A Syracuse Common Council committee met Wednesday afternoon to discuss an extension of a sales tax agreement between Syracuse and Onondaga County, including the possibility of the city leaving the agreement.

The Finance, Taxation and Assessment committee of the Council reviewed the proposed extension, which would provide the city tens of millions of dollars more in revenue over 10 years.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced the extension in December, two years before the original 2010 agreement was set to expire. The new extension will expire in 2030 if approved by the Council.

“Extending this historic sales tax agreement is simply the right thing to do for our County as a whole,” McMahon said in a statement in December.

The proposed agreement will make sure the city sees approximately a quarter of sales tax revenue in Onondaga County, totaling more than $800 million over 10 years, said Christine Elliott, director of administration for the mayor’s office.

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It also guarantees the city’s share of revenue generated by people outside city limits and ensures Syracuse gets sales tax revenue no matter where a good was purchased in Onondaga County, she said.

Syracuse has lagged behind other cities in economic and job growth. New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo backed Walsh’s “Syracuse Surge” economic growth and neighborhood redevelopment plan in his “State of the State” address this week.

“Achieving fiscal sustainability for the city of Syracuse has been one of our most important duties,” Elliott said.

Onondaga County has a 4 percent sales tax rate, with a 3 percent base rate, Elliott said. Counties in New York are allowed to levy a 3 percent sales tax rate, but the additional 1 percent is authorized by the New York state Legislature and must be reauthorized every two years, she added.

The city also compared options for sales tax alternatives. Elliott said the city could try to renegotiate the proposed sales tax rates Onondaga County legislators already approved.

“Going through the process of trying to renegotiate a deal we feel is very fair for the citizens of Syracuse, it can be incredibly time-consuming and keep us from doing the other important things that we are trying to do,” Elliott said.

Another option, dubbed the “Brexit” option, is for the city to preempt the county and charge its own sales tax, she said.

Syracuse could only charge sales tax at half of the base rate of the county, a 1.5 percent sales tax rate, if it chose to preempt Onondaga County, she said. The city would also have to declare a new process for sales tax collection and revenue, which it currently doesn’t have, she said.

Elliott, though, said there is no way to determine how much sales tax revenue the city could collect on its own unless the city were to preempt. New York state gathers data on sales tax revenue, but only does so based on taxing jurisdiction. There is no data for sales tax revenue by local municipality.

City Auditor Marty Masterpole, who formerly served on the Common Council, asked why the city and county are rushing to pass tax legislation when there are two years left until the expiration of the current agreement. He said the city needs more data on tax revenue and to know what will happen with Interstate 81 to make the best determination.

Common Councilor At-Large Michael Greene suggested Syracuse hire somebody to track sales taxes so data is available for the next sales tax agreement between the city and county.

“The fact that we don’t have the ability to really know what that would be seems to be something we should look at going forward,” Greene said.

If the Syracuse Common Council does not approve the tax-sharing plan by Jan. 30, the county’s approval will be rescinded, Elliott confirmed.

“We have a window to lock in a really good deal for the city of Syracuse and for our citizens for the next decade, and I would like to see us move that forward,” Elliott said.

Published on January 16, 2019 at 11:22 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001