Highlights from the October 8, 2024 Meeting of the Tompkins County Expanded Budget Committee

Friday, October 11, 2024

Understanding the 2025 Recommended Tompkins County Budget

• The recommended 2025 Tompkins County Budgetwas prepared by the County Administrator and delivered to the Legislature on September 3. The recommended budget totals $252.3M, with revenues made up primarily of local property taxes (levy), sales tax receipts, and State and federal funding.
• The proposed total property tax levy is $55.7M, which is $2.3M, or 4.34%, higher than 2024. If passed, this would result in a $138 increase in the property tax bill for the owner of a median-priced ($300,000) home.
• Departmental and agency budgets can be found in the 2025 Recommended Budgetor in the links in the title of each section below.
• As part of this budget development process all departments and funded not-for-profit agencies were asked to submit a budget with a 5% reduction due to cost increases and constraintson available funds for one-time use.
• Departments and agencies can make over-target requests as part of the budget process, which they detail during presentations to the Expanded Budget Committee. Over-target requests are detailed in departmental and agency budgets in the online budget system (links above and below). Some over-target requests are included in the recommended budget, others are made for the Legislature to consider when voting on the budget.
• Highlights below focus on the amendments made by Legislators during the budget process.
• For more detail, read the County Administrator's 2025 Budget Message.

The Legislature added $100,000 in one-time funding for language access programming, which will maintain and increase translation on the County's website (12-1, Legislator Mike Lane (D-Dryden) opposed, Rich John (D-Ithaca) excused).

$25,000 to pay for interns under the County's chief equity and diversity officer and other diversity, equity, and inclusion programming failed to be added (7-7, Legislators Shawna Black (D-Ithaca), Amanda Champion (D-Ithaca), Deborah Dawson (D-Lansing), Dan Klein (D-Danby), Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton), Mike Sigler (R-Lansing), and Rich John (D-Ithaca) opposed).

Target funding of $84,109 for special patrol officers at the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office was funded (14-0). These positions assist with airport security and transport services for incarcerated individuals to and from the courthouse and other facilities.

$44,009 was funded to restore target funding for a part time sheriff's deputy position (13-1, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) opposed).

Two sheriff's clerk positions costing a total of $175,006 will be funded in 2025 with one-time funds (12-2, Legislators Mike Lane (D-Dryden) and Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton) opposed).

$106,000 for software in the Assessment Department was approved as a one-time request (14-0). The remaining costs for the program implementation will be covered through next year's budget, this is a two-year one-time request.

An amendment for $84,564 to fund an assistant real property appraiser position in the Assessment Department was not funded (4-10, Legislators Shawna Black (D-Ithaca), Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca), Randy Brown (R-Newfield), Amanda Champion (D-Ithaca), Susan Currie (D-Ithaca), Anne Koreman (D-Ulysses), Mike Lane (D-Dryden), Greg Mezey (D-Dryden), Veronica Pillar (D-Ithaca), and Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton) opposed).

A proposed $250,000 to be earmarked in the County's 2025 contingent fund for a geothermal energy project at the Department of Emergency Response passed 11-2 (Legislators Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton) and Mike Sigler (R-Lansing) opposed, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused). The money will be set aside until a vote in 2025 after more information on the availability of grant funds is known.

$178,861 in three-year one-time funding for emergency shelter staff passed 13-0 (Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused). The funding will allow the Department of Social Services to scale up its operations to develop and operate an emergency shelter serving people experiencing homelessness.

$19,533 was approved in one-time funds to transition the County Attorney's Office to using new software to process Freedom of Information Law requests (13-0, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

The Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District will receive $200,000 to establish a fund balance within the organization to cover its unexpected costs before reimbursements are made (13-0, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

ElectionStats, a program to display election results and historical data, will be funded for the Board of Elections through an $8,000 target amendment (12-1, Legislator Randy Brown (R-Newfield) opposed, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

$16,400 in one-time funding will be provided to the Suicide Prevention Coalition through Tompkins County Whole Health for part-time staff to manage programs (12-1, Legislator Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton) opposed, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

The County Historian's budget will have $940 restored in target for the historian's stipend (8-5, Legislators Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton), Shawna Black (D-Ithaca), Amanda Champion (D-Ithaca), Deborah Dawson (D-Lansing), Susan Currie (D-Ithaca) opposed, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

An amendment to remove $20,000 from the budgeted amount to support the Tompkins County Public Library and allocate that funding to be spread across rural libraries passed 8-5 (Legislators Shawna Black (D-Ithaca), Susan Currie (D-Ithaca), Rich John (D-Ithaca), Anne Koreman (D-Ulysses), and Mike Lane (D-Dryden) opposed, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

A $15,000 amendment to fund the Enfield Community Council failed 1-12 (Legislator Randy Brown (R-Newfield) in favor, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused). Legislators discussed that funding the organization in this way would constitute an unallowed gift according to the New York State Comptroller's Office.

A three-year one-time amendment to restore $37,960 in payroll expenses for Cornell Cooperative Extension passed 7-6 Legislators Mike Sigler (R-Lansing), Shawna Black (D-Ithaca), Amanda Champion (D-Ithaca), Deborah Dawson (D-Lansing), Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton), and Susan Currie (D-Ithaca) opposed, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

$150,000 was reduced from the budget for utilities costs (13-0, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused). This was arrived at after estimates for actual expenses in 2024.

$4,000 was proposed but not added in mileage expenses for Legislators (6-7, Legislators Amanda Champion (D-Ithaca), Susan Currie (D-Ithaca), Deborah Dawson (D-Lansing), Rich John (D-Ithaca), Greg Mezey (D-Dryden), Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton), and Mike Sigler (R-Lansing) opposed, Legislator Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused).

$1,478,617 was moved to be spent from the County's fund balance, with $409,715 to cover one-time costs passed through amendments, and $1,068,902 applied to reduce the tax levy increase by 2% to 1.29% (equivalent to $95.66 for a median homeowner in Tompkins County). The amendment failed 5-8, Legislators Shawna Black (D-Ithaca), Amanda Champion (D-Ithaca), Susan Currie (D-Ithaca), Deborah Dawson (D-Lansing), Rich John (D-Ithaca), Anne Koreman (D-Ulysses), Mike Lane (D-Dryden), and Veronica Pillar (D-Ithaca) opposed).

The budget that will be moved forward to be considered by the Legislature at its October 15 meeting would include all amendments approved during the Expanded Budget Committee meetings and raise the local property tax levy 3.29%, to $55,203,509. The levy increase will result in an increase of $123.66 on the tax bill for a median-priced home ($300,000). It was moved out of the Expanded Budget Committee by a vote of 7-6, (Legislators Dan Klein (D-Danby), Randy Brown (R-Newfield), Rich John (D-Ithaca), Greg Mezey (D-Dryden), Lee Shurtleff (R-Groton), and Mike Sigler (R-Lansing) opposed, Travis Brooks (D-Ithaca) excused). A vote on this tentative budget is scheduled for the October 15 meeting of the Tompkins County Legislature.