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Finance staff explain lower cash-capital request; council hears plan to use unspent project funds and selective bonding
Summary
Commissioner Mike Kennezera told Council the proposed FY26 budget reduces cash-capital appropriations to encourage departments to spend existing project balances; some items may instead be financed by bonds, and police vehicle replacement remains a planned recurring need.
During the April 15 budget hearing, Syracuse Finance Commissioner Mike Kennezera explained a significant reduction in proposed cash-capital appropriations in the FY26 budget and described a strategy to draw down unspent project balances before requesting new cash.
Ken- nezera said the drop from roughly $8.3 million in the capital plan to $2.1 million in the cash-capital line reflects a “reset”: finance staff identified existing open projects and available budgets in PeopleSoft that departments should spend before seeking new cash. “Spend the available funds you have before you ask for new things,” he said.
He acknowledged some items will still require borrowing. Chief examples discussed included police vehicle replacements, where Ken- nezera said bonding is an option because fleets have multi-year useful lives; he noted police cars can be financed by bond issuance tied to their useful life. Kennezera also said departments often have millions of dollars in available budgets from prior years that remain unspent and that better interdepartmental coordination is needed to use those funds first.
Councilors asked whether the city is shifting from cash to borrowing on routine items; Kennezera said some shift would occur but that the city is not simply replacing all cash-capital with debt. The discussion did not include any vote; staff said they will follow up with department-level spending reviews before finalizing cash-capital allocations.
