FISCAL PROFILE OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK STATE COMPTROLLER

AI Summary

This 2013 fiscal profile of Syracuse by the New York State Comptroller's Office documents significant fiscal challenges facing the city, including nearly 50% tax-exempt property (compared to 32% statewide), 8% tax-delinquent properties, and 25.6% of families living in poverty—more than double the state average. As the fifth-largest city in New York with a population of 145,170, Syracuse has a debt of $292 million representing 52.9% of its constitutional debt limit (far exceeding the median city's 23%), and faces chronic budget gaps driven by declining population, deteriorating industrial sector, and growing fixed costs for both the city and its dependent school district. The city has established a Land Bank with Onondaga County to address abandoned properties and has exhausted 68.6% of its constitutional tax limit.