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10 interesting figures from Syracuse's annual budget

Daniel Lobo
/
via Flickr
Syracuse's city hall.

A city budget is typically pretty cut and dry, but Syracuse’s annual spending plan can also offer some context for just how big the city is. And so like a budget, this story is all about numbers.

Here are some interesting figures pulled from Syracuse's proposed budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

  • Every winter, snow plows drop 35,000 tons of road salt to try and keep the roads dry.
  • Thirty-five thousand tons (34,750 to be exact) is the same amount of trash that gets hauled away from curbs every year, or 136 tons a day. Syracuse only recycles a sixth as much waste - 6,600 tons per year - as it puts in a landfill.
  • Syracuse’s 400 plus police officers drive 1.3 million miles a year while on patrol, responding to an average of 147,000 calls.
  • And fire trucks roll to nearly 1,200 reports of explosions or fires each year, but that’s a lot less than the 14,108 medical calls.
  • The public works department tamps down about 17,600 tons of asphalt, patching potholes and repairing streets.
  • And for those of you who leave your cars parked illegally, you provide a big cash flow for Syracuse. The city brings in $3.2 million each year in fines and charges for the more than 90,354 parking tickets it writes.

In total, the Syracuse city budget is $674 million, with over half of that spent on schools. The city council is reviewing the budget now, with the new spending plan beginning July 1.