Syracuse City auditor asks council to consider two new staff positions, cites audits that produced $5 million in state aid

Alexander Marion, Syracuse City auditor, asked members of the Common Council to consider adding two positions to the Department of Audit and to revisit pay for existing staff as they consider amendments to the city budget. Marion said the proposed additions would help the office maintain its workload of audits, reports and constituent assistance.

Marion told the council the office submitted a budget request that included two new positions — a project leader and an administrative analyst I — and proposed increasing the deputy city auditor’s salary to $85,000 to be more in line with other deputy department heads. He said the administration declined those staffing and salary requests but that he hoped the council would consider them during budget amendments.

The auditor emphasized the office’s small size and output: he said the Department of Audit operates with “just 4 and a half staff and a budget under $350,000,” and described it as…