Archive: News

The Tompkins County Department of Social Services will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, beginning at 1:00 p.m., to receive comments from the public on Appendix W of the Tompkins County Child and Family Services Plan.

The hearing will be held at the Beverly Livesay Conference Room of the Tompkins County Human Services Building, located at 320 W. Martin Luther King Jr./State St. Ithaca.

Appendix W lists services in Tompkins County for sexually exploited children as defined in Social Services Law 447-b.

Mike NozzolioIn recognition of his continuing efforts to make New York State more competitive by creating additional opportunities for small businesses to grow, expand and create well paying new jobs,  State Senator Mike Nozzolio has been honored by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) with its “Guardian of Small Business” award.  The “Guardian of Small Business” award is the highest award given by the NFIB and it recognizes Senator Nozzolio’s strong commitment and support of New York's independent small business owners.

“Independent businesses are the catalyst for new job growth in our State. They are integral to rebuilding our economy and creating a better future for our State and Nation,” said Senator Nozzolio. “It is an honor to receive this award and I commend the NFIB and Mike Durant, New York’s Executive Director,  for their unwavering support of our State’s job-producing independent businesses.”

Tom ReedRep. Tom Reed says if legislators are not able to pass a budget, they do not deserve to get paid.

“We are working to make Washington accountable to taxpayers by creating a transparent, business-like atmosphere where our debt and entitlement crises are addressed for the sake of our country, our children and grandchildren,” Reed said. “Holding the Senate accountable in passing a budget is a first step toward managing our nation’s finances.”

The House will vote this week to put pressure on the Senate to pass its first budget in nearly four years. The House has passed a budget in each of the last two years and Reed said it will do so again this year.

TCAT General Manager Joe Turcotte announced today that TCAT has broken ridership records in 2012 for the sixth consecutive year.

TCAT reported nearly 4.13 million annual trips in 2012, a 4.7 percent increase from the nearly 3.95 million trips in 2011.

“We are fortunate to live in a community that whole‑heartedly embraces its public transit system,” Turcotte said. “We are also blessed with dedicated team of bus operators, maintenance crew and an administrative staff who all work together – day in and day out – to make sure our system is the best of its size in the country.”

The Legislature’s Planning, Development, and Environmental Quality today recommended that the Legislature adopt recommendations of a broad-based task force regarding county funding to address an ongoing structural deficit for Tompkins County Area Development (TCAD).  By unanimous vote, the committee backed the recommendation of the TCAD Funding Task Force that the County enter into a multi-year funding agreement with TCAD to ensure a “sustained and balanced funding strategy” for TCAD.

Acknowledging TCAD’s ongoing value to the County in providing a strong, proactive economic development program, the task force supports continuation of a TCAD revenue structure where one- third of revenue comes from the County, one-third from employer investors, and a one-third from project fees, with increased County support coming, in part, from county Room Occupancy Tax revenues, beginning next year.

State Senator Mike Nozzolio and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb today announced that Ontario County has received the contract for $3,256,000.00 in New York State funding for the construction of the Finger Lakes Viticulture Center in Geneva.

The construction of the Finger Lakes Viticulture Center will support our local economy, create local jobs and continue to put the Finger Lakes region at the forefront of agricultural research and development, while serving as a permanent location for Finger Lakes Community College’s groundbreaking Viticulture and Wine Technology Program - the only program of its kind in the Northeast. The funding for the new Viticulture Center was secured in last year’s New York State Budget through the efforts of Nozzolio and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb.

This week the Lansing Sewer Committee focussed on benefits sewer will bring to the Town.  Preparing to present the all-Town project to voters, committee members have begun putting together a presentation on tangible and intangible benefits a sewer will bring to residents within and outside the initial service area.  The project is estimated to cost $10.8 million.

Subcommittee members Tom Jones, CJ DelVecchio, Katrina Binkewicz, Ruth Hopkins and Ed Lavigne began what will turn into a detailed presentation of benefits to the town, including dollar values of tangible benefits as well as an analysis of projected increases that will result if no sewer is constructed.  While the committee expects tangible benefits from sewer, members are concerned about the votes of the majority of town property-owners who will not recieve service in the inital phase of the project.  Their hope is that the dollar amount of the benefits will offset or exceed the annual sewer fee for those properties.

The Lansing Board of Education accepted the resignation of board member Betsy Galvin Monday, leaving the board at six members.  Members discussed options for filling the seat for the remainder of the three year term.  While board members intially leaned toward appointing a new member immediately, when it came to a vote they decided not to fill the position until the May election.  

Board President David Dittman and member Christine Iacobucci's terms are up this summer.  Dittman says he will not run again, and Iacobucci says she has not yet decided.  That means that the district could be faced with finding at least three new candidates in May.  Board Vice President Glenn Swanson said that could be a problem because of the difficulty in getting people to run, noting that Aziza Benson won her first term in 2009 with 90 write-in votes because Anne Drake was the only candidate in the electon for two vacant seats.

One of the themes I hear frequently is that of doing what is good for the community, even if there is a cost to it.  Lansing people are generous, giving lots of money and 'sweat equity' to everything from local causes like the town playground and local residents in need to global causes like a school in Africa.

This theme has repeatedly come up in sewer committee meetings as well.  Wouldn't most local citizens pay a little to bring benefits to the town overall?  Wouldn't it be worth under $100 per year to have a town center with shops, parks, and walking trails, and to beautify the Auburn Road corridor between Triphammer Road and East Shore Drive?  Even if you would never get sewer on your street?

The Lansing Sewer Committee voted to change its recommendation Wednesday from a partial to a town-wide sewer district.  The new plan would include the whole Town of Lansing with the exception of the Village of Lansing and Cherry Road residents whose properties are in the Ithaca School District.  Engineer David Herrick presented the committee with initial estimates of what sewer might cost in a two-tiered assessment plan in which all district property owners would pay a portion of the capital debt.

The first tier would include properties within the service area.  Those property owners would be responsible for 60% of the debt payment, while tier 2 properties that are not within the initial service area would pay 40%.  Tier 1 properties would have additional expenses such as operation and maintenance and usage fees.

The State Comptroller’s office processed nearly $265 million in contracts and spending in November and December 2012 related to Hurricane Sandy recovery and has posted the details online so the public can access it in real time, Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli reported today.

“People are still hurting and need help.  My office has processed contracts and payments for road repairs, roof replacements and park restorations across the flood zone,” DiNapoli said.  “It’s important that funds get out quickly and for the public to see where their taxpayer dollars are going.”

Local governments across New York are increasingly turning to local tax revenue to make up for sluggish growth in federal and state aid, according to a report issued today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The report is the latest in a series of reports DiNapoli will issue to highlight the causes of fiscal stress in New York’s local governments.

From 2001 through 2011, total federal and state aid has grown at an average of 2.2 percent annually, slower than the 2.4 percent rate of inflation. The relative share of federal and state aid as a percentage of total local government revenues diminished from 22 percent of revenues in 2001 to 20 percent in 2011. In comparison, revenue generated from sales taxes increased 5.9 percent and property taxes by 4.2 percent over the past decade.