The Common Council passed a resolution to adopt an adjusted budget for the 2026 fiscal year following a projected budget shortage at its Wednesday meeting.
In a nine to one vote, the council approved the new $111 million budget after passing three amendments. Alderperson Kayla Matos (D-First Ward) was the only vote against, citing the defunding of initiatives for the Department of Public Works and the lack of funding for unarmed first responders. Alderperson Phoebe Brown (D-First Ward) was not in attendance.
“I will be voting no on this budget just simply because I don’t agree with the way this budget was built out,” Matos said. “The lack of unarmed responders, the lack of supporting infrastructure, the DPW.”
The budget process was particularly concerned with cutting costs after the city discovered a deficit in the budget, which amounted to $2.1 million. According to the city manager, Deb Mohlenhoff, the deficit occurred after an accounting error when the revenue data was not transferred to the budget dataset due to a “synchronization error” with the software.
In response, the city unanimously passed a measure to cut costs for the city for the upcoming fiscal year by $2.4 million on Nov. 5. The measures included a combination of cuts to departments in the city and measures implemented to generate revenue like increasing garage parking rates to $2.25 an hour and implementing paid parking on Saturday.
At the last meeting, the city had passed amendments to increase funding for other city-wide initiatives like ensuring the Tompkins County Library can operate on Sunday to allocate leftover funds in the budget.
Heading into Wednesday’s meeting, the council still had $158,275 in leftover funds to provide funding for additional amendments.
Alderperson Kris Haines-Sharp (D-Second Ward) proposed to vote on a failed amendment from the last meeting that would contribute $50,000 for the Second Wind cottages — a housing project that provides housing for homeless individuals — violence interrupter programs. The amendment passed in a nine to one vote with Matos voting against.
Alderperson Pierre Saint-Perez J.D. ’24 (D-Third Ward) also proposed a second amendment that had failed at the last meeting to invest $65,000 for the Community Outreach Worker Program. This program will provide community outreach and non-life-threatening crisis response within the city for a one-year pilot period. The amendment passed in a nine to one vote with Matos voting against.
The budget for the next year amounts to a $5 million increase compared to last year’s budget.
The council approved the increase of the tax rate for next year unanimously. The percentage of increase of the property tax rate is lower than last year, rising by about 4.11 percent compared to a previous 14 percent increase. Under the tax rate, homeowners will be charged $12.24 per $1,000 in perceived value of their properties.
The council also unanimously approved the recommended budget for the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant for $7.5 million.
Gabriel Muñoz is a member of the class of 2026 at the College of Arts and Sciences. He serves as city editor for the 143rd editorial board. He previously served as city editor for the 142nd Editorial Board and news editor for the 141st Editorial Board. He can be contacted at gmunoz@cornellsun.com.
