Mayor Ben Walsh has been working to implement several initiatives in efforts to address the city’s looming deficit since his election last November.

Walsh, a former economic development director for the city, has formed different committees to address fiscal concerns in Syracuse. He’s also announced a partnership with Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

During a “state of the city” address last Wednesday, Walsh was blunt in his assessment of Syracuse’s fiscal state. Walsh said the projected deficit for 2018 is $16.5 million. That’s with an operating budget of $290 million, not including Syracuse City School District funding.

“Hard sacrifices are coming,” the mayor said.

He added that three factors are contributing to the deficit issues:

First, the city’s ongoing revenue base remains stagnant, he said. Second, New York state funding referred to as Aid and Incentive for Municipalities has not increased since 2010, despite city costs having gone up about 12 percent, Walsh said. And lastly, he said, various costs to the city such as health care, utilities and trash fees, among other things, have continued to rise uncontrollably.

“One of the highest hills we have to climb is the structural operating deficit that our city government faces,” Walsh said in his speech Wednesday. “The financial reality we confront is precarious.”

But to address the issues, Walsh has announced several ongoing initiatives. During his public inauguration ceremony in early January, the mayor said based off of a recommendation from his transition team, he authorized the creation of an economic task force to address financial concerns.

Last December, a finance committee established by Walsh as part of his transition team held a public meeting at Le Moyne College to brainstorm possible solutions regarding budget issues.

In collaboration with faculty at Maxwell, Walsh has said he’s assembled a Fiscal Summit Advisory Committee to meet monthly to discuss the deficit. Walsh on Wednesday said SU Chancellor Kent Syverud has voiced his support for the city.

At his public inauguration, Walsh said the city and Maxwell would host a Fiscal Summit. No date has been publicly announced for the summit. But the mayor said he hoped the advisory committee would have budget recommendations this fall.

He also said some of those recommendations would be first implemented in the city’s 2019 budget.

“The financial condition of the City is further jeopardized by the fact that the financial management and budgeting systems that the City relies on are not generating essential financial information on a timely basis,” stated a report of recommendations published by Walsh’s transition team. “Reports are not available to management on a routine basis. A direct link between the accounting and budgeting systems does not exist.”

Walsh on Wednesday announced that his administration will be establishing the Office of Accountability, Performance and Innovation, a new performance management system.

For revenue generation, the transition team proposed several short- and long-term economic ideas.

Those recommendations included reviewing all departmental billing procedures to ensure fairness, timeliness and full cost recovery; fostering positive relationships and regular communication with federal, state and county officials who must authorize intergovernmental funding; and developing services that the city can provide for a fee to other municipalities and community-based organizations, such as asphalt and fire services.

Walsh has also said he has other plans to expand workforce opportunities, including by better supporting minority- and women-owned businesses.

“We will not nibble around the edges of this problem,” Walsh said during his Wednesday speech. “We will attack it at its core. The solutions will not be easy, and hard sacrifices are coming.”

Published on February 5, 2018 at 11:16 pm

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert