§ 838. Traffic signals in Onondaga county. The board of supervisors of Onondaga county may annually appropriate such sums as it may deem proper for the installation and maintenance of traffic signals upon highways in the county, but the total amount of money so appropriated in any one year shall not exceed one-half of the total cost of such work in the county during the year. The board of supervisors of such county shall annually raise by tax a sum sufficient to pay the amount of money appropriated pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision or shall finance the cost of such installations, in whole or in part, by the issuance of tax anticipation notes or budget notes pursuant to the local finance law.