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COVID-19’s Impact on the 2021 County Budget COVID-19's Impact on the Upcoming County Budget

By Cameron Cortigiano

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© 2020 Cameron Cortigiano

ANCHOR: The Onondaga County budget is going to feel the impact of COVID-19, as the pandemic has thrown a wrench in the plan. Cam Cortigiano reports live for NCC News.

REPORTER: The 2021 Onondaga County budget is currently under review by the county legislature after County Executive Ryan McMahon presented it yesterday. The budget is likely to be much lower than it was this year, as McMahon said COVID-19 led to a large loss in sales tax revenue.

RYAN MCMAHON: Our sales tax revenue, even though it is improving in the third quarter, and now we are going into the fourth quarter, uh is still off over ya know 30 million dollars.

REPORTER: McMahon said taxes will not be raised in response to the pandemic. Carlin Johnson, a part-time county resident, believes that taxes should have seen an increase to make up for lost resources.

CARLIN JOHNSON: I think that it might have been more beneficial to raise the taxes a little bit to really help those that need it.

REPORTER: The legislature will start their review of the budget in the coming days and make revisions. Reporting live in Syracuse, Cam Cortigiano, NCC News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS)- Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon presented the 2021 county budget to the county legislature on Wednesday, November 4th. The budget is impacted heavily by the shutdown caused by COVID-19 earlier in the year.

McMahon said, “We’re going to be putting forward a budget that will be millions, tens of millions of dollars less than it was in 2020.” A big reason for this is the lack of sales tax revenue, even after the strong economy in quarter one and a decent rebound in quarter three. “We go to over 20% negative growth in Q2,” said McMahon, which led to the sales tax revenue being, “still off over 30 million dollars.”  He is also concerned about the revenue for quarter four, as the number of cases in the county is starting to rise.

A bump up in taxes is not coming in the 2021 budget, and while it seems like a positive for many, it could lead to a loss of services and could have replenished the county’s resource bank that they lost during the shutdown. “I think that it might have been more beneficial to raise the taces a little bit to really help those that need it,” said part-time county resident Carlin Johnson.

The county legislature will begin their review of the budget in the coming days and make their revisions before finalizing the budget for 2021.

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