Onondaga County lawmakers have put off a vote to put aside an extra $11 million for the controversial aquarium project. County Republicans pulled a resolution off the agenda just moments before Tuesday's meeting.
The aquarium project in Syracuse’s Inner Harbor was originally expected to cost $85 million. Those funds have already been put aside, but as construction nears next spring, the cost has ballooned to nearly $100 million.
County Executive Ryan McMahon wants to raise the extra funds from private sources, such as donations or naming rights. But in the meantime, he is asking the legislature to come up with the cash to start the project. Legislature Chairman Tim Burtis said the idea has been on their radar for a while, but they just haven’t been able to agree on the details of how private funds would be paid back to the county.
"The leadership on the Republican side, we've been trying to make some adjustments to that resolution right along," Burtis said. "We just didn't make it to Ways and Means, but there was some desire to try to put it here at our last session this year. And we just didn't have enough comfort with it, and so we made the decision to pull."
Most Democrats in the legislature voted against the project. Minority Leader Chris Ryan said his caucus has been in the dark about the latest strategy, especially since the idea didn’t go through the committee process.
"But I think everybody has questions or concerns, and rightfully so, if it was going to cost X, and now it's costing Y, then people are going to want to know," Ryan said. "And everybody here is going to want to know. Everybody should know the true cost of it."
Burtis expects to bring the proposal back for a vote in early 2025, and take it through the committee process.
