Another funding issue (for the local airport) which is at least temporarily resolved:
Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport to Get Three-Year Pass on Hefty County Bill
Posted: Friday, October 3, 2014 10:43 am
By Staff Reports
As the Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport struggles to boost ridership and fill financial holes, Tompkins County Legislators are likely to give the local airport a three-year pass on a significant annual bill.
On Thursday, Oct. 2, legislators acting as the Expanded Budget Committee – tasked with leading changes to County Administrator Joe Mareane's proposed 2015 budget – heard from interim Airport Manager Mike Hall as part of ongoing budget meetings with department heads. As recommended in Mareane's budget, Ithaca-Tompkins Regional will get a three-year reprieve on an annual $126,000 county bill for administrative services. Instead, the $126,000 annual bill will be picked up via county reserves.
Hall told legislators that the reprieve will provide near-term relief as the airport addresses the challenge of a 25-percent decline in business over the past three years. The ridership decline has been fueled by an unstable market affected by the consolidation of major airlines, poor airline service reliability, hubs easily affected by weather, and the airlines’ planned transition to larger planes. Hall said the airport is actively negotiating with the airlines, analyzing the market, and making other internal adjustments—all part of meeting the goal of increasing business to return to the level of 2010, which he said is achievable and would both significantly reduce airline fees and increase Airport revenue.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Hall said, “and we can work our way out of it.”
The recommended budget, with total expenditures of $180 million and local dollar spending of $83.3 million, would increase the tax levy by 2.34 percent, which is below the County’s projected property tax cap. The increase would raise the tax bill by $6.34 for the owner of a median-value $165,000 home—an amount that would be returned by the state under the new state property tax freeze law.
Here's the link:
http://www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca-to...58b17aa8e.html