Archive: News

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the success of the Diabetes Prevention Program, which included the YMCA of Greater New York as one of its 17 pilot program participants. Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced that the program was certified by the independent Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce net Medicare spending.  The expansion was also determined to improve the quality of patient care without limiting coverage or benefits. This is the first time that a preventive service model from the CMS Innovation Center has become eligible for expansion into the Medicare program.

Currently, about 30 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, resulting in two deaths every five minutes in this country. Additionally, 86 million Americans have a high risk of developing diabetes, because one in every three adults has prediabetes, a condition that arises when blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Prediabetes means a person is at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, as well as for heart disease and stroke. Many people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within ten years.

For at least six years Village of Lansing Mayor Donald Hartill has complained that villagers are paying an unfair amount of property taxes to the Town of Lansing.  Hartill has repeatedly threatened to separate the Village from the Town by forming a coterminous town/village -- an independent township that is also a village.  At first it seemed he was using the threat of taking about a third of the Town tax base as a negotiating ploy, but as his frustration has mounted with what he characterizes as 'being ignored by the Town,' he has said that he is quite serious about creating a coterminous municipality separate from the Town.

But what does the Mayor really want?  Is coterminous really his endgame?  Hartill met with the Lansing Star at his office in the Village Hall a couple of weeks ago for a frank conversation about the issues that have led him to this juncture.  Our interview is transcribed in full below.

Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D/WFP-125AD, Tompkins/Cortland) announced that she is introducing legislation to improve the process for testing, monitoring, and notification of lead in the water of our schools and day care facilities across New York State.

"In light of the recent findings of high lead levels in some schools in Tompkins County, and concerns raised statewide about aging infrastructure, it is clear that action must be taken to fix our monitoring and reporting system for lead in water supplies," said Lifton. "My legislation will require that each water district, with its trained experts, would test for lead in all the schools and day care sites within that water district, and that parents will receive written notification if the lead is above 15 parts per billion."

The Government Operations Committee of the Tompkins County Legislature today authorized the listing for sale of the remaining 26 acres of the former Health Department (Biggs) property on Harris B. Dates Drive on West Hill.

The committee, by a unanimous 5-0 vote, authorized the County Administrator to select a realtor through a Request-for-Proposals process and to proceed with the marketing of the property, provided that the County will entertain purchase proposals from the Town of Ithaca or neighborhood representatives prior to the retention of a realtor.  The motion specifies that no action to retain a realtor shall take place prior to May 4, date of the May Government Operations Committee meeting.

New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio has announced that the State Senate recently enacted legislation, which he sponsored to create the 'New York State Veterans Remembrance' license plate. This distinctive plate will be available to veterans or spouses of veterans in honor of their service and sacrifice to our state and nation.

"There is no greater debt of honor owed to anyone, than that which we as Americans owe to the brave men and women who have served and currently serve in our Armed Forces," said Nozzolio.  "This distinctive license plate will allow us to recognize and honor our veterans, as they so rightly deserve."

The Village of Lansing finalized its budget Monday and set a date for a public hearing.  The adjustments, including a 7% salary rise for two Public Works Department employees, retirement benefits, social security and medicare payments, and capital project funding result in a $3,112,368 budget, and will exceed the state-imposed tax cap by more than 24%.  Mayor Donald Hartill said Monday that the tax rate will increase from $0.99 last year to $1.10 per thousand dollars of assessed value, and said that he expects to duplicate this year's tax rate rise again next year.

"We should be around $1.20," he said.  "We were at $1.20 historically.  There was a point when we were not spending quite enough on capital projects.  We were adding to the capital reserve fund.  That raises flags with the auditors, so I lowered it.  The next year the tax cap was enacted."

If you are a Lansing homeowner who lives outside the Village of Lansing you almost certainly received a Notice of Assessment Change from Tompkins County this week.  Lansing Supervisor Ed LaVigne was quick to remind property owners that the higher assessment should mean a lower tax rate this year, which would mean the rise in your taxes would be about the same as it would have been if property values remained the same.  All things being equal, that would be true, but while reassessment means lower taxes for some, it also means higher taxes for others.

"We made about 10,500 changes in assessment and had a $500 million increase in value in the county," says Tompkins County Director of Assessment Jay Franklin. "This is a value increase and will not translate into a taxable value increase. Some of the increase was in Cornell and some were in farmland which NYS sets a taxable value regardless of our assessment.  The value typically would go up between 5% to 15%. About 500 of the changes were decreases."

New Hydroelectric Agreement Expected to Meet Two-Thirds of County Government Electricity Needs
The Tompkins County Legislature has authorized a hydroelectric utility remote net metering agreement, between Tompkins County and Gravity Renewables, Inc., which is expected to produce electricity to meet roughly two-thirds of county government electricity needs through clean, local, and renewable generation.  The Legislature, by unanimous vote, authorized the County Administrator, in consultation with the County Attorney, to negotiate and execute the hydroelectric remote net metering agreement between the County and Gravity Renewables.

The agreement will enable the County to purchase renewable hydroelectric power from a 2 MW hydro facility located in Waterloo, which, on average, will produce approximately 3.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, representing about 63% of Tompkins County government's annual electric usage of 6 million kilowatt hours.  The 20-year agreement (which includes an option for one five-year renewal option at the end of the term on mutual agreement) will guarantee the County a steady stream of electricity at a stable price during the contract period.

New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio announced Tuesday that the State Senate has recently taken a tremendous step forward in protecting victims of sexual crimes and ensuring that the perpetrators are properly punished by enacting Senate Bills (S.6679 and S.6680).

The two measures, sponsored by Nozzolio, will raise the penalty for sexual abuse in the second degree from a class A misdemeanor to a class E felony and will increase criminal penalties for sexual contact between a minor and a person in a position of trust. Currently, the crime of sexual abuse in the second degree is punishable by up to one year in prison, Senate Bill S.6679 would require a more adequate prison term for those who perpetrate this heinous crime.

The Tompkins County Mental Health Department has received the results of a compliance audit of its mental health clinic by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH).  The OMH regulates, certifies, and oversees mental health programs that are operated by local governments and nonprofit agencies across that State.

The compliance audit cited departmental process and procedure deficiencies that have resulted in the State withholding its approval of the Department's annual certificate to operate the Clinic pending the development of a performance improvement plan and demonstration that sustainable improvements have been implemented.  Client services will continue to operate without interruption.

Over the past ten years, state aid to school districts has increased $6 billion to $23.3 billion in 2015-16, according to a report issued today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli which examined school aid patterns and trends in New York.

"School aid is the largest single state-funded expenditure within the budget," said DiNapoli. "As the start of a new fiscal year approaches, this report is intended to provide policymakers and the public additional information on education funding in New York."

After vowing to represent all of the 23rd Congressional District, candidate John Plumb won the unanimous endorsement of the Tompkins County Democratic Committee at a standing-room-only meeting in Ithaca Town Hall last week.

Plumb was referring to a recent ad funded by Tom Reed, his opponent in the Congressional race, which tied Plumb to "extreme Ithaca liberals," Reed's moniker for 2014 candidate Martha Robertson. Plumb, who is a fourth-generation Western New Yorker from a military family, pointed to the Reed campaign's writing off of a whole segment of the Congressional District as one good reason to support Plumb instead.