Syracuse City finance staff say CHIPS reimbursements requested, launch payroll project and hire travel coordinator

Anne‑Marie Deegan, a finance department staffer, told city officials that Syracuse City processed roughly 25,000 voucher payments last fiscal year, has initiated a new payroll project with external consultants and has already requested outstanding CHIPS reimbursements while waiting for the state to allocate this year’s CHIPS funding.

Deegan, introduced to the council as the staffer at the table, said the finance-operations unit focuses on “payroll, … requisitions and vouchers,” and that last year her team “processed just over or just under 25,000 uh voucher payments,” entered about 4,000 requisitions and cut roughly 18,000 ACH/check payments. The metrics, she said, illustrate the volume the back office handles and the need for streamlined workflows.

The city is beginning a payroll modernization effort, Deegan said: “we're still doing that in the midst of also just starting our new payroll project with our new consultants. That's just getting underway.” The project will run alongside daily payroll processing, which Deegan said continues to ensure staff are paid on schedule.

On grant management, Deegan described a roughly year‑old Center of Excellence for grants that aims to coordinate finance, budget and the mayor’s research team to reduce duplicated or disjointed processes. The office has compiled a master list of more than 300 active grant accounts and is reviewing whether any accounts can be closed and whether reimbursements were missed.

Deegan said the city has “fully requested all of the reimbursements for all of the outstanding CHIPS funding” and is awaiting the state’s CHIPS allocation for the new year. She said the finance office expects to submit the first CHIPS claim in May but that the state’s timeline and the city’s CHIPS allocation for the year were not specified.

Asked about delays or repeated requests from funders, Deegan said that such problems are “not typically” her experience, noting that some reimbursement questions have been handled case by case and that clearer interdepartmental processes are intended to reduce confusion about what expenses are eligible for a given grant.

Deegan also said the city recently hired a travel coordinator — a former travel agent who moved from Ukraine — to manage bookings, hotel and transportation arrangements, and that the position is stationed at the police department because that department accounts for much of the travel. “He has some ways to do that that I don't know about as a non‑travel agent person,” Deegan said, adding the city hopes to see travel‑cost reductions by the end of next fiscal year.

On staffing, Deegan said the finance team has one current vacancy: a Business Operations Specialist position that was recently vacated and is being rehired. The meeting recessed after a motion to adjourn; councilors said the session will resume at 12:15 with a presentation from the Office of Management and Budget.

What happens next: the finance office will continue work on the Center of Excellence, finalize the payroll project planning with consultants and submit the CHIPS claim when the state provides the allocation; the committee scheduled the next session at 12:15 for the OMB presentation.