Tompkins County, NY
09/23/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2024 12:49
Highlights from the September 18 and 19, 2024 Meetings of the Tompkins County Expanded Budget Committee
Submitted bydrecckioon23 September 2024
Monday, September 23, 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 over-target requests or significant changes proposed by departments and agencies during the budget process.
- For more detail, read the County Administrator's 2025 Budget Message.
Department of Emergency Response
Staff from the Department of Emergency Response presented their budget and detailed that they are currently fully staffed after filling open positions in the 911 dispatch center. The department reported that it would face an administrative staffing cut under the 5% cut scenario.
The department presented several over-target requests, including $100,000 recommended of a $202,000 ask to restore staffing that's proposed to be cut. A second request that would create a Countywide security management division was not recommended due to a lack of available funding. The division would provide unarmed security at several County facilities and oversight of daily security operations in all facilities based on an assessment of building security needs and highly trafficked buildings with a higher-than-average number of reported incidents.
Tompkins County Sheriff's Office and Corrections/Jail
Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne reported that for the Sheriff's Office, a 5% cut would result in the reduction of 4.8 full time equivalent employees, primarily in the special patrol and sheriff's clerk divisions. For the Tompkins County Jail, a separately budgeted division, cuts would impact the jail nurse and forensic counselor positions because of minimum corrections staffing requirements.
$100,000 was recommended to be restored in the Sheriff's Office budget through an over-target request for position funding. An $80,000 request was made but not recommended for a new boat for policing activities on Cayuga Lake.
5% cuts to the jail budget would total $227,795, $100k of the request was recommended to be restored.
Tompkins County Whole Health, encompassing both public and mental health services, presented its budget, including that two vacant children with special care needs (CSCN) nurse positions would be cut in the 5% scenario. Staff reported that the CSCN program can manage current caseloads with the staff that are in place today, though if trends continue, additional support may be needed in the future.
The last year of a three-year request to fund the Whole Health portion of Crisis Alternative Response and Engagement (CARE) teams was recommended for $245,499.
$206,828 for the second year of a three-year request for the early intervention program was recommended. Kruppa detailed the program's successes so far and optimism that it is having positive impacts on the wider community.
$250,000 for a rural outreach worker program was requested but not recommended in part due to no vendor being able to provide the service after a competitive RFP process in 2024.
A new $16,400 request was made but not recommended to support the Suicide Prevention Coalition with their work to move collaborative initiatives forward.
$36,000 is recommended for environmental health permit management software.
$49,200 is recommended for a continued vehicle lease - a budgeting approach required to receive State reimbursement.
Legislature/Clerk of the Legislature
The Clerk of the Tompkins County Legislature presented the department's budget, which encompasses four full-time staff members responsible for providing administrative support for the Legislature and maintaining official records of actions taken, including meeting minutes and resolutions. A 5% cut was proposed as a reduction in staff hours, as well as travel and training funds for staff and Legislators.
An over-target request for $10,866 to restore staffing hours was recommended, and a $19,000 request to reinstate travel, training, and mileage reimbursement for Legislators was not recommended.
The Tompkins County Office of Human Rights presented its budget, including a $40,000 request that was not recommended for a part-time programming position, and a recommended $14,000 request to fund programming and outreach.
The Tompkins County SPCA presented it's Tompkins County-supported Animal Control budget with no over-target requests. Staff reported growing intake numbers, reaching pre-pandemic levels, as well as increased activity related to the unhoused population with pets and requests for veterinary services.
The Veterans Services Department presented no over-target requests, 5% cuts will be absorbed in software and materials costs within its budget.
The Tompkins County Department of Social Services, Tompkins County's largest department, presented its budget and over-target requests. Staff presented an overview of the challenges faced when developing the budget, including increasing needs of the population experiencing homelessness, Code Blue shelter programming shifts, and questions around childcare programming funding. Staff reported that mandated costs are estimated to increase by $1.65M in 2025.
The proposed 5% budget reduction would result in cuts to two programs, including a respite bed for youth and "preventative services." A $127,750 over-target request was recommended to restore those programs.
A $751,000 request to fund a new temporary low-barrier shelter that would operate year-round before a new facility is built and operational was not recommended in part because of the lack of local providers to manage such a program.
Human Services Coalition and Community Nonprofit Agencies
The Expanded Budget Committee heard from the Human Services Coalition (HSC) of Tompkins County, an organization that convenes and supports local not-for-profit agencies, as well as manages several programs including the Continuum of Care and the 211 helpline. $26,217 is proposed to be cut from County-supported funding and would come from "administrative and program support and staff capacity." The County supports around $500,000 of HSC's annual budget, in addition to $700,000 for other agencies granted funds through HSC's review process and ongoing support to OAR (Opportunities, Alternatives and Resources).
A $30,000 over-target request is recommended to support the HSC's Continuum of Care Housing Specialist, a position which supports the homeless response system. $60,000 was not recommended to fund a data specialist position that manages the 211 services database.
A funding review process is completed by HSC and community volunteers annually, with 26 agencies applying for funding from this year's budget process. HSC staff reported that nearly every applicant cited increased community need in their request, and that the support covers portions of over 80 nonprofit staff positions in the community.
Many over-target requests were brought forth to support community agencies. HSC staff stated that there were more applicants seeking grants from the same amount of total funding as the previous year. Over-target requests were put forward by HSC's volunteer review board reflecting additional asks from agencies. No new over-target requests were recommended for funding by the county administrator.
The last year of a third-year over-target request was recommended to fund $87,860 for Reach Medical's behavioral health and outreach programming.
The Tompkins County Office for the Aging presented its budget and detailed the services provided to older adults in the community. Staff brought forward no over-target requests and stated that they are able to absorb the 5% cut due to increased State and federal funding allocations.
Tompkins Community Action, a nonprofit agency supported by Tompkins County presented its anti-poverty mission and budget. An over-target request to restore $13,519 in funding for the Early Head Start program and deliveries through the emergency food pantry to homebound individuals was not recommended in the budget.
County funding helps the agency to meet its federal funding match requirements for its Head Start and Supportive Housing programs, as well as fills gaps in funding for an emergency food pantry.
The Tompkins County Human Resources Department made several over-target requests in the budget. A request for $69,563 to restore professional development support costs cut in the 5% budget was made but not recommended in the budget. A request to increase staffing by 1.5 full time equivalent employees to support training and staff development was made for $135,380 but not recommended. A request for $26,500 to fund required document archival software was recommended in the budget.