It had led to the brink of a catastrophic showdown over sharing of sales tax monies by local governments. But as YNN's Bill Carey reports, a debate over a formula for distributing those funds has ended with an unexpected show of unity.

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It had been less than a week since lawmakers considered a dramatic cut in the City of Syracuse's share of sales tax. Less than a week since the city threatened to preempt any deal, throwing most local budgets into chaos.

In the days since, various groups had met behind the scenes and produced a deal that would restore most of the money lawmakers considered cutting from the city, while easing the impact on other local governments and schools.

Despite something of a war of words over the dollars and cents of the plan, in the end, the compromise solution was approved unanimously.

"I would have taken just one additional. I didn't need a landslide," said Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.

The three leaders most directly involved in the negotiations praised lawmakers for overcoming parochial concerns and looking closely at needs countywide.

"This was a very complex issue and I think what we were looking for, right from the get go, was balance," said James Rhinehart, Onondaga County Legislature Chairman.

In the end, all of the governments still face major deficit issues in the coming months and with tighter revenues, there is hope that the debate might spur new talk of consolidation of services.

"It is less important to me where those tax dollars are being collected. They're all being collected from Onondaga County residents and we have to put together a proposal that reduces that whole pie," said Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney.

"That is a healthy process that needs to start. Rather than simply looking at revenues as a way to prop up government," said Miner.

All sides hope they can find common ground in that coming debate, as well.

The new sales tax plan eventually eliminates shares of the revenue going to local towns and villages. The villages will get some additional funding to help ease the impact. School districts will also see their share cut dramatically in the coming years.