Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh vetoed more than half of the budget cutting amendments Common Councilors made to his $348 million spending plan when they approved it earlier this month. Now, Walsh hopes the cuts he agreed to amount to an olive branch during a contentious budget season.
City lawmakers slashed Walsh’s budget by $16 million, using 82 budget amendments and spreading the cuts throughout city government. Walsh vetoed 45 of them, the biggest chunk involving public safety.
“That's priority number one for all of us and that's why I objected to all of the amendments related to public safety, police and fire,” Walsh said.
He also used his veto pen on a number of items that bring money into the city.
"Areas where we see opportunities to generate new revenue, whether it be through the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication or through Code Enforcement and Permit Reviews,” he said. “I vetoed those amendments where I believed that they undercut our ability to generate more revenue.”
As far as taxes go, Walsh’s actions would eliminate a 2% property tax increase included in his initial budget. He did veto the elimination of an increase in water rates.
“I know it's all relative, but I think the vast majority of people would agree, $5 an additional expense to ensure that we can maintain the water system that we have is not unreasonable,” said Walsh. “So that one for me is a no-brainer.”
So now the budget is back in councilor’s court. Walsh hopes some of the councilors will be willing to compromise and reach a final agreement.
“I’ve reached out to every council member, a few of them today,” he said. “Some have expressed the desire to compromise, some have not. Ultimately, they're going to have to get together and work that out amongst themselves, but what I conveyed to all of them is that I am ready and willing to accept a call, sit down for a meeting and work this thing through.”
Lawmakers have two weeks to approve a final spending plan. They voted unanimously for all the cuts, and need only six votes to override Walsh’s vetoes.
