Days of Taxpayers Funding Fireworks Shows in Syracuse, NY, May be Numbered

Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse’s fire chief is proposing a new ordinance that would cost the city’s Minor League Baseball team thousands of dollars for fireworks displays, ending decades of what he calls taxpayer underwriting of fire prevention and protection at these and other pyrotechnic events throughout the city.

Syracuse Fire Department Chief Michael Monds is requesting Common Council approval for a new pyrotechnic permitting fee structure that would help recover the personnel costs that come with making sure those shows are safe.

The request follows a significant brush fire last month caused by a fireworks show at the Syracuse Mets game, but the chief said that fire was not the impetus for the proposal.

Instead, cuts to his department’s overtime budget have driven him to take action that will help pay for extra services they provide.

The city sends a fire inspector to the site of a permitted pyrotechnics display for one to four hours, depending on the size of the show. Syracuse currently has a $25-per-event pyrotechnics permit on the books, far below what other upstate New York cities charge, Monds said. Rochester, for example, has a $294 fee while Binghamton is at $286.

The chief is asking the council to approve a tiered system of permits. For permits for cold sparkler displays common at rock concerts, a $75 fee would apply because an inspector is there for an hour. But for full-blown fireworks shows, like those at NBT Bank Stadium after many baseball games, the fee would jump to $300.

“For lack of a better term, I think we’ve been underwriting some of these costs out of our budget,” Monds said. “Times have changed, the budget is different, and now we’re looking at making sure that we’ll do the work, but we just need to get reimbursed for it.”

The biggest impact will be on the Mets. The organization actually has been paying just $25 for a whole season of fireworks shows instead of the per-event fee. That issue, which Monds said has probably been happening for decades, was discovered by City Auditor Alexander Marion during an audit last year of city licensing operations.

Marion brought the issue to Mayor Ben Walsh’s administration last summer, when the Mets were in the middle of 26 planned fireworks shows for the 2024 season.

“The Syracuse Mets acquire a single annual permit, at a cost of just $25.00, covering all fireworks shows,” he wrote in a letter to the mayor. “Spread over 26 events, each pyrotechnic display is effectively charged $0.96 by the City.”

Marion also noted that the fire department keeps an engine company on standby for stadium fireworks shows. Based on personnel and FEMA’s formula for equipment reimbursements, he put the cost to city taxpayers at $2,000 per event.

“The City should rightfully recoup its costs when providing expensive public services to the private entities which host and profit from these events,” Marion wrote.

Monds said he’s not asking for the Mets to cover the cost of the standby coverage because that engine company is staffed by firefighters already on duty who are free to respond to other calls in the city.

But providing the fire inspector for the shows has been a money-losing operation. In 2023 and 2024, the city spent $33,700 on personnel costs for 110 pyrotechnic events, while collecting only about 8% of those costs through the $25 permit fees.

Because the baseball franchise holds the most fireworks shows in the city by far, Monds had discussed the matter with the team’s management. Based on 25 shows in a season, the Mets’ annual permit cost could jump from $25 to $7,500.

Mets General Manager Jason Smorol said he understands the fire chief’s position and is not planning to advocate against the change. But it’s too early to know if the team will cut back on the number of shows it holds in future seasons.

“Whatever the city deems is the policy and the fire department deems is the right thing to do, we’re going to abide by it because we’re good members of this community,” Smorol said. “We believe in the work that the men and women of the Syracuse Fire Department do.”

If approved by council, the new fee structure would go into effect next year. Monds was trying to get the proposal ready for the council’s next voting meeting on Aug. 11, but some additional legal research means it most likely will be pushed to its first meeting in September.

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