decreased from $120,000 to $55,000, and with only 20 percent of that latter amount available for use for operations, “it really puts a constraint on the organization.”

“I figure that my leaving will help a little bit. They won’t have to pay a full-time director, who really won’t be able to do that much.”

She said she suggested to the board that it should hire a part-time director, with a salary considerably less than the “just over $30,000” that she earned.

Oltramari said she is going to “take it slow” before seeking another full-time position. She and her husband, Felipe, director of the Genesee County Department of Planning, have two children who attend Batavia Middle School.

A telephone call to BID Board President Victor Gautieri for comment was not returned.