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 examines the city's structural financial challenges, including that nearly half its property is tax-exempt and 8 percent is tax-delinquent, severely limiting property tax revenue collection. The city faces significant socioeconomic pressures, with 25.6 percent of families living in poverty compared to the state average of 10.8 percent, while its population decline has slowed to 0.9 percent from 2000-2010. Additionally, Syracuse has accumulated $292 million in outstanding debt and exhausted 52.9 percent of its constitutional debt limit—substantially higher than the median city's 23 percent—contributing to chronic budget gaps despite State aid growing at 4.8 percent annually over the previous decade.