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Onondaga County’s proposed budget for 2021 is $84 million less than the 2020 budget, County Executive Ryan McMahon announced Wednesday. 

At his annual budget address, McMahon announced several cuts to the budget for the upcoming year to account for budget shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic. The county’s sales tax revenue decreased by over $22 million due to the pandemic, McMahon said.

“While the human toll on our community has been tragic, we also knew that COVID-19 would have a devastating impact to our local economy,” McMahon said. “While our economy is undoubtedly rebounding, there is still volatility and uncertainty that we must account for.”

McMahon’s proposed budget allocates $1.25 billion, a 6.3% decrease from the 2020 budget. The proposed budget allocates $6.8 million to the county’s COVID-19 recovery and response fund and $3.1 million to the distressed hospital fund.

The county also budgeted for a $20 million cut in aid from New York state, McMahon said. The county received no direct aid from the federal government throughout the pandemic, he said.

“Onondaga County did all of this with zero direct aid from the federal government,” McMahon said. “This is a testament to the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our county workforce.”

The county saved about $34 million in wages, McMahon said. There are 500 fewer positions in the county this year than last year, and Onondaga County now employs less than 2,900 people.

The county’s retirement incentive encouraged some employees to retire. Others participated in the voluntary furlough program while some employees were involuntarily furloughed. Only seven county employees have been laid off during the pandemic, McMahon said.

While the county projects an approximately 7% increase in sales tax receipts in 2021, the budget only accounts for a 4% increase. The budget also increases funding for daycare and early childhood programming, which has helped essential workers throughout the pandemic, he said.

“It’s a budget that reflects the realities of our ‘new normal’,” McMahon said. “It is our hope that this ‘new normal’ is ultimately a temporary one.”

Published on November 5, 2020 at 9:55 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu