Syracuse City schedules public hearing on housing strategy; staff outline budget cap and program terms

Syracuse City Council on Thursday moved to hold a public hearing on the city's proposed housing strategy after staff provided updated program and budget documents.

Chelsea Bantz, Deputy Commissioner of Neighborhood Development, told councilors she had circulated updates after a recent committee meeting that included a full budget, a 10-year activity plan and draft program terms. "I sent out some updates following last Wednesday's committee meeting, which included a full budget...10 year activity plan, and then, drafts of all programmatic terms that have been contemplated by the board to date," Bantz said.

Bantz said the administration will limit indirect administrative spending to no more than $250,000, which she described as 10% of the city's allocated dollars for the strategy, and that no new city positions will be created using these funds. "We will not be spending any more than, $250,000, which is 10% of the city's dollars on any sort of indirect admin costs, and there will be no new positions that are created, using those funds," she said.

During the discussion, Councilor Caldwell defended the council's approach toward the plan and pushed back on characterizations that the council was delaying funds to neighborhoods. Speaking about Salt Springs (mentioned in the transcript as "Soft Springs"), Caldwell said she grew up there and urged that the city "do it in a right way." "This money was approved over a year ago, and then it...came back to the council about saying, oh, we need to move it again," Caldwell said. She added that she wants the city to avoid alarming residents and emphasized care with taxpayer dollars: "We're not against it, but we wanna make sure it's done right. And that's our fiduciary responsibility."

Caldwell also referenced funding mechanics and timing: "2,500,000 is not a lot of money. $5,000,000 is reimbursable. It's not that we get it right away," she said, explaining that some funds are reimbursable and not immediately available.

Councilors agreed to hold item 150 for a public hearing with item 151 serving as the public-notice advertisement. Staff said they will provide the complete spreadsheet of park program locations and other requested details ahead of a follow-up committee meeting. The transcript shows no formal adoption of the strategy at this meeting; the item was set for public hearing to allow community comment and further council consideration.

Next steps: council will hold the advertised public hearing, staff will circulate the final spreadsheet of program locations and the administration will return with any additional requested clarifications.