Syracuse’s Common Council unanimously approved a 10-year extension of the city’s tax-sharing agreement with Onondaga County on Tuesday afternoon.

The agreement gives Syracuse roughly a quarter of the county’s sales tax revenue, which is more than $800 million in revenue over the decade. The tax plan will go into effect in 2020 when the current agreement expires.

“I look forward to continuing this trend of partnership with the county,” Councilor-At-large Timothy Rudd said shortly before the vote.

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The Onondaga County Legislature approved the plan on Jan. 2 by a unanimous vote, and the agreement will now expire in 2030. The city of Syracuse had until Jan. 30 to approve of the extension before the county was set to rescind its offer.

Mayor Ben Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced the sales tax agreement in December. At his 2018 “State of the City” address, Walsh said that the city would “reinvigorate its participation” in the County-Wide Shared Services Initiative.

The Shared Services Initiative, spearheaded by New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, encourages collaboration between local governments to reduce spending. The state may match the net savings in tax revenue for plans that create “actual and demonstrable savings,” the initiative’s website said.

The city could have also renegotiated the sales tax agreement, said Christine Elliott, director of administration for the mayor’s office, at a Jan. 14 meeting.

Councilor-At-large Michael Greene previously suggested that the city hire an employee to track sales tax before the next agreement.

Other business

A special permit was approved for The Halal Guys to open at The Marshall on South Crouse Avenue. Joon Park, an office administrator for The Halal Guys Inc., told The Daily Orange in December that he expected the restaurant to open at some point in 2019, possibly in the middle of the year.

Published on January 22, 2019 at 10:53 pm

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