Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon has laid out a nearly $1.7 billion budget for next year that includes another property tax decrease and a focus on housing. Legislators started the nearly three-week review process Wednesday.
McMahon said the county is in good financial shape thanks to a billion dollars in early spending from Micron, which is driving sales tax revenue.
“Our sales tax receipts right now are much higher than what we budgeted for," he said. "That's good because our health insurance costs and our energy costs are much higher than we budgeted for. So a lot of governments right now raised taxes, used reserves to balance their budgets. We cut taxes, didn't use any reserves to balance our budgets at the same time making investments.”
One of those investments could eventually be for a limited development corporation to spur housing growth.
“The creation of the LDC is something that came out of the legislature's housing committee that our consultants think could be an effective tool for low interest financing, for developers, for middle market housing," McMahon said.
But he emphasized more than once that it’s up to the legislature to approve the creation of the LDC before it can be funded. Democrats control the legislature and therefore the budget review process for the first time in decades. Republican floor leader Brian May said both sides should strive for results, especially after a bitter fight over term limits.
“We have to be communicative, we have to be collaborative, we have to be honest and work with each other in good faith to achieve results that benefit the folks we're serving, not our political party," he said.
Chairwoman Nicole Watts said she’s encouraged that the proposed budget includes many of the Democratic majority’s priorities. She added that residents can help lawmakers better allocate funding.
“I don't believe that in most cases we do need more resources," Watts said. "We just need to use those resources in a more strategically implemented way. And so I think that's the thing we'll be looking for is not only what the dollars are, but how they're being utilized and making sure they're responsible to meet the needs.”
Residents can weigh in on the legislature’s revised budget at public hearings October 1. Legislators vote October 6.
