Legislature Adopts 2012 Budget AmendmentsThe Tompkins County Legislature, by a vote of 12-3, formally adopted amendments to the 2012 tentative budget, as recommended by its Expanded Budget Committee. (Legislators Dooley Kiefer, Carol Chock, and Leslyn McBean-Clairborne voted no). The amended tentative budget will be sent on for review and comment by the public at the Legislature’s public hearing on the budget Wednesday, November 9.
The $161.9 million recommended budget, including $77.5 million in local dollar spending, would raise the tax levy (the total amount of property tax revenue needed to balance the budget) by 3.99%. The countywide average tax rate in the recommended amended budget would increase by 3.1%, to $6.67 per thousand dollars assessed property value, an increase of $31.85 for the average $160,000 home. The recommended levy increase is just over 1% above the 2.92% level that would be required to fall within the state property tax cap.