Syracuse’s City Auditor wants to help the mayor and common council find consensus on a budget. The process is in limbo while the mayor determines whether to accept the council’s broad cuts, reject them, or negotiate a compromise. The auditor’s office sees itself as a clearinghouse of information to make informed decisions.
The city charter doesn’t give the independently elected auditor a direct role in the budget process. But Alexander Marion said he and his staff published a first-ever analysis of the mayor’s proposed budget and a workbook that includes five years of actual spending.
“I thought that there was a lot of room where everyone could kind of come together, look at data in a thoughtful way and make some reasonable decisions.”
Marion said there are problems with both the mayor’s optimistic plan and the council’s efforts to trim it back.
“I was not supportive of the tax increase," Marion said. "I was eager to see some slimming of some operations. I've issued some reports to this end. But the way we go about doing it can't just be everyone gets a 7 percent haircut.”
Marion said he’s had a few discussions with the mayor’s office since last week’s council vote, and only a brief meeting with council president Helen Hudson, who’s been serving in a reduced role for medical reasons. He takes exception to how the council arrived at its arbitrary cuts, which he says don’t seem based on facts or data.
“The fact that they sought outside guidance that they did not release until after the budget vote, the fact that they were discussing that privately, without having some kind of public airing, that is just concerning from a democracy point of view.”
Marion said it's especially disturbing given the lack of budget transparency on the state and federal levels.
Marion said he hopes the council realizes his office can be a resource for budget guidance, rather than spending taxpayer money on an accounting firm that may not fully understand the nuances of city budgeting.
