Syracuse common councilors Monday approved a $252.5 million city budget, one that doesn’t raise property taxes nearly as much as Mayor Ben Walsh proposed last month.
Councilors had signaled their displeasure with the 3.5 percent increase proposal early on. Finance Committee Chair Tim Rudd says they shaved $1.5 million from the property tax levy, which will keep the increase under the state’s 2% tax cap. He says that means homeowners won’t lose their STAR rebates.
“My Dad, he actually told me he ws ok with the tax increase, then he found out he was going to lose STAR rebate. And (he said), ‘oh you’ve got to figure out a way to make that go away.’ So I think this is a good compromise,” said Rudd”
“We certainly heard from taxpayers that did not want to see their taxes increase,” responded Mayor Ben Walsh. “And also that cared very much about the STAR Rebate check.”
Mayor Walsh says he’s generally pleased with the outcome, even if he and the council differed on how to raise revenue. In exchange for lower property taxes, councilors will increase parking rates to generate $600-thousand.
Walsh says he’ll carefully consider the 13 amendments approved by council and decide what, if any action to take. He could sign the entire budget with the council’s amendments or veto any of their changes. The council would then have the ability to override such a veto.
The sole no vote on all of the changes was republican councilor Joe Carni.
“I appreciate my colleagues trying to make sure that we stay under the tax cap; that’s what we needed to do. But at the end of the day, this budget as a whole, I just couldn’t get on board with it. I still think we still could have done a better job trying to get closer to a balanced budget.”
That’s despite the fact that councilors kept, and even slightly decreased the city’s reliance on reserves by more than $3 million than previously projected.
OTHER BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS & REACTIONS
Reduce Property Tax Levy by $1.5 Million The Common Council heard from many city residents who were concerned about the financial impact of losing STAR exemptions at the same time as needing to pay more in property taxes. In response, the Council has decreased the property tax levy by $1.5 million which will be shared by the Syracuse City School District ($900,000) and the City of Syracuse ($600,000). In order to offset the decrease in City Property Tax Levy, parking meter receipts will increase by $600,000. This will keep the property tax increase under the cap set by New York State. Revenue Adjustments Slightly Decrease the City’s Use of Fund Balance Based on historical revenue receipts for building and property permits, state aid mortgage tax and state aid highway expected revenues increased allowing for a slight decrease ($327,000) in the use of fund balance. “Decreasing the use of fund balance is an important step toward financial sustainability,” said Finance Chair Timothy Rudd. “This change does no harm to departments or city services but demonstrates every dollar matters.” Increased the Department of Audit by $50,000 The auditor has an important role providing independent financial oversight of city government. The auditor is an intentional check that insures the efficiency and accountability of local government. At this time, the Council sees value in making sure the tax payers are protected by an Audit Department with the capacity to oversee city departments and ask critical questions. This goes beyond the role of the audit performed by the Bonadio Group which primarily focuses on the interest of bond holders, rather than tax payers. This change restores the capacity of the Audit Department to a level comparable to when the current auditor took office. In a budget of over $250 million this $50,000 is a smart investment to taxpayers.
