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Syracuse's Chief Financial Officer Michael Cannizzaro will resign at the end of February because he no longer meets the city's residency requirement, according to city officials.
Cannizzaro, who has served in the finance department since 2020, will step down from his senior aide position on February 28, Deputy Mayor Corey Driscoll Dunham confirmed in response to a media inquiry.
The Syracuse city charter requires most employees to live within city limits, with exceptions for certain positions like police officers, firefighters, and sanitation workers. Property records show Cannizzaro, 36, has owned a home in the town of Onondaga since September 2023.
Cannizzaro was recently elevated to the newly created CFO position by Mayor Sharon Owens, who took office in January. The role included oversight of both the finance department and the city's Office of Management and Budget. Owens had specifically praised Cannizzaro's performance when announcing his promotion in December.
"What elevating him to CFO does is bring him in this room and make him a part of those conversations," Owens said in a January interview. "You have to have the guy managing your finances in that cone of decision making."
Before his promotion, Cannizzaro served as finance commissioner under former Mayor Ben Walsh from mid-2023 through the end of 2025. He began his city government career as director of accounting before becoming first deputy commissioner of finance in 2022.
A certified public accountant, Cannizzaro brought private sector experience from the global accounting firm Ernst & Young and Syracuse-based shopping mall developer Pyramid Management Group. He is a graduate of Henninger High School and earned a bachelor's degree in applied economics and management from Cornell University.
Dunham said the city will announce "interim leadership arrangements" soon to ensure continuity of financial operations.