The Albany City Council will make a bad decision on Wednesday night, because it has no other alternative. It must choose between the lesser of two evils. There is no ârightâ answer before your local elected officials as they consider how to rectify a budget shortfall, only a course that is less crummy. And so weâd like to take a moment to thank our city councilors. Youâre going to get heat no matter what you do. Thanks for signing up to be a community punching bag, which is part of this community service gig. To recap, the city of Albanyâs two-year budget for 2021-23 is $352 million as adopted, but thatâs roughly $5 million short of maintaining service levels.