Archive: Around Town

Tompkins County Youth Services stands to lose most of its county support if the proposed 2011 budget is passed.  Youth services advocates have been lobbying legislators to put some or all of the money back, as well as going to the individual municipalities to ask that local contributions be maintained.  Last Monday Program Management Specialist Karen Coleman asked Village of Lansing Trustees to continue funding the Joint Youth Commission, which provides programs for the Villages of Lansing and Cayuga Heights and the Town of Ithaca.

"If the County budget passes the way it is now all youth programs through the County go away," Coleman told Trustees.  "That is pretty devastating since we serve over 2,300 kids every year in different capacities.  We're advocating now, and hoping municipalities will leave their allocations in.  We're talking to (County) legislators."

When County Administrator Joe Mareane presented his recommend 2011 budget early last month, the news was not good for county youth services.  His proposed budget eliminated $247,000 for the Municipal Youth Development program and reduced funding for the Learning Web's Community and Career Apprentice Program by 50%.  Since that time county and municipal youth services representatives have been visiting municipalities to urge them to continue contributing to their programs, at least at current levels.

The Joint Youth Commission receives $27,000 from the County, $72,000 from the Town of Ithaca, and $13,500 from the Village of Lansing.  $22,000 of that goes to youth salaries for about 32 kids, who each work between 50 and 100 hours during the year.

Coleman noted that the loss of county funding will also mean losing matching funds from other sources.  That will especially impact the Learning Web and Cornell Cooperative Extension, which is a contractor for youth services.  She said that if the Joint Youth Commission loses their contract with Cooperative Extension they might not necessarily be grandfathered in if they want to renew later, which would have financial and program impact.

The Village of Lansing participates in the Joint Youth Commission, because a large portion of the Village is in the Ithaca School District.  Acknowledging that kids like to participate in programs with their friends from school, the Village has contributed to this and other youth programs to insure that Village kids can do that. 

Phil Dankert also asked the Trustees to continue a $13,000 contribution to the Recreation Partnership.  That cooperative, one of the largest in New York State, includes ten municipalities within the county.  The Town of Lansing does not participate because it has its own extensive Recreation Department, but the Village does participate, again recognizing that kids like to participate with their school friends.

Trustees agreed that they will continue to contribute to both programs.

Over a month ago Community Youth Services Coordinator Janice Johnson visited the Town of Lansing Board to make her case for funding Lansing Youth Services.  She argued that youth services is a very small piece of the overall county budget, that kids who are in youth services programs are probably not robbing a store or getting pregnant.  She also pointed out that most other counties have the expense of parks and recreation departments.  In Tompkins County that expense is born by the municipalities, so pushing the full responsibility for youth services onto the municipalities ignores the fact that they have already taken on programs and expenses that are more typically handled by counties in New York State.

Town youth services programs stand to lose more than half of their funding if youth services money is not restored in the county budget.  Town officials deliberated, and came up with ideas to save Lansing Youth Services in some form if the county money actually goes away.  One idea floated by Town Board members is to form a town youth services department under the umbrella of the Parks and Recreation department.  While board members were not anxious to increase the Town's contribution, they were eager to continue contributing at the current level, and to insure that at least some of the programs will survive.

In a public county budget meeting on September 27 more than 60 people came to weigh in on the proposed youth services cuts.  About half argued in favor of restoring the money, while others urged that such programs be supported by charitable organizations and grants, rather than by government money.  County Legislators will have to weigh these arguments before finalizing the budget in November.  A formal budget hearing is scheduled for November 3rd at 7pm.

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