SYRACUSE -- Following a private meeting this past weekend, Republican floor leader Kathleen Rapp says Onondaga County leaders have found a way to eliminate the need for a property tax hike and a vehicle registration surcharge. 

After nearly two weeks of hearings on the proposed Onondaga County budget, three Republican leaders met privately with County Executive Joanie Mahoney on Saturday.  Rapp, who attended the meeting, says they came up with $7 million in savings and revenue.  Rapp says it's enough to eliminate the proposed 2.9 percent tax hike and a controversial surcharge on vehicle registrations.

Rapp says legislators were concerned about the long term impact of higher taxes on future economic development.  "We're seeing people leaving our county, leaving our state and the most often touted reason is the high taxes" Rapp told Action News.

Rapp says they came up with $7 million in revenue and savings through a series of spending cuts and revenue enhancements.  She says found $1 million in spending across the board, found another $2 million in the reserve fund for bonded debt, saved another $2 million by recently changing the county's health insurance carrier and took another $2 million from the reserve fund to eliminate the registration surcharge.

The county wanted to add another $5 or $10 to the costs of a registration depending on the vehicle's weight. People we talked with at the Department of Motor Vehicles were relieved to hear the surcharge is off the table. "Taxpayers are spending too much now" said Bob Murtha.

County Executive Joanie Mahoney issued a statement Monday afternoon.  It makes no mention of the private meeting, nor any of the budget changes that resulted. Mahoney says she " will be interested in seeing the Fiscal Ways and Means committee report."

Rapp says the lawmakers will be asked to approve a resolution calling upon county workers to pressure their union leadership so they can vote on whether to lose pay from a shorter work week, or forfeit their scheduled pay raises. Mahoney wants the county workers to work an hour less each day and give up an hour's pay.  Rapp says she's concerned that the shorter work week will affect the delivery of services.

The proposed changes to the Onondaga County budget go before the Ways and Means committee on Wednesday.