Mayor Ben Walsh vetoed 45 amendments previously approved by the Common Council that would have removed millions of dollars in spending from his proposed budget.
Walsh’s vetoes preserved $3.3 million in cuts of the $16.3 million made by the Council. The mayor preserved $1.1 million in cuts to the Department of Public Works, a $1 million cut meant to fund the Syracuse Housing Strategies Corporation and a $150,000 cut to the Office to Reduce Gun Violence.
That also means the city’s property tax rate will not go up. Walsh chose did not veto the council’s amendment to remove Walsh’s proposed property tax rate increase. He did however veto the council’s cuts to the water rate.
“In spite of my frustrations about the lack of communication going into the amendment process,” Walsh said, “I wanted to come into this in a spirit of compromise.”
The Common Council now has until June 2 to determine which vetoes it will override. Councilor Corey Williams, the chair of the council’s Finance, Taxation and Assessment Committee, has said the council planned to override the mayor’s vetoes and restore its cuts. Hogan has since signaled he would not compromise on cuts vetoed by the mayor, Walsh said.
The council next meets May 27 and can vote at the Tuesday meeting or hold a special meeting between May 27 and June 2 to vote on which amendments to override.
Below are some of the cuts Walsh vetoed alongside an explanation provided by the administration for vetoing the cut:
- Department of Assessment, $1 million, revaluation — “Elimination of the opportunity for a city-wide revaluation, undermining tax fairness and reducing long-term revenue growth.”
- Law Department, $869,067, outside counsel — “Severely limits the city’s ability to hold bad actors accountable and protect vulnerable residents with a 50% reduction in outside counsel.”
- Division of Code Enforcement, $250,000, contracted permitting review — “Limits the City’s ability to expedite reviews for developers and small contractors, creating delays that disproportionately harm those unable to pay for private plan review and negatively impacts revenue from permitting.”
- Police, $1 million, overtime — “Elimination of police details for Armory Square, Downtown proactive detail, Police Academy, background investigations, and various special events and festivals.”
Read more of Central Current’s budget coverage:
- May 17: What could the Common Council’s budget amendments mean for code enforcement, police, and public works?
- May 15: Compromise tough to come by as Walsh, Common Council leaders meet about budget
- May 11: Did Syracuse lawmakers abuse the state’s open meetings law while making budget cuts?
- May 9: How Syracuse officials anticipate budget cuts could affect city operations
- May 9: Syracuse lawmakers unanimously approve about $16M in cuts from mayor’s proposed budget
- May 7: Syracuse lawmakers used a taxpayer-funded analysis to inform its budget cuts. You can’t read it yet.
- April 9: What’s in Mayor Ben Walsh’s last proposed budget?
The 2025 budget cycle has turned into a spat between mayor and the council — who has two members, Pat Hogan and Chol Majok, running to replace Walsh.
At the beginning of the budget cycle, in April, the council ordered a taxpayer-funded analysis of Walsh’s proposed budget from The Bonadio Group. The council said it used the report to craft more than 70 budget amendments.
However, the council chose not to publicly release the Bonadio report before it voted to approve its own cuts to Walsh’s proposed budget. That decision drew heavy criticism from transparency experts.
The council also appeared to abuse open meetings laws when it held caucus meetings to discuss budget amendments. According to a 1992 ruling from Erie County, a closed-door caucus meeting by a homogenous legislative body to discuss public matters can be considered a violation of open meetings laws. The caucus meeting also drew heavy criticism.
Councilors have been adamant about not raising taxes during this budget cycle. Walsh had proposed a 2% increase. Hogan and Majok have also railed against the city’s proposed revaluation of city property values that would be set to take place under the next mayor.
Read more of Central Current’s coverage
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