City Budget Information
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2012 City of Ithaca Budget Outlook
Like most communities in New York State, the City of Ithaca is facing a stark financial climate in the upcoming years. With the adoption of a 2% property tax cap (or the rate of inflation, whichever is less) across the State, the City worked hard to find the balance between maintaining the vital services that our residents need and our residents' ability to pay for them through increased taxes and fees. The City of Ithaca is unique in the fact that 60.44% of the property is tax exempt with Cornell University comprising 82-83% of that amount. This places the majority of the tax burden on a small percentage of tax payers.
In conjunction with the 2% property tax cap, New York State granted exceptions for limited growth in pension costs, quantity growth change in assessments, payment in lieu of taxes adjustments, and business improvement district adjustments. With these allowable exceptions included, the City of Ithaca's 2012 adjusted property tax cap was 4.17% Although Common Council adopted a local law to override the property tax cap, it was not needed. The law was adopted as a safety precaution in case the complicated calculations used were not correct. New York State can audit those figures within the next 2-year period and can issue financial restrictions to the City if the adopted budget exceeded the cap.
2012 Final Budget:
Program Budget
Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant Budget2011 Final Budget: