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After prioritizing the I-81 highway project and public safety in last year’s budget, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh set goals in his 2023 State of the City to focus spending in 2024 on resources for the new Micron facility and mitigating gun violence.

Walsh is set to present his budget proposal for the 2024 financial year to the Common Council Monday afternoon, at which point Gov. Kathy Hochul’s finalized state budget will also be due after missing its April 1 deadline. Walsh’s budget will be finalized via approval and adjustment by the Syracuse Common Council in May.

In addition to expanding policing across the city and preparing for the I-81 reconstruction project, Walsh’s fiscal budget proposal for 2023 – which totaled over $294 million – included lead exposure abatement provisions and spending measures.

The budget’s measures for 2023 aimed to reduce exposure to lead in buildings via the creation of a lead paint program coordinator position and a new office manager position.

Walsh’s 2023 budget raised police field operations expenditures by 18%. But recently, Walsh has put an emphasis on reducing gun violence, especially following the January shooting of 11-year-old Brexialee Torres-Ortiz outside of her elementary school in Southside Syracuse.

In his State of the City address in January, Walsh said the Office to Reduce Gun Violence will work in 2023 to address root causes of gun violence like gang activity, school absenteeism, mental health and poverty.

Walsh’s 2023 budget also accounted for the I-81 viaduct removal project, which was set to move ahead when the Federal Highway Administration approved its record of decision last May, a month after Walsh delivered his budget proposal.

The budget allocated a salary and benefits of $103,100 for the establishment of an I-81 project director position, which Syracuse Common Councilor Joe Driscoll occupies.

Sen. Chuck Schumer said in May that the project could break ground as soon as fall 2022. The project was halted in November when State Supreme Court Judge Gerard Neri issued a ruling that favored Renew 81 for All, a group that sued NYSDOT in September to prevent the community grid replacement.

Neri issued a decision in February allowing the project to move ahead, but it needs to undergo a new set of environmental reviews. It remains unclear whether 2024 will see broken ground on the I-81 viaduct removal or the community grid replacement.

Walsh’s current policy priorities emphasize investments in city and workforce development. This year, Syracuse has already received $500,000 from New York state to reconnect the Southside neighborhood to the rest of downtown, along with a $1 million grant for the local economic development firm CenterState CEO. The city also distributed business grants with the Commercial Corridor Improvement Fund, funded through American Rescue Plan Act money.

The 2024 budget will also pose changes in the service fee Syracuse University pays to the city. In last year’s budget proposal, Walsh raised the supplemental service payment SU makes to the city, which covers things like city maintenance around campus, from $1 million in 2022 to $1.5 million in 2023. The fee has been on an incline since Walsh took office in 2018.

Walsh made a service agreement between SU and the city beginning in 2021 that outlines a five-year increase of $1 million in annual revenue from the university. The city is set to collect a total $11 million in revenue from the university by the time the five-year period ends in 2026.

Correction: A previous version of this story falsely stated that Mark Frechette was originally named to the position of city I-81 project director, and succeeded by Betsey Parmley after he retired in February. Frechette and Parmley have occupied the state I-81 director position, and Common Councilor Joe Driscoll has held the city position since its establishment. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on April 10, 2023 at 12:22 am

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu