Understanding just how much federal funding flows into Syracuse’s coffers will be critical in the coming years, Syracuse Auditor Alex Marion wrote in a report released Thursday.
The genesis of Marion’s report was concern over how President Donald Trump’s incoming administration could affect funding that flows to Syracuse
Marion’s report endeavored to detail some of Syracuse’s funding
The auditor’s report wrangled the hundreds of millions in federal dollars that pour into Syracuse each year through various programs and departments. Marion broke down how federal funds reach Syracusans, be it through programs that fund the City of Syracuse, individual city residents, or the Syracuse City School District – which alone receives $50-60 million from Washington annually, according to the report. Marion said he intended the report to analyze the big monies flowing into Syracuse, rather than serve as an exhaustive list of every federal dollar entering the city.
The report comes just two business days ahead of Trump’s Monday inauguration.
“Understanding the impact of the federal government in our own community is critical to deciding the role we want the federal government to play in our lives. That is the cornerstone of self-government,” Marion wrote. “When communities come together and can advocate as one for what they need most is when we have the responsive, citizen-led federal government we deserve.”
Along with the funding analysis, Marion provided recommendations for the city to maintain its federal support:
- Ensure federal funding is protected under new administration and Congress through direct advocacy
- City of Syracuse should issue consolidated annual reports about federal funding received and how it is spent
- Congress should expand the low-income housing tax credit program
To protect its federal funding, Marion suggested the city should coordinate with officials and agencies across all levels of government to reinforce the impact of funding and to identify funding that may be cut.
“City departments that have received federal dollars in the past should correspond directly with new federal agency leaders to reiterate the importance of continuing those funding streams and provide proactive updates to agencies about how monies are being spent and highlighting positive outcomes,” Marion wrote.
In Marion’s second recommendation, he pointed out that the city’s school district already issues annual reports on federal funding, and urged the city to follow the district’s lead.
The third recommendation lauded the success of the low-income tax credit program, but lamented the limited funding, which Marion said means “numerous projects, including those which meet all necessary guidelines, miss out each year.”
Marion emphasized that with a 192% increase in homelessness in Central New York over the past five years, the city needs to do everything it can to incentivize federal support for housing development.
Beyond housing programs, Marion identified the crucial role that federal funding plays in the daily lives of thousands of Syracuse residents.
Critically, many Syracusans are the beneficiary of programs that are funded using federal resources,” Marion wrote. “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration benefits, and food assistance impact thousands of households and lift some of the resource-intensive areas in the entire United States out of poverty.”
The report also highlighted the $6.1 billion (earmarked for Micron) that came to Central New York from the federal CHIPs and Science Act – legislation which Trump has derided and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has at times said Congress will probably repeal under a Trump administration.
Marion said there is value to the enduring national debate on the federal budget, given that the budget regularly carries trillion-dollar deficits. The auditor, however, argued that any federal budgetary discussions need to consider the effects that spending cuts can have for jurisdictions beyond the nation’s capital.
“This must be a conversation that takes into account the real world consequences of decisions that happen far away from Washington,” Marion wrote. “And it must be a conversation that centers our communities and the need to lift everyone up to greater prosperity, not simply elevating corporate interests.”
You can read the city auditor’s report here.
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