Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon is proposing a $1.6 billion spending plan for 2026, an increase of 3% over the previous budget.
McMahon presented the proposed budget to lawmakers Monday. It continues spending on certain priorities, including the fight against lead poisoning and mental health services for local schools. There are some public safety initiatives, including spending $6 million for a new sheriff’s helicopter and the use of drones for 911 calls, as well as expanding the use of police body cameras.
“We’re going to expand the body camera program into the jails,” McMahon said. “In addition to that, we are going to purchase a new helicopter. Air One is about 25 years old.”
McMahon admits, though, that things are getting tight.
“This budget does bring us back to pre-pandemic revenue growth,” he said. “We've seen inflationary growth this year in sales tax. We are seeing growth at about 1%. Next year we think it will be 1.5%. So that means things are tighter for your operating budgets.”
To deal with that, McMahon said there have been cuts in one shot spending items, like the Main Street improvement programs. He’s concerned about increased state and federal mandates the county faces, but expects the big story on that to come next year, when the state reviews the cap on Medicaid spending for counties.
“If the state of New York removes that cap, it’s telling every county in the state you need to raise property taxes in a big way,” he said.
This proposed budget lowers the county tax rate by 11%. McMahon said that should help offset rising property assessments, which are determined by towns and villages.
The Onondaga County legislature will begin reviewing the proposed budget, with a final vote scheduled in October.
