SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner has plans to create an infrastructure-expense fund as part of the city’s capital-improvement program.
The City of Syracuse will use new fees collected from a special lighting district to create the fund.
It was among the initiatives Miner spoke about during the annual State of the City address held Thursday night at WCNY at 415 W. Fayette St.
“Special lighting districts are those areas in the City that have petitioned the Common Council to allow for street lighting different than standard lighting, and may typically be identified by decorative features or underground wiring. With the benefit of this special lighting come additional costs which are placed on the tax bills of the property owners within these districts,” Miner said in her speech.
Miner’s office released the script of her speech as she delivered her remarks at WCNY.
The Common Council asked Miner’s administration to evaluate the districts and their financial impacts, she added.
Her office conducted research to inventory all of the city’s special street lighting and calculate the costs. The city has more than 130 of the special-lighting districts, created over the past 100 years, Miner said.
For the most part, she added, the charges for these special street lights have never been adjusted to their actual costs.
“The City’s bill from National Grid for this lighting is more than $1.9 million annually, but property owners in these districts are only charged about $223,000 a year. That $1.7 million gap is made up by all other City taxpayers, who do not enjoy the benefits of this special lighting,” Miner said in her remarks.
Miner’s office plans to consolidate the total number of districts throughout the city, and will work with the Common Council to phase in the increases in special-lighting charges required to cover the districts’ costs.
“This new revenue will provide us the opportunity to enhance infrastructure investment in our budgeting process. I plan to create a dedicated infrastructure fund, as part of the city capital-improvement program, which will be supported by these new revenues,” Miner said.
The fund will enable Syracuse to finish more “proactive infrastructure-improvement projects,” Miner said.
Besides infrastructure, Miner’s speech also touched on public-safety initiatives, education, and downtown living.