SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Onondaga County legislators today approved a deal to extend the county’s existing sales tax sharing agreement with the city of Syracuse for another 11 years. If the Syracuse Common Council also votes yes, the agreement on how to split more than $350 million a year will run through 2030.
Today’s vote came less than three weeks after County Executive Ryan McMahon and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh proposed the deal. Although a few county legislators complained about the rush to vote -- the current deal does not expire until 2020 -- others saw the lack of public debate as evidence of a promising new era of inter-municipal cooperation.
Legislator Kevin Holmquist, R-Manlius, pointed out that the formula approved today is unchanged from when it was first adopted in 2010. But the 2010 debate was filled with long, rancorous hearings, and it sparked political feuds lasting years.
Part of the difference was that the 2010 deal marked a radical shift from the previous distribution formula. Holmquist said McMahon and Walsh also deserve credit for working behind the scenes this year to win support from suburban towns and villages, smoothing the way for approval.
In addition to the sales tax agreement, the county Legislature today unanimously approved a "village improvement fund'' that provides between $4.5 million and $6 million a year over the next decade to suburban villages that no longer receive sales tax revenues. Negotiated by McMahon and village mayors, the fund provides increased county funding compared with a similar program established in 2010.
Legislator Linda Ervin, the Democratic floor leader, voted in favor of the deal. But she also said the Legislature should have taken more time to examine possible modifications.
Leaders of the Syracuse Common Council said they expect city lawmakers to approve the sales-tax deal soon. The matter will be reviewed at a committee meeting before going to the council for a vote.
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Under the deal, Onondaga County keeps nearly 75 percent of the money collected. More than 24 percent goes to Syracuse. The small remainder, about 0.7 percent, is distributed among local school districts.
Fifteen county legislators voted to approve the sales tax deal. Only one, Legislator Ken Bush Jr., R-Elbridge, voted no. Newly appointed Legislator Julie Abbott-Kenan abstained because of her role as vice president of the Skaneateles School Board, she said.
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