Onondaga County 2027 budget: presentation September 15, public hearing October 1, vote October 6

Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon II presents his proposed 2027 county budget to the County Legislature at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. The Ways and Means Committee reviews it through September 29, the public hearing is at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, and the full Legislature meets to consider the budget at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6. The proposal had not been released as of September 13, 2026.

Why it matters: this vote sets the county property tax rate and the sewer charge on every home. The adopted 2026 budget totals $1,609,166,657 with a county tax rate of $2.93 per $1,000 of full value, the lowest in the ten years the budget book tracks.

The number to watch first is sales tax. Onondaga County’s collections rose 7.4 percent in the first half of 2026, to $259.4 million from $241.5 million a year earlier, per the state Comptroller’s July 2026 report. The county built its 2026 budget on 1.5 percent growth, about one fifth of that pace. Sales tax is 23.5 percent of all 2026 revenue, the largest line.

CNY Signal has not seen the 2027 proposal. Everything below comes from the adopted 2026 budget, the adopted 2026 to 2031 capital plan, Legislature resolutions and the clerk’s review schedule.

When does the Legislature vote on the 2027 Onondaga County budget?

From the clerk’s memo, “2027 Budget Review Schedule.” Sessions are at the County Courthouse, 401 Montgomery Street, Syracuse.

The county’s operating budget calendar (Section 1, page 9 of the 2026 budget) adds the backstops: adoption by October 15, county executive vetoes of additions by October 20, veto votes by October 25, and a hard deadline of the first Monday in November, November 2, 2026.

Also on October 1, at 4 p.m., a resolution on the September 1 agenda called a public hearing on an amended schedule of sewer rents for the Onondaga County Sanitary District.

The 2026 baseline

The 2026 budget is 3.0 percent above the 2025 adopted budget of $1,562.2 million (Section 2, page 2).

Where the 2026 dollars come from (Section 1, page 19), in millions:

– Sales tax, county portion: $377.5
– State aid: $217.6
– Federal aid: $163.7
– Property tax levy: $153.6, of which the countywide levy is $146.2
– Sales tax passed through to the City of Syracuse and others: $126.5
– Sewer unit charge: $96.4

Where they go (Section 1, page 20), in millions, with changes from 2025 calculated by CNY Signal:

– Wages: $301.2, up 2.5 percent
– Benefits: $230.7, up 3.1 percent
– Mandated programs: $284.2, up 8.9 percent from $260.8

Sales tax: the assumption versus the receipts

The county’s 2026 share of gross sales tax is budgeted at $377,475,217, 1.5 percent above an estimated $371.9 million for 2025 (Section 2, page 31). The county keeps about 75 percent of collections and the City of Syracuse 25 percent (Section 2, page 30).

The state Comptroller’s totals for Onondaga County as a whole: $501.4 million in 2025, up 2.5 percent from $489.1 million in 2024. The first half of 2026 was up 7.4 percent, with both quarters above 7 percent. Counties statewide grew 5.7 percent over the same six months.

One caveat from the same report: effective June 1, 2026, Onondaga County switched its motor fuel sales tax from a percentage rate to cents per gallon, which the Comptroller says is “effectively reducing the amount they collect” when gasoline prices spike.

Property tax: three years at the same levy

The countywide levy was $146,225,244 in 2024, 2025 and 2026, unchanged each year (Section 2, page 13). The rate fell because full value rose: $49.9 billion in 2026, up 13.2 percent, took the rate from $3.31 to $2.93 per $1,000, an 11.7 percent cut. County tax on $100,000 of full value in 2026 runs $292 to $295 depending on the town, against $330 to $334 in 2025 (Section 2, page 20).

Reserves: nearly double the county’s own target

The general fund’s unreserved balance was $242.3 million at the end of 2024, or 29.2 percent of adjusted general fund revenue of $830.7 million. County policy (Resolution 127-2022) targets 15 percent, so by CNY Signal’s arithmetic the balance was about $117.7 million above the goal. The budget book planned $33 million of use during 2025, leaving an estimated $209.3 million, and the 2026 budget appropriates none (Section 2, pages 5 and 7). McMahon’s September 15, 2025 presentation, as recorded by the clerk, said the 2026 budget “for the 8th year in a row, does not use any fund balance.”

Oak Orchard and the capital plan

The biggest item already committed for 2027 is the expansion of the Oak Orchard Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Town of Clay. On December 29, 2025, the Legislature approved the project at a maximum estimated cost of $549.5 million and authorized $515 million in bonds, each by a 12 to 5 vote (Resolutions 199 and 200 of 2025). The Water Environment Protection report in that packet estimates annual debt service of $38,765,000 on a 20-year bond at 4.4 percent, $9.16 million a year in operating cost, and a user rate impact of $239.62 per sewer unit per year. The 2026 sewer unit charge is $476.58 per household (Section 2, page 12).

The adopted 2026 to 2031 capital plan schedules $308.8 million of capital funding in 2027, up from $288.3 million in 2026. Oak Orchard is $150 million of the 2027 total, 49 percent by CNY Signal’s calculation, followed by $280 million in 2028. Other 2027 lines: sewer consolidation $21.0 million, E-911 Center expansion $20.5 million. The six-year plan totals $1,161,231,016, against a ten-year historical average of $733.3 million.

On debt, the county reports general fund indebtedness of $733.64 per capita against its own policy ceiling of $700, and 11.30 percent of its constitutional debt limit used as of August 31, 2025 (Section 7, page 3).

Already decided for 2027

The Legislature adopted Onondaga Community College’s $73,654,251 budget for 2026-27 on June 2, 17 to 0, placing a $10,472,000 county contribution in the 2027 tax levy (Resolution 111). Resolution 128 caps 2027 legislator salaries at $76,000.