Take two of the vote to exceed the 1.2 percent state tax cap, and this time the Troy City Council members considered the property tax increase with a promise from Mayor Lou Rosamilia that it won't go over 4.97 percent.
"I have no intention of violating that particular figure," said Mayor Rosamilia.
In last week's vote when the figure in front of the council was a 9.3 percent increase, the four outgoing council members voted no. This time, the vote passed 8-1, with Jim Gordon sticking to his no and threatening to vote no again.
"I'm voting no on the budget," Gordon said. "If it's not within the realms of the tax cap, I'm voting no."
The man who will inherit this budget, future mayor Patrick Madden, sat in the audience on Monday night.
"Had they not done that, and had we been limited to a 1.2 percent tax increase, there would have been devastating cuts," said Madden.
So what do these numbers mean? If you live in the city of Troy and your house is valued at $150,000, you're currently paying about $5,640 a year in property taxes. A 4.97 percent increase would add about $85 a year.
"It's bad for the homeowners, it's bad for the property owners, it's bad for the tenants," said Troy resident and business owner Bruce Rubin.
He's not sure how many more tax increases he can afford. But a leader of a local firefighters union says they can't afford not to raise the taxes.
"There is no more room left to cut in the fire department budget," said Frank Razzano, the president of the Troy Uniformed Firefighters Association.
That mentality eventually won over the city council. While their vote doesn't guarantee a 4.97 percent property tax increase, they now have the ability to vote for that in the budget. The Troy budget vote will take place on Tuesday night.