The Syracuse City Auditor's first report focuses on the impact of state Aid and Incentives to Municipalities.
Syracuse City Auditor Alexander Marion said he views his role as very expansive.
"We need to look beyond the four walls of City Hall at how we fit into the bigger universe," Marion said. "We are often at the mercy of policy decisions that come out of Albany and Washington. We are at the mercy of economic trends happening out there in the private sector."
In Marion's first report, he focuses on the state Aid and Incentives to Municipalities or AIM funding. His audit said state aid once covered almost 65 percent of core city services like police, fire, water, and the Department of Public Works. Now it's about 40 percent as he said AIM funding has remained flat for more than a decade.
State Senator Rachel May said the legislature has asked for increases in AIM funding every year she's been in office. She's introducing legislation that would restructure how AIM funding is calculated using factors like how much tax-exempt property a city has, whether a city is meeting housing construction goals, and if it's improving infrastructure.
"A lot of our rural municipalities are really struggling because they have very few people and a lot of length of their water pipes or their roadways," May said. "Snow removal can be much more complicated there. So we really need to be helpful to them as well."
Marion called for the state to step up and provide essential aid for essential services as the cost of running a city has increased.
"Cities are an important part of the New York state equation," Marion said. "And we need to make sure that when we have money for any host of initiatives, we should be putting money in there for the cities of New York state."
