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Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced his budget proposal to the Onondaga County Legislature for the 2023 fiscal year on Thursday.

“I view the budget as a statement of values and priorities,” McMahon said. “The 2023 budget prioritizes tax relief for our citizens, funding our base operation, public safety, revitalizing our infrastructure and our neighborhoods.”

Here’s how the budget is constructed, and what it will entail this year.

The process

The county has only just started implementing the $1.4 billion executive budget, said Brian Ohl, an adjunct professor within Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Ohl said the budget process is divided into four phases: executive preparation and review, legislative review and approval, budget implementation and the final audit. As a part of the executive preparation, McMahon and his team research, compile and eventually create the now released executive budget.

But the legislature has the power to veto McMahon’s financial proposals.

“If the legislature decides to change the spending amount … then the executive has to come back and approve or disapprove (the change),” Ohl said. “If the executive does not approve those changes, the legislature can do a two-thirds majority override.”

The county legislature will have its first of five budget meetings Monday to discuss and review McMahon’s proposal followed by three meetings this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and a public hearing on Oct. 6.

Breaking down the budget

McMahon’s proposal cuts the county’s property tax rate down 11% from last year, when it was $4.79 per $1,000 in value.

“If approved, this tax cut would be among the largest in the history of Onondaga County,” McMahon said. “This equals over $100 in savings on a home assessed for $200,000 dollars.”

The executive budget also includes funding for the county’s offices and programs, ranging from veterans services to the county sheriff’s department. McMahon’s proposal would increase funding appropriations for 30 of the county’s programs and offices.

The county’s department of social services, the county legislature and Onondaga Community College will all have a smaller appropriation compared to the 2022 adopted budget. OCC had the largest decrease, dropping over 3% from $64.5 million in the 2022 adopted budget to $62.6 million this year.

But many of the county’s offices and programs are seeing large increases to their appropriations within the proposed budget.

Under the current version of the budget, Onondaga County’s transportation department would receive 25% more funding than last year. Children and Family Services, one of the most expensive programs covered in the 2022 budget, would move from an appropriation of $112 million to $134 million.

Even with the massive increases in appropriations, McMahon said his proposal is balanced for the fifth year in a row.

“It has been well reported that numerous economic headwinds and high inflation are affecting our country,” McMahon said. “This economic uncertainty means that we must be even more deliberative in our budgeting.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the county’s total proposed budget was misstated. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on September 19, 2022 at 1:16 am

Contact Kyle: kschouin@syr.edu | @Kyle_Chouinard