The Syracuse Common Council passed Mayor Ben Walsh’s first budget proposal on Monday with no changes.

The smooth passage of Walsh’s 2018-19 budget represents a shift in relations between the council and the mayor’s office. Last year the council slashed funding for the city’s land bank in then-Mayor Stephanie Miner’s budget and overrode Miner’s veto of their changes.

Walsh’s 2018-19 budget proposal passed unanimously with no amendments.

The mayor’s budget adds a new class of police and firefighters and restores some funding to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank. It also establishes a municipal violations bureau to help lessen the city’s backlog of code violations.

Also included in the budget is a plan to buy the city’s streetlights from National Grid and funds to increase security and maintenance in the downtown area.  

Walsh’s budget office was able to cut more than $3 million in projected spending, but the city will run an $11 million deficit by taking money from its “rainy day” fund.

To help limit the city’s recurring deficit, the mayor has applied for assistance from the New York State Financial Restructuring Board. A panel will review city spending and recommend how to cut costs.

The board’s recommendations are not binding, but the city can receive up to $5 million in state grants to implement them.

In interviews with The Daily Orange during the budget process, councilors said they were optimistic about working with Walsh on the budget and that it would help solve some city issues.

Majority Leader Steve Thompson said the mayor’s office was keeping the council informed of their spending plans “so that we’re not having to reinvent the wheel when we sit down.”

Walsh presented his budget to the council last month. As Walsh left the council chambers, Thompson thanked the mayor.

“I want to thank you for coming before the council,” Thompson said. “Just finding the (budget) books in our cubby was a little distressing.”

Walsh’s first budget goes into effect July 1.

 

Published on May 8, 2018 at 4:15 pm

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