Onondaga County

Committee also reviewed Seven Local Laws, Deputy Sheriffs’ Contract, and Water Environment Protection Rates on Tuesday as part of regular business

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — On Tuesday, after two weeks of review, the Onondaga County Legislature’s Ways & Means Committee voted to amend and advance the 2027 County Budget to the Legislature for final consideration on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. The Committee amended the County Executive’s proposal to add six additional caseworkers to protect children, expand overdose response, strengthen food security efforts, and fund needed patrol vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office. The Committee also elected to move $3.1 million in spending into contingency until departments provide more detail on how the money will be used.

In total, the Ways & Means Report impacted less than 1% of the $1.7 billion dollar spending plan. The amended budget adds no new spending and funds several of the new positions utilizing existing grant funds previously authorized by the County Legislature.

Legislator Maurice Brown, Chair of the Ways & Means Committee said, “The budget is where our priorities stop being words and become commitments. This committee read every line and not only asked hard questions of our departments, but of each other. The result puts more caseworkers in the field for children and families, brings more help to neighbors facing addiction and food insecurity, and gives our deputies the vehicles they need to continue their needed work. Where we did not have clear answers about how dollars would be spent, we made the decision to hold those items in contingency until we do. Residents deserve to know that this budget did not grow. The Legislature reallocated less than $1 million to do what voters needed, and we did that without raising the tax levy or cutting services.

Legislature Chairwoman Watts said “This isn’t a routine budget—and it isn’t ‘our’ budget. This is a complete budget, with priorities identified throughout the year and with responsible, shared interests from our voters and the County Executive. From the Onondaga County Housing Opportunity & Momentum Expansion Co. (ON HOME), we’re creating a new tool to finance housing that working families can afford. The time to make these investments is now while making sure the services people count on every day are fully funded. I commend Chair Brown and the Ways & Means Committee for doing its part to make sure every dollar is accountable and every decision puts residents first.”

Partnering on a Complete Budget and Collaborative Process

The Ways & Means Committee made various changes to the budget process including joint meetings with other committees to allow for a more inclusive process as well as committee discussions resulting in more meetings than in previous years. This year included 34 budget oral presentations across 18 meetings in 10 days for a total of 22 hours of budget deliberations. Legislators and the County Executive both praised proactive ongoing conversations in helping shape an executive budget proposal reflective of his and legislators’ shared priorities and aligned needs identified by the community.

Minority Leader Brian May said, “This legislature received a tight, conservative, and responsible budget proposal from the Executive branch. The Ways & Means review produced positive improvements to fuel continued progress across county government and for all county residents.”

Majority Leader Nodesia Hernandez said, “This year’s budget review was a vigorous fiscal evaluation of the proposed budget. It was thorough and included our engagements with community stakeholders, County officials and commissioners, and legislators across the aisle. This body pushed for answers, and when we didn’t have clear answers about how dollars would be spent, we are holding those items in contingency until we know more. That’s the transparency we promised. In this revised spending plan, we held the line for taxpayers including expanded housing initiatives, adding food pantry support, and providing critical support to human services. In this economy, our community agencies are taking on so much with an overwhelming jump in families in need. While we know we will need to find ways to support them as well, this budget brings hope and proves that we can invest in people and our community while preparing for the future.”

Holding the Line on County Services  

• Child welfare caseworkers: Six (6) caseworkers for the Department of Children and Family Services, to reduce caseloads, improve retention and allow earlier intervention with families.
• Overdose response: Two (2) peer specialists and a case manager to expand the Health Department’s overdose response program to more hours and more of the county.
• Food security: A Department of Social Services program coordinator to oversee the county’s food security investments, and $250,000 for the Agriculture Council for the Syracuse Onondaga Food Systems Alliance.
• Sheriff’s vehicles: An additional $500,000 for Sheriff’s Office vehicles, bringing the total to $750,000.

Spending Held for Greater Transparency

The committee placed the following appropriations in contingency. The funds remain in the budget but will not be released until the Legislature receives more information from departments making the request:

• $2,000,000 for a Gen Z Down Payment Assistance Program
• $250,000 for a Local Farm and Food Security Pilot Program
• $420,000 for Water Environment Protection’s federal lobbying contract
• $312,500 for capital projects funded under the Honeywell consent decree

Regular Business: Local Laws and Resolutions Advanced to Session

The committee also advanced seven local laws and various resolutions to the full Legislature for vote on Tuesday, Oct. 6, including:

• ON HOME Local Law: The creation of the Onondaga County Housing Opportunity & Momentum Expansion Corporation, a housing development financing corporation that will provide financing for mixed-income developments and neighborhood homeownership and improvement (Leg. Watts).
• Deputy sheriffs’ contract resolution: The agreement with the Onondaga County Deputy Sheriff’s Benevolent Association covering 2024 through 2028.
• 2027 sewer rents and industrial wastewater surcharge rates resolution for the Onondaga County Sanitary District.  
• Fee updates for medical examiner and forensic services, Sheriff’s Office programs, and WEP plumbing permits, effective January 1, 2027.
• The Budget Act (Accountability in County Transfers), raising the County Executive’s annual transfer limit from $7,500 to $10,000 and requiring that transfer authority for when a budget transfer exceeds its allocated budgeted amount, the Legislature receive a report (Leg. Romeo).   
• A local law creating gender-neutral Charter language, changing “Chairman” to “Chair.” (Leg. Hernandez).
• A resolution in support of county employees on military duty, continuing pay differential and health coverage through 2027.  

Next Steps on County Budget

The public is invited to offer input on the 2027 Onondaga County Budget Public Hearing, scheduled for Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 5:00 PM in the Legislature Chambers in the County Courthouse.  Written comments will also be accepted until 11:59 p.m. and may be submitted by email to legislature@onondaga.gov with the subject line “10.1.26 Public Hearing.”

The Onondaga County Legislature will consider the budget, as amended, along with the other items advanced by the Ways & Means Committee at its session on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. in the Legislative Chambers. Both the Public Hearing and the Regular Session of the Legislature are open to the public and will be streamed live on the Legislature’s YouTube channel.