The City of Syracuse’s latest audit, “Following the Fire: Analysis of 2024 Vacant Structure Fires,” (link) sheds important light on the connection between vacant properties and public safety. According to the report:

  • Nearly 30% of all structure fires in 2024 occurred in vacant buildings.

  • 76% of those vacant fires involved unsecured structures.

  • One that stood out: Only 18.8% of these properties were registered with the city’s Vacant Property Registry.

These are serious findings, but they’re also familiar ones.

This report follows on the heels of a January 2025 audit that revealed similarly low compliance with the city’s rental registry. In that case, (link) only a fraction of rental properties were properly registered—signaling a larger pattern of underperformance in property registration programs.

However there is one clear distinction between the two.

Finding #10 in the recent fire audit highlights the low percentage of vacant properties that were registered. But the report doesn’t distinguish between different types of vacant properties.
Severely deteriorated properties, especially those with a history of ignoring property maintenance violations, are the least likely to register. Lumping these into the same compliance rate as more stable properties paints an unfairly bleak picture.

To get an accurate sense of registry effectiveness, municipalities should isolate long-term noncompliant properties from the broader pool.

Even if these numbers were adjusted correctly, there is a better approach, rather than placing more burden on already overextended staff, Syracuse should consider what many other communities have already done: outsourcing the administration of its property registries.

At MuniReg, we partner with municipalities across the country to:

  • Boost compliance rates.

  • Reduce administrative burden on staff.

  • Identify and engage hard-to-reach owners.

  • Help shift from reactive enforcement to proactive management.

This isn’t a criticism of existing personnel, it’s a strategic decision to align resources where they’re most effective. We operate on a performance-based model, meaning we only succeed when cities do.

The Following the Fire audit and the earlier rental registry report both point to the same conclusion: current systems are falling short.

But with the right perspective, and the right partners, this challenge can become an opportunity. An opportunity to rethink compliance. An opportunity to protect neighborhoods. An opportunity to maximize limited city resources.

If you are ready to get more out of its registration programs, we’re ready to help.