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Extra taxes for ornamental streetlights in Syracuse put on hold

Michael
/
via Flickr

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s administration’s plan to add extra charges on some homeowner’s tax bills for ornamental streetlights in the city of Syracuse has been put on hold.

The idea for these charges is to let people who in what's called "special lighting districts" to cover more of the $1.9 million bill National Grid sends every year to the city. Presently, Syracuse collects $220,000 from homeowners in the special lighting districts, and the rest comes out of the general fund.

The idea to charge some residents more didn’t go over well at a public hearing a couple of weeks ago, so Common Councilors this week agreed to pull the legislation off the floor, according to councilor Kathleen Joy.

“Doesn’t mean that it’s a dead issue. I think what it means is we need to do more homework,” Joy said. “We need to, I think, contact that Public Service Commission and make sure that National Grid is charging us the appropriate amounts. We’ve verified what they charge us, but can we negotiate, can we get that number down.”

Joy says there are other issues that should be looked at as well, for example: should downtown areas charged the same as residential areas; should all light poles be regarded the same; should there be linear charges for lighting?

“Hopefully we can hit the reset button. We can have those difficult conversations with community involvement, too. I think that’s the best way to make legislation anyway,” Joy said.

Miner says the idea behind the plan was to undo 50 years of inequity regarding who has been paying to operate these lights. Her administration wanted the new charges in place when the next tax bills go out in July.

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.