This week, the City of Rochester will conduct the first of four public forums to gather input on next year’s budget. The 2013 to 2014 budget has a gap of about $28 million. At the meeting, Mayor Tom Richards will describe the city’s fiscal situation and share some proposed cutbacks. Your job is to tell him how you feel about those proposals.

Primary areas for discussion will include: taxes, fees, and new revenues; police and fire services; pensions; youth and library neighborhood services: infrastructure, public facilities, and neighborhood real estate; federal funding reductions and sequestration; and organizational efficiencies.

This week’s meeting is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 21, at the Freddie Thomas campus, 625 Scio Street.

Rochester’s eastside democrats will meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, to designate candidates for mayor, City Council, and City Court. The eastside Democrats are Legislative Districts 21, 23, and 24.

All five at-large seats on Council are up, and all five incumbents: Loretta Scott, Jackie Ortiz, Matt Haag, Carolee Conklin, and Dana Miller are running again. Known challengers are one-time county clerk candidate Tom Hasman, the Rev. Marlowe Washington, and Frank Martin.

The only official candidate for mayor so far is incumbent Democrat Tom Richards. City Council President Lovely Warren is contemplating a run. And the Green Party’s Alex White is seeking that party’s endorsement for a mayoral bid.

Wednesday’s meeting is at the Workers United hall, 750 East Avenue. Christine Carrie Fien

On Tuesday, Village of Pittsford residents will head to the polls.

Three positions are on the ballot: mayor and two trustee seats. Longtime mayor Bob Corby, a registered Republican who’s running on the Democratic line, faces a challenge from Republican Trip Pierson. In the trustee races, Lili Lanphear and Stacey Freed are running on the Democratic line, while Christopher Linares and Leslie Buck are running on the Republican line.

Corby, Lanphear, and Freed are also running on the Pittsford Village United line, while Linares and Buck are running on the No to 75 Monroe line.

The campaign is intense this year, in large part due to a developer’s controversial plan to build an apartment complex at 75 Monroe Avenue.

Pittsford isn’t the only village holding elections tomorrow. Voters will also head to the polls in Webster, Spencerport, Churchville, and Honeoye Falls.

When the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency board meets Tuesday, it’ll consider a tax incentive agreement for the proposed I-Square project in Irondequoit.

COMIDA will vote on granting a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for the project. While the agency’s agenda and public hearing notice don’t specify the terms, the board will probably vote on a 15-year agreement with two five-year extensions. The Irondequoit Town Board voted to formally support a PILOT for the project and that’s the arrangement it backed.

The COMIDA agreement would exempt the I-Square project from some state and local sales tax obligations, mortgage taxes, and property taxes. Under the terms supported by the town, the project’s base value would be set at $2.1 million, and payment figures would be derived from that amount.

The board will also vote on mortgage tax incentives for End 2 End Sports, LLC for its purchase of the Monroe County Sports Centre. The company plans to spend $4 million to buy the complex and to invest another $720,000 into mechanical upgrades, says the meeting agenda.

The Sports Centre has had financial difficulties in recent years. Jeremy Moule