In an unprecedented move Thursday, Syracuse Common Councilors voted unanimously to slash Mayor Ben Walsh’s budget by $16 million, and Walsh is fighting back. Lawmakers say the cuts are the only way to deal with massive deficits, while the mayor’s administration says it means a shrinking city workforce, and loss of programs.
Walsh’s initial $348 million spending plan was balanced on the back of a 2% property tax hike and a piece of the city’s reserve fund balance. Common Councilor Corey Williams, who chairs the Council’s finance committee, said the Council turned to cuts as a better way to responsibly deal with yearly budget deficits.
"It's setting a new trend,” Williams said. “We were probably $18-$19 million deficit last year. We're coming in at $14.5 million in the current year, you know, hoping in the future that we can continue to get that number down. And, you know, through our fiscal responsibility, ideally get that number to zero and be able to balance our budget without having to pull from our savings."
Councilors eliminated the proposed tax increase. It was among the 80 amendments to the budget the Council passed, which included a 7% cut to all city departments. Councilor Pat Hogan said Syracuse residents are worried about tax increases, especially during the current economic climate.
“Us city councilors go to a lot of neighborhood meetings,” said Hogan. “We meet a lot of people and there is great anxiety out there among folks, as far as whether it's with the economic uncertainty in this country, especially by the chaos in Washington."
Walsh had two words about the Council’s plan: “draconian and dangerous."
Walsh also criticized what he called the “secretive” nature of the Council’s budget process, noting that the agenda for the Council’s meeting, which included the proposed budget amendments, wasn’t posted until 11 p.m. Wednesday night.
City Auditor Alex Marion, in a statement, called this year’s budget process “the most secretive and least transparent” in his years of public service.
“Making these decisions with amendments released in the middle of the night before the vote and no public comment is a disservice to the people of the City of Syracuse,” Marion said. “And while I believe now was not the right time for a tax or water increase, we need to have a robust and public discussion over spending priorities and service delivery. I do not believe this budget, done in darkness, accomplishes that goal.”
Following the council vote, Walsh assembled major department heads for an hour-long press conference to describe the impact of cuts. Fire Chief Michael Monds said a $2.4 million cut will have to come from personnel.
"I'm asking the council to reconsider these amendments, because it's only a matter of time before death is going to knock on our door,” said Monds. “And I don't want to be the chief when that happens."
The city’s police department would lose more than $3 million, which Police Chief Joe Cecile said wouldn’t impact core responsibilities. But it would affect other services.
"All of the festivals, all of the parades that we staff come out of our budget,” Cecile said. ”And it's one of the things that we're left with slashing."
For Parks Commissioner Syeisha Byrd, it likely means job cuts.
"A 7% cut to our budget is going to mean 36 seasonal employees that we can't hire,” Byrd said. “Those seasonal employees cover our pools, our rec centers."
Walsh has 10 days to consider the budget-slashing amendments. If he vetoes them, he faces a Council that voted unanimously for the cuts, but still holds out hope the two sides can compromise.
"I'm fighting for my city right now,” Walsh said. “I'm fighting for the taxpayers for our constituents. So yeah, I'm gonna fight. We're fighting right now, but when they're ready to come back to the table, I'll be right there and ready to move on."
