I attended Onondaga County’s budget hearing tonight and made the follow comments. These comments are based on the concerns I heard at my town hall last week and hearing from residents across district 10.
Good evening. I appreciate that this public hearing is being held at 5:00pm and not in the middle of the work day but this is the second year that this public hearing is being held on a Jewish holiday. I hope this legislature is more mindful of this in the future.
I attended last year’s budget public hearing and commented that the 2025 budget continued the status quo and I would say the same for the 2026’s budget. Onondaga county residents and employees will keep managing, surviving but this budget doesn’t help us thrive.
I am glad to see some much needed investment into county facilities so we have healthier and safer buildings for our county employees to work in and technology upgrades to be able to provide the services residents rely on effectively and efficiently.
It is also nice to see federal and state aid increasing to help cover the increasing demand and cost of mandated programs such as day care, foster care, family assistance and special children services. But having 100 families on a waiting list for child care assistance this year for these essential programs while the county has over $200 million in a rainy day fund is concerning.
This year the legislature voted to spend $27 million of our reserves to buy land for semiconductor supply chain companies and $5 million for the Onondaga County Housing Initiative Program. When we are in a housing crisis these spending choices do not align with what we need. The housing crisis we are in makes the houses we do have unaffordable, we are seeing the highest increases in rent because we do not have enough supply and so much of our current housing is in need of repair.
This impacts the county budget because when rent goes up housing assistance goes up increasing our budget. With the federal government budget cuts coming, I am here to advocate that if and when we need to tap into our healthy reserves that we prioritize people. Non-profits have lost funding, people are losing their jobs, the need to care for people is increasing and I hope the county steps up. Instead of layoffs & cutting jobs like Onondaga county did during COVID. I want the county to invest in services & our workers so that we can provide for our residents and help them through this challenging time.
Thank you.
