The Syracuse Common Council unanimously voted Monday to roll over fines imposed to landlords for property code violations onto owners’ tax bills.
The measure could help the city collect at least an approximate $2 million in fines that property owners have skirted in the last two years.
Giving the city the ability to collect that money through property tax bills, councilors say, is an important step toward improving the quality of the city’s housing stock and addressing a potential budget shortfall in future years.
The measure, which amends a 2017 local law, comes at a time when about a third of the city’s housing stock surveyed by a housing consultant shows signs of disrepair and the city could also be facing a multi-million dollar revenue gap in the next year.
“A high percentage of calls that I take are in regard to properties not being maintained,” Councilor Jimmy Monto said Monday. “We need to use any and every tool that we have to stop the deterioration of our housing stock. Strong neighborhoods start and end with quality housing and we all need to share in the responsibility of being stewards of this city.”
The fines are imposed by the city’s Bureau of Administrative Adjudication to landlords who have not corrected violations of the property and zoning codes enforcement within 15 to 21 days of being cited.
The fees range from $50 to $1,200, depending on the type and frequency of offenses and can be appealed in front of a judge. If property owners don’t pay those tickets within 30 days, they default and the money is meant to go to the city’s general fund account.
But landlords and property owners in the city have been largely non-compliant and unresponsive in the past two years, city data shows. The city has issued almost 4,000 property code citations since 2023, according to BAA Director Leah Witmer. About half of those landlords cited ended up defaulting, but the city has only collected about 20% of the almost $2.5 million owed by property owners.
Witmer said at a common council Neighborhood Preservation Committee meeting on Feb. 24 that city data shows that engaged property owners tend to be more compliant. The BAA has hosted about 614 hearings requested by landlords, amounting to more than one hearing per business day since 2023. About 52% of those landlords, Witmer said, resolved the code violations they were cited for within a month of the hearing’s decision.
Councilor Corey Williams, who chairs the council’s Finance, Taxation and Assessment Committee, estimated that the city could be getting an additional $1 million in fines each year. Williams noted that the money could be vital toward balancing future city budgets.
“Every dollar counts to me,” he said. “We need to be doing everything we can to be able to take in more money, and this is one of the mechanisms by which we can do that.”
Despite the revenue generated, city officials say the purpose of the BAA is primarily to keep properties in compliance with property codes
“The cost of collecting unpaid fines in court would far exceed any revenue return, hence the reason why the city needs the ability to apply unpaid fines and penalties to the tax bills,” said Sarah Pallo, a city spokesperson.
Some councilors said they initially had concerns about how the amendment could affect low-income property owners who struggle to get by and cannot afford to swiftly correct code violations.
“Not everyone is a landlord, this affects regular homeowners as well,” said Councilor Patrona Jones-Rowser.
Jones-Rowser said that in response to the amendment, councilors will be notified of property owners in their districts who have received code citations so that they can connect with those constituents as the matter reaches the BAA.
“In all actuality we do need to rectify what’s happening with properties to make sure that they are being taken care of,” she said. “We need to make sure we’re not giving people a slap on the hand because they have seen that the city has no means of collection, and so therefore we’re not doing anything about it.
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