Onondaga County is looking to secure some state funding to help the CNY Regional Market’s finances.
Earlier this month an audit released by the state comptroller’s office found “poor financial management” at the Central New York Regional Market. The audit came after about a year of the market campaigning for almost $96 million in revitalization funds. Now the county is looking to help.
Their first step is approving funds to help create a financial operations plan, to see where and what funding should go toward. Legislator Dave Knapp sponsored the amendment.
“We really think we need to do this first to develop a plan moving forward before we dump a whole bunch of money into rebuilding infrastructure and everything else,” Knapp said.
The Ways and Means Committee voted to push an amendment in the 2024 Onondaga County Budget to the next legislative session. The amendment would accept grant funds from New York State Empire State Development for $100,000 - to add to 225,000 dollars in county money that had already been budgeted. Knapp says these proposed funds would help the planning stages develop a clear picture.
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel here but I do think there are some best practices out there to get the regional market back on track,” Knapp said.
He said the plan should be as comprehensive as possible.
“What this money is specifically for is to do a study for how we can do things better at the regional market from a logistical standpoint, how it's run, how it's structured and really how it's laid out, the land usage, the whole nine yards, soup to nuts,” Knapp said.
The Legislature will vote to approve the budget amendment on June 4.
