Syracuse City Hall Credit: Chris Libonati | libonati@centralcurrent.org

The City of Syracuse has relied on an ineffective licensing and permitting system that led to an 80% drop in licensing revenue over the last eight years, according to a report by city auditor Alex Marion.

Marion’s report found the city fails to enforce its licensing system, meaning it often works on the “honor system.” Businesses and entire industries in the city often do not have proper licenses to operate, according to the report. 

About 75 industries in the city are required to obtain licenses and permits. From the 2015-16 fiscal year through the 2022-23 fiscal year, the city’s revenue from issuing permits dropped from just under $170,000 to just under $40,000. 

The auditor’s 289-page report included 31 findings and 30 recommendations. They largely stressed the city’s need to make permitting information more accessible and improve its own systems. 

The report painted a picture of a permitting process in disarray. Laws governing fees and applications are often confusing or overlapping. Seven city departments touch the permitting process but only one employee is left to deal with all of the city’s permitting and licensing. That employee is only there to process the permitting requests — not evaluate them. 

While the city’s finance department is empowered to help enforce the permitting process, it has no one hired to do the job, the report found. Until recently, much of that task fell to two police officers. That means the city fails to proactively go after businesses operating without a permit, the report found.

“Neither the License Coordinator, SPD, nor the other CPO administrative staff identified any proactive work to identify and license non-compliant businesses,” the report said. 

In a rebuttal by city officials and included in the report, the mayor’s office and administration officials agreed with portions of Marion’s report while rejecting some of his recommendations.

City officials emphasized the COVID-19 pandemic hit the city’s businesses and permitting operations hard. 

During the pandemic, the city issued refunds for certificates of use and entertainment licenses to reduce lost revenue for businesses in Syracuse, city officials wrote. Some businesses closed during the pandemic, also leading to losses in revenue, according to the city. 

The city disagreed with one of Marion’s most prominent recommendations: to create a new department of permits, licenses and inspections. 

The report suggested the city create the department to bring the majority of the licensing process under one roof and improve the city’s oversight. 

City officials said in their rebuttal that doing so would put a strain on the city’s budget, which is already constrained. 

They did, however, agree to increase staffing to enforce permitting regulations. The city police department recommended using “SPOs,” shorthand for special police officers, who are retired as full-time officers, and community service officers. CSOs are “civilians” who work in the police department. 

This, however, will take additional funding, the city wrote. 

Businesses that require a permit

  • Acrobatic Performance 
  • Amusement Center Owner/Operator 
  • Amusement Center (having coin-controlled devices) 
  • Amusement Center (Juke-box only) 
  • Amusement Location Game/Amusement Device 
  • Bingo 
  • Games of Chance 
  • Charitable Gaming Circus (Indoor or Outdoor) 
  • Common Showman Concert Curiosity (Artificial or Natural) 
  • Dance 
  • Public Dance, Dancing/Dancing Hall 
  • Exhibition – Paintings 
  • Exhibition – Statuary 
  • Feats of Horsemanship 
  • Feats of Legerdemain 
  • Feats of Necromancy
  • Jukeboxes 
  • Floor Show 
  • Motion Picture Show 
  • Motion Picture Device 
  • Opera Performance 
  • Picture Show 
  • Professional Basketball 
  • Professional Hockey 
  • Skating/Skating Rink/Roller Skating Rink 
  • “Any Other Amusement for the Public” 
  • Open-Air-Cultural Event (Sponsored by a nonprofit to display and/or sell paintings, works of art, jewelry, handicraft, etc.) 
  • Juice Bar 
  • Bill Poster 
  • Bill Distribution 
  • Buses 
  • Auctioneer 
  • Going-Out-of-Business Sales 
  • Junk Collector Without A Yard 
  • Newsstand/Sidewalk Newsstand 
  • Nonresident Bankrupt Sales 
  • Damaged Goods Clothing Sales 
  • Pawnbrokers 
  • Peddlers & Peddlers Assistants 
  • Transient Retail Business 
  • Secondhand Dealers 
  • Junk Dealer 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Chemical based fire suppression mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Flammable and combustible liquid mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Limited HVAC mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Limited refrigeration mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Master HVAC mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Master refrigeration mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Residential HVAC mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Special HVAC mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Special refrigeration mechanical license 
  • Mechanical Contractor – Water based fire suppression mechanical license 
  • Solicitors & Solicitors Assistants 
  • Sentry Dogs 
  • Snow Removal Contractors 
  • Scrap Processors 
  • Tobacco Retail 
  • License Conveying Systems – Installer’s License 
  • Conveying Systems – Limited Installer’s License 
  • Conveying Systems – Mechanic’s License 
  • Food Vendor License 
  • Mobile Food Vendor License 
  • Taxicabs – Ground Transportation License
  • Taxicabs – Taxicab Driver’s License/Airport Bus Driver’s License 
  • Ambulances 
  • Towing Company License 
  • Waste Hauler License 
  • Bicycle 
  • Booting License 
  • Business Certificate of Use 
  • Marriage License 
  • Dog License

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Anais Mejia is a freelance journalist covering economic justice in the region. She is focused on stories about housing in Syracuse, Interstate 81 and the redevelopment of public housing. Anais is currently...