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Syracuse City Hall, pictured April 16, 2024. Credit: Michelle Gabel | Central Current

The Syracuse Common Council will bring forward a vote on whether to have a third party audit of the city’s Bureau of Information Technology following delays to the city’s payroll modernization plan. 

Councilors who are part of the Council’s Finance, Taxation, and Assessment Committee plan to have a “comprehensive” audit of the Bureau of IT, said Councilor Corey Williams. 

The committee in a letter to Clerk Patricia McBride cited broad concerns about the city’s financial position — it could face a $20 million budget deficit — and about spending by the IT department. 

The IT department and the Office of Accountability, Performance and Innovation was budgeted to spend about $5.3 million in the 2025 budget. Another $12.7 million was allocated by the city in its Capital Improvement Program to be spent this year on IT. 

Williams, who chairs the committee, said the audit would help identify overlaps in the city’s software services that present the chance to cut costs ahead of an expected structural budget deficit next fiscal year. Council members would like the city to contract with FoxPointe Solutions, a division of the Bonadio Group. 

Councilors will vote Jan. 21 on whether to have the audit done. 

“It takes experts to truly know what is happening within that environment, and nobody on the council is an IT expert,” Williams said. “So in order to be responsible with spending moving forward, we figured we would consult some new wisdom.”

Mayor Ben Walsh indicated his administration would support the audit, Williams said.

The Mayor’s Office welcomes the Council’s review and will work with the Council to ensure a successful and transparent IT audit,” Brooke Schneider, the mayor’s spokesperson, said in an email to Central Current. “We want the Common Council to have confidence in our team and processes.”

The Council’s request comes on the heels of the city again delaying its payroll modernization plan, which was first reported by Central Current. An internal email sent to city employees showed the city had to delay the payroll rollout. 

Since 2021, the Common Council has authorized about $10.55 million in contracts with consultants promising to finish the payroll modernization job. 

City officials differ on how much has actually been spent toward payroll modernization. A financial analysis provided to the Common Council shows the city has spent about $9.8 million. However, the administration previously told Central Current the city has spent about $7.7 million. 

After reporting by Central Current revealed that the city would delay the program, Chief Administrative Officer Frank Caliva — who oversaw the payroll modernization effort — resigned.

The last postponement was one in a series of difficulties with payroll modernization. The Finance Committee highlighted the postponement followed the Council doling out another $2.2 million to the project. 

With the project still incomplete, the council hopes to find a path forward through the audit, according to Williams. The auditors can “hit the ground running” as soon as the council approves the contract, and should finish the audit about 60 days after that approval, Williams said. 

“With the audit, basically, we’re really prioritizing our financial responsibilities to the city,” Williams said. “What we’re hoping to do is get a better understanding of what we’ve gotten for what we’ve spent over the past few years.”

This story was updated to include a statement from Brooke Schneider, the mayor’s spokesperson, on Tuesday, January 14.

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Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...