Republican Caucus leads the way in adopting the Ways & Means Committee's final report on the proposed 2023 Onondaga County budget
Onondaga County Sheriff Eugene Conway recently sat before members of the Onondaga County Legislature, wearing his full uniform and flanked by three members of his command team.
“Almost everything we do requires a vehicle” he said, speaking at a meeting of the Ways & Means Committee in mid-September.
County Executive Ryan McMahon’s proposed 2023 budget already included $325,000 for the Sheriff’s Office to purchase 8 new patrol vehicles, but Sheriff Conway was asking the Legislature for more. Members of the Republican Caucus heard him, loud and clear. They doubled the proposed vehicle funding, adding more than $500,000 to purchase vehicles and the equipment to go in them.
“As we have always tried to do, we found them some additional money to provide new, safe vehicles for our deputies” says Majority Leader Brian May (1st District), who chairs the Ways & Means Committee.
With the money, 8 additional vehicles will be purchased, bringing the total number of new vehicles to 19. The ones being replaced are either old with high mileage, were involved in accidents, or have other mechanical issues. They’re used for all aspects of the Sheriff’s Office: Patrol, Transport, Civil, Criminal Investigations, Administration and Corrections. Additional funding was also allocated for new equipment for the vehicles and the installation of it.
Another big problem that the Republican Caucus wanted to put more money towards is the fight against water chestnuts, an invasive species causing many problems for boaters, swimmers, homeowners and the ecosystem in general. Majority Leader May led the Caucus in adding $100,000 which will allow the county to double the resources to address the problem. Currently, staffers are working to remove more than 60 acres of water chestnuts on waterways across the county.
“Invasive species like water chestnuts are an absolute threat to our waterways and we must put money behind eradicating them to safeguard our drinking water, economy, and qualities of life” says committee member Julie Abbott (6th District), who also chairs the Legislature’s Environmental Protection Committee.
The Ways & Means Committee of the Onondaga County Legislature meets on September 29, 2022.
The Republican Caucus also found funds to increase staffing levels in several key departments, including the Board of Elections. Two new staffers will help with voter registrations, which have gone up 500% in the county since online registration through New York’s My DMV began several years ago.
Other additions to the proposed 2023 budget:
A one-time initiative to support an employment program for refugees at Syracuse’s Northeast Community Center
A one-time initiative to support the Syracuse Police Athletic/Activities League
New funding for first responder (fire and EMS) recruitment and retention
Additional funding for Syracuse’s Juneteenth festival
Additional funding for Cornell Cooperative Extension to help with 4-H youth development programs and deer & tick data collection
On top of all of that, a number of exciting proposed initiatives were moved to contingency accounts, giving Legislators more time to learn about each one before releasing the funding.
“I think the Ways and Mean report went remarkably well” says the Legislature’s chairman James Rowley (2nd District). “I think all the parties worked well together. Certainly Brian did the yeomen’s job in terms of having the conservations and going back and forth between the administration and the Republican and Democratic Caucuses. I think the process was probably one of the better ones we’ve had in a while and I think we got a good product.”
“Great result, great process” adds Majority Leader May. “We had fantastic attendance and engagement by the members of our Caucus which meant we could have meaningful and intelligent conversations every day about every issue brought before us within the budget process. The result, starting with a good executive budget from Ryan McMahon and then a good process on our side, we were able to avoid spending fund balance which was a key strategic goal in the process while at the same time putting the Legislature’s fingerprints on this budget and taking into consideration all Legislator’s priorities going into the ’23 program year.“
The final report was adopted by the Ways & Means Committee on September 29. Republicans make up more than half the committee. Legislators Timothy Burtis (3rd District) and Mark Olson (10th District) serve on it with Legislator Abbott and Majority Leader May.
A public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for October 6 at 6 p.m. The full Onondaga County Legislature will vote on the 2023 budget on October 11 at 1 p.m. You can attend both in person at the Legislature’s chambers or watch a live stream at Facebook.com/OnondagaCountyLegislature.