OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Syracuse City Council Special Meeting – June 18, 2026

Public Meetings — Thursday, June 18, 2026
BodySyracuse, New York
SessionPublic Meetings
DateThursday, June 18, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 12:06
Transcript — Verbatim
5:11

Okay, what are we doing here?

5:13

Do you have my hammer?

5:15

No.

5:15

My gobble, my gavel.

5:21

Okay, that'll go.

5:24

Okay, what are we doing here?

5:28

Oh, same as always.

5:29

And then we do a minute of silence.

5:31

We can do a moment we could do a moment of silence in between here before roll calls.

5:36

Do we want to do that or just go ahead?

5:38

You can do something.

5:40

Okay.

5:41

Okay.

5:41

So we have time.

5:46

Good afternoon, everybody.

5:47

We're gonna start our special meeting.

5:50

Uh let's begin by standing up for the pretty good.

5:56

I think that's a good question.

6:03

One nation under that receiving justice for all.

6:10

Uh we'll declare please call the roll.

6:12

Sure, madam president.

6:15

Sorry about that.

6:21

Counselor Cottwell.

6:22

Present.

6:23

Councilman Chow here.

6:26

Council Aaron Wright.

6:28

Councilor Hudson.

6:29

Here.

6:29

Council Nave.

6:33

Council Moore.

6:34

Present.

6:34

Council Williams.

6:35

Here.

6:36

Council Jones Rowler.

6:37

Councilor Manto.

6:39

Here.

6:39

Uh present.

6:40

Thank you.

6:41

Uh any communications?

6:43

Yes, Madam President.

6:44

I have from the honorable mirror.

6:48

Nessa a necessities message related to the local law to correct the 26-27 budget.

6:56

Okay, and I also have a letter from you directing me to contact the counselors of the special meeting.

7:03

And I have a letter to the counselor notifying them of the special meeting.

7:09

And I also have a letter notifying the meeting.

7:14

Thank you.

7:15

So we're gonna go straight into the new business.

7:17

Uh counselor Williams.

7:19

Thank you, Madam President.

7:20

I have items four, five, and six.

7:22

I would like to introduce and urge their adoption today.

7:28

Okay.

7:28

Um thank you.

7:31

Item four.

7:32

Is there any discussion?

7:34

Uh yes, Madam President.

7:36

Um I would like to take this opportunity to thank the governor and our entire state delegation for providing really meaningful support to our city in the Sierra State budget.

7:47

Um for the fiscal year 26-27.

7:50

Um our city will receive approximately 107 million dollars from New York State, which is really critical in terms of making sure that we have our essential services provided for our citizens, um, investments into infrastructure and the continued need or the continued ability for us to meet the needs of our residents.

8:14

Um right now throughout New York State, there are financial pressures that are mounting on municipalities.

8:20

We are seeing an increase in costs, decreases in revenue, and we in Syracuse we have that challenge in front of us every year.

8:29

Um we had a relatively responsible budget passed last year, and we had the same passed in the current fiscal year, and this additional state aid is you know truly uh an opportunity for us to maintain our direction on the right fiscal path.

8:47

Um, as chair for the finance committee for the council, I'd really like to thank Senators May and Senators Ryan for including additional funding for the city in the One House bill, and to assembly members Magnarelli and Hunter and Stirpe for making sure that the final passage of the state budget included additional funds for a city.

9:13

So with that, I will turn it back to you, Madam President.

9:16

So we are introducing and tabling so for a you can proceed with uh the local law and the items that follows it as normal, but you would introduce and table the local law.

9:27

So I'll call them and then you tell me what you want to do with with them.

9:30

Okay.

9:31

Okay, we're sorry saying that's the local law is not gonna be tabled counsel uh Joe Joe Barry, first assistant corporation counsel.

9:45

So on the local uh municipal home rule law, uh the mayor of the mayor has issued a message of necessity delivered to the city clerk as she noted.

10:00

This allows per the state law the tabling process to be waived.

10:02

Okay.

10:03

So with uh okay with a supermajority with two-thirds vote, six votes.

10:08

The local law can be adopted now.

10:10

So that would be the three items, no, or just the no more.

10:15

You would proceed with the local law first to adopt that because that temporarily amends the city budget process, which usually would end on June 1st.

10:25

It extends the city budget process for this one year only until June 30th, so that you can uh adopt the two amendments that have been submitted by the budget director, and upon adoption of those amendments, it'll be incorporated into the final city budget uh for the starting July 1st, and the local law the mayor, the mayor will still have to have a public hearing on the local law next week, and it'll have to be signed and delivered to Albany by July 1st to make everything effective for the fiscal year.

11:01

Thank you, Joe.

11:02

I should have just called you up to explain everything.

11:04

No worries, it doesn't happen very often.

11:08

We we last did it in 2023.

11:11

Gotcha.

11:11

Okay.

11:12

Okay.

11:14

And I would like to introduce an urged adoption of item number four.

11:17

Thank you, Code.

11:18

Okay, so we've already went through discussion.

11:21

Any objections?

11:24

Uh please call the roll.

11:26

All in favor, aye.

11:29

Yeah, I'd like to introduce an urgent adoption of item number five.

11:32

Item number five.

11:34

Any objections?

11:36

Any discussion, please call the roll.

11:38

All in favor, aye, opposed, unanimous.

11:45

Item number six.

11:46

Any objections?

11:48

Any discussion?

11:49

Please call the roll.

11:51

All in favor, aye.

11:52

Opposed.

11:54

Okay, that concludes our special meeting.

11:58

Motion to adjourn.

12:00

Second.

12:01

All in favor, aye.

12:02

Opposed.

12:04

Thank you.

12:05

Oh my god.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Summary of Proceedings

Syracuse City Council Special Meeting – June 18, 2026

This special meeting of the Syracuse Common Council was held on June 18, 2026, to adopt a local law extending the budget process and to approve two budget amendments for fiscal year 2026-2027. The meeting began with a moment of silence, roll call, and communications from the City Clerk.

Discussion Items

  • Local Law to Extend Budget Process (Item 4): First Assistant Corporation Counsel Joe Barry explained that the Mayor had issued a message of necessity, allowing the tabling process to be waived with a two‑thirds vote (six votes). The local law temporarily amends the city budget process, extending it from June 1 to June 30 for this year only, so that the council can adopt two amendments submitted by the Budget Director. Upon adoption, the amendments will be incorporated into the final city budget effective July 1. The Mayor will still hold a public hearing on the local law next week and must sign and deliver it to Albany by July 1.
  • Budget Amendments (Items 5 and 6): Two budget amendments were introduced and moved for adoption. Councilor Williams thanked the Governor and the state delegation for providing approximately $107 million in state aid to Syracuse for fiscal year 2026-2027, noting that municipalities across New York face mounting financial pressures. He emphasized that this additional state support is critical for maintaining essential services, infrastructure investments, and a responsible fiscal path.

Key Outcomes

  • Item 4 (Local Law): Adopted unanimously (all present voted in favor).
  • Item 5 (Budget Amendment): Adopted unanimously.
  • Item 6 (Budget Amendment): Adopted unanimously.
  • The meeting was adjourned by unanimous consent following the votes.

Note: No public comments or consent calendar items were presented.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, what are we doing here? Do you have my hammer? No. My gobble, my gavel. Okay, that'll go. Okay, what are we doing here? Oh, same as always. And then we do a minute of silence. We can do a moment we could do a moment of silence in between here before roll calls. Do we want to do that or just go ahead? You can do something. Okay. Okay. So we have time. Good afternoon, everybody. We're gonna start our special meeting. Uh let's begin by standing up for the pretty good. I think that's a good question. One nation under that receiving justice for all. Uh we'll declare please call the roll. Sure, madam president. Sorry about that. Counselor Cottwell. Present. Councilman Chow here. Council Aaron Wright. Councilor Hudson. Here. Council Nave. Council Moore. Present. Council Williams. Here. Council Jones Rowler. Councilor Manto. Here. Uh present. Thank you. Uh any communications? Yes, Madam President. I have from the honorable mirror. Nessa a necessities message related to the local law to correct the 26-27 budget. Okay, and I also have a letter from you directing me to contact the counselors of the special meeting. And I have a letter to the counselor notifying them of the special meeting. And I also have a letter notifying the meeting. Thank you. So we're gonna go straight into the new business. Uh counselor Williams. Thank you, Madam President. I have items four, five, and six.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com