City finance director says Syracuse will close FY25 with a smaller deficit than budgeted

Syracuse finance staff reported that preliminary numbers for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, show a smaller-than-expected deficit and outlined a proposed amendment to the FY2026 budget that largely reflects capital carryovers.

Steve (finance director) told the council the administration expects to close fiscal 2025 with a roughly $350,000 deficit, down from a budgeted deficit just over $1 million. He said the change reduced the projected draw on the city’s general-fund balance from the prior estimate by roughly $744,000.

Steve said the city's general-fund reserve—its rainy-day fund—stood at about 37.2% at June 30, 2024 (just over $10 million) and that the projected fund balance after FY25 will be about 30.7 percent. He described a one-time draw on funds assigned for Class C roads as the primary driver of a portion of the reduction: the Class C balance fell from about $3.1 million to approximately $1.2 million after road work that had been planned in the city’s five-year plan.

On revenues and expense drivers, Steve cited several contributors to the better-than-budgeted result: delayed hires in the fire department (budgeted positions that were filled late in the year and therefore recognized fewer payroll costs), the elimination of a court-reporter position, and typical departmental underspending of 2–5 percent. Sales-tax revenue grew about 6.6% over the prior year and came in close to the city’s projection.

Council members asked for clarification about fund-balance and budget line items. Steve explained the difference between the combined financial-statement fund-balance number (which includes several restricted or assigned funds such as the Class C road fund, park maintenance and others) and the single “general fund” number shown in the budget packet. He confirmed that the $5.9 million figure in the budget packet is a subset of the larger $8.5 million number discussed during the presentation.

On the proposed FY2026 budget amendment, staff said most line items in the red are carryovers of capital projects that extend across fiscal years, including a new allocation for construction of the 3000 West roundabout and related waterline work. The city will remove a proposed VAWA grant-funded part-time position after learning the grant was not awarded, and the stage sold by the city will now be budgeted as rental revenue.

The council asked about several land-purchase and park projects that remain in the budget packet; staff explained some purchases have paused while UDOT and other partners finalize property parcel documentation and that planned projects (including a BMX facility and a reservoir access road) are expected to cost less than initially budgeted, producing potential savings.

Ending: Staff will finalize audit numbers for public release in December and return amended FY2026 budget language for council consideration. No formal budget vote was taken during the work session.