Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) — In a 7-2 vote, the Syracuse Common Council voted “yes” to a new program aimed at placing the responsibility of sidewalk maintenance on the city government instead of property owners.
This means that homeowners are no longer responsible for fixing damaged sidewalks and the city will take over snow removal in the winter months.
With this new plan, the city will charge property owners an annual sidewalk fee. That fee will be $100 for residential owners and $300 for commercial owners. It will be phased in over six years. The first year of this program is free, then the fee will increase by $20 each of the five years after that. For commercial owners, the amount will increase by $60 each year until it reaches $300.
The program is expected to cost $4.5 million a year.
The council has been debating the current program for the last few months, mostly about the impact of the new program on taxpayers.
Some councilors still want to revise the legislation saying that this new program will open up the city to unnecessary liability concerns.
The city could begin repairing sidewalks as early as the first week of July.
