Syracuse City Council Public Hearing on FY2026-27 Proposed Budget - April 29, 2026
Syracuse City Council Public Hearing on FY2026-27 Proposed Budget - April 29, 2026
The Syracuse City Council held a public hearing on the annual estimate of the city and the Syracuse City School District for fiscal year 2025-26 (the proposed budget refers to FY2026-27, creating a naming discrepancy). Budget Director Evan Loving presented the $354.5 million general fund budget. Four members of the public testified on various topics.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Cliff Ryan Jr. and Zain Ghanim presented Cavline, a digital advertising platform aimed at helping local businesses and nonprofits increase visibility and recycle dollars into the local economy. They sought a partnership with the city as a contractor to expand access to digital marketing for underserved and minority-owned businesses.
- Kim Cameron, representing the League of Women Voters of Cortland County and New York State, and a volunteer speaker for Beyond Plastics, urged support for the Bigger Better Bottle Bill. She stated the bill could save Syracuse taxpayers $90,000 to $200,000 annually by increasing the bottle deposit to 10 cents and expanding covered bottle types, while reducing waste and environmental toxins.
- Andrew Seavers, a recent homeowner, criticized the city for focusing on what he called "legislative band-aids" like good cause eviction and slumlord issues instead of economic problems. He directly criticized Councilor Donna for being "wishy-washy" and "flip-flopping," and stated that good cause is "a matter of when, not a matter of if."
- John Barker (introduced as Joan Myers but self-identified as John Barker), a homeowner and member of the Washington Square Neighborhood Task Force, raised concerns about the deficit budget, hidden administrative costs without council votes (e.g., TNT program), increasing employee positions without sunset clauses, and inefficiencies such as multiple trucks sent to the same job site. He called for fleet consolidation and prudent cuts.
Discussion Items
- Budget Director Evan Loving presented the FY27 proposed budget: a $354.5 million general fund including $10 million in anticipated new state aid, modest increases in sales and property tax with no property tax rate increase, a 4% proposed water rate increase, and a budgeted use of fund balance of $23.9 million. The anticipated fund balance at the end of FY26 is approximately $120 million. Department funding is relatively flat; increased costs are directed to key priorities including housing, plan review, and a proposed re-evaluation. Loving expressed hope for a year-long budget process starting in July to address structural challenges.
Key Outcomes
- No votes or decisions were taken during the hearing. The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 PM.
Meeting Transcript
This public hearing is relative to the annual estimate of the city of Syracuse and the City Syracuse City School District for the fiscal year 2020 25 through 26. Thank you. Before we continue, uh we have some people that would like to speak. We're gonna give every each person three minutes to state your uh to speak, and then uh we you will be you will hear the phone ring and that'll be the end of your statement. Okay. So let's try and keep up with that. And with that said, we would like to invite Evan Loving to the podium to open our meeting. Good evening, counselors, Evan Loving Budget Director. Um, thanks for the opportunity to just say a few words as we get started with public hearing. Um, as you know before you for your consideration is the FY27 proposed budget. It is a 354.5 million dollar general fund uh that includes ten million dollars in anticipated new state aid, modest increases in sales and property tax with no property tax rate increase, a four percent proposed water rate increase, and a budgeted use of fund balance of 20 uh 23.9 million dollars. As you know, we've historically overperformed uh compared to our budgeted fund balance, and our anticipated fund balance at the end of FY26 is expected to be around 120 million dollars. Funding for departments is relatively flat, aligning with uh inflation costs, increased costs are primarily with key priorities, including housing, plan review, and a proposed re-evaluation. During this process, we sought to be proactive and engage departments, council uh as much and as often as we could. Hopefully, that's been successful. We will continue to work on incremental improvements to both the budget book and the budget process in the next few years, including my hope for a year-long budget process starting in July, where we can work on trying to find structural solutions to our structural challenges. Um, I just want to thank you again for all your time. I want to thank all the departments, my staff, and the mayor for her leadership. And for anyone who doesn't know, the budget is available on our website at our budget page, and there is a copy on the back table for reference. Thank you. Thank you, Evan. Avan uh has done a phenomenal job in putting this budget together for us to be able to view and review during the hearings that uh transpired all throughout these last months. So thank you for your hard work and all of the department heads that had a handy night. Thank you. Also, we want to uh thank Kristen to be here with us. She will be our stenographer today. Um we move on into um okay. The hearing. So um the first speaker, Cliff Ryan Jr. And Zay Zain Garnier. Oh, okay. I said that right. Good evening. Ryan R Y A N Jr. J R Zane Z-A-I-M. G-H-A-N-I-M. Okay. And I'll think thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I stand before you to introduce a powerful opportunity for our city, an opportunity that supports local businesses, strengthens nonprofit organizations, and creates a sustainable economic cycle within our community. The opportunity is Cavline. A new digital advertising platform designed to help businesses and nonprofits increase visibility, attract customers, and most importantly, recycle dollars back into the local economy. Businesses can no longer rely solely on foot traffic or word of mouth to compete. Digital advertising has become one of the most essential tools for economic growth. Yet for many small businesses and nonprofits in our city, effective advertising remains financially out of reach. The cost of major ad platforms often drains resources away from the very organizations that need the most. Cavline changes that. Cavline is more than an advertising platform. It is an economic support system. It provides local businesses and nonprofits with affordable digital advertising solutions that helps them reach customers where attention lives today, online, on mobile devices, and through targeted digital engagement. When our small businesses grow, they hire more people.
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