- By Marcia E. Lynch
- News
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The Legislature, without dissent, scheduled the public hearing on the 2013-2014 Tompkins Cortland Community College requested operating budget. (Legislator Kathy Luz Herrera was excused.) The hearing will be held July 2, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. at the County Legislature Chambers of the Tompkins County Courthouse, 320 N. Tioga Street, Ithaca. The $38.3 million requested budget is 2.19% greater than the current year’s budget. The proposed budget must be approved by both Tompkins and Cortland Counties, as sponsors of the College.
No Comment at Hearing Regarding 2014 Tax Cap
The Legislature sought citizen comment regarding a proposed Local Law that would leave open for the Legislature the option of overriding the State’s property tax cap, should that become necessary as part of the 2014 budget process. No one commented at the hearing.
While information from New York State required to calculate the County’s 2014 tax cap will not be available until late summer, County Administrator Joe Mareane has advised the Legislature that very preliminary calculations by his office indicate that the cap might be around 2.5%. Mareane has cautioned that if the County approves a budget that its calculations show is within the cap, the State could penalize the County if it, upon audit, finds that those calculations were wrong, and the Legislature had not adopted a Local Law authorizing override of the cap, if necessary.
The proposal to adopt the Local Law, as recommended earlier today by the Legislature’s budget committee, notes that the law “is not predictive of the final tax levy but will provide the…Legislature flexibility to exceed the Property Tax Cap if it is deemed necessary, and to ensure that any State recalculation of the applicable limit will not make the County inadvertently out of compliance.” To take effect, the Local Law must be passed by a 60% majority of the Legislature.
Other business:
- The Legislature authorized appropriation of $40,700 from the Contingent Fund to support the cost through year’s end of a one-year Program Analyst position in the Department of County Administration. With an anticipated cost of approximately $77,200 spread over two budget years, it is estimated that a balance of $37,000 will remain to be funded as part of the 2014 budget.
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