Syracuse Common Councilors begin their review of Mayor Sharon Owens’ proposed budget today. The $354 million spending plan holds property taxes flat but draws heavily from reserves to address a deficit.
“It is a budget with a look to the future and a hope for where we're going, facing the realities of where we are,” Owens said during a media briefing.
Where they are, she said, is balancing a nearly 50% increase in utility and fuel costs with other priorities amid even more unpredictability in the months ahead.
“Our budget team is really analyzing what we're seeing based on past costs and what we're predicting based on that around health care, around pension costs, around utility costs, around our mandated contractual salaries," Owens said. "Put those numbers together, and then you wait to make sure that nothing doesn't happen that you didn't take into account, and that always happens.”
Owens’ budget draws nearly $24 million from the city’s savings account, which she knows might raise eyebrows with councilors like it did last year. .
“I don't know what their line would be. I've been having conversations with them," she said. "The message was sent [in] the last budget that we need to slow down the draw. But we're also dealing with increases in costs that we have no control over.”
The draw on reserves was of the main sticking points last spring when the Walsh administration proposed using about $16 million dollars. Owens said they only used about $10 million.
Her budget restores some of the cuts made by councilors last year, including $2.25 million for the Housing Strategies Corporation. Owens said it supports new and existing housing.
“People who can't get loans to fix their porch or renovate their roof. We're looking for other funds, but we have to put our money where our mouth is as well.”
She said foundations, for instance, want to see a good faith effort by the city before throwing in their support.
Owens budget does include a 4% water rate increase, which goes solely to maintain the system and replace thousands of lead service lines. That translates to about $7 per year for a typical household.
Councilors are spending the next three weeks combing through the mayor's proposal department by department. A public hearing date is yet to be determined. The council must vote on a final spending plan by May 8. The budget covers the fiscal year July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
