Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh on Friday announced $18 million in drastic cuts to offset losses related to the coronavirus pandemic.

A city once surging in economic growth is now feeling the financial pain from a pandemic.

“This is a day that I hoped would never come,” said Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh. “If the federal government acted sooner, we wouldn’t be here.”

The cuts include furloughs for more than 400 employees, implements a hiring freeze on 150 open positions, and will reduce or cut multiple city services.

 “Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve taken decisive action to cut costs and control spending. For the most part, we’ve done so with limited impact on city residents and workforce,” said Mayor Walsh. “That won’t be the case with these next cuts. They are across-the-board and will severely impact city government’s ability to respond to constituent concerns. They will delay the completion of projects and slow improvements to city services and programs. Sadly, they will also hurt city employees, including many essential workers who have helped get us through the pandemic.”

The furloughs won't apply to firefighters, police officers, and sanitation workers, Walsh said. But, the police department will need to leave open 25 positions unfilled and make significant overtime reductions, the mayor said. The fire department will need to leave 50 positions unfilled, and "significantly cutback purchasing and delay station improvements."

The mayor's plan also reduces offerings by the city's parks and recreation department, including youth programs, the snow-removal program, the closure of some city pools and other park facilities. 

With the city facing a $41 million revenue loss due to the pandemic, and no federal aid coming its way as of now, Walsh said the city will begin to immediately implement the spending cuts between now and early fall. 

He says Senate Republicans are to blame.

“I’ve heard crickets from Washington, D.C. over the past week or so, and that’s disappointing and frustrating,” said Walsh. “The inaction has led us to this point and the longer we go without federal relief, the more drastic the cuts will be.”

The city had already offset $23 million, leaving an $18 million gap, Walsh said. 

"Waiting longer would require deeper workforce reductions and more damaging cuts to city services and expenditures," Walsh said.