Tompkins County tourism staff recommended using $500,000 from hotel room-occupancy tax reserves to support airport operations in 2026, a move that would exhaust most available room-tax reserves and prompted questions from multiple legislators at the Expanded Budget Committee meeting.

The tourism program presentation said, “the County Administrator recommendation to use $500,000 of room tax to support airport operations from the 2026 budget,” and noted the proposal would come from room-tax reserves rather than the general fund. (Nick Hemholt, tourism program presenter)

Why it matters: The tourism program is funded mostly by hotel room-occupancy taxes and uses those revenues to contract with Visit Ithaca, run grant programs, and support community events. The presentation showed a 10-year history of room-tax performance and said staff forecast a 2.5% decline in 2026. The tourism director also described roughly $750,000 in grants planned for community projects and continued funding for programs such as hospitality training and downtown activation.

Legislators pressed tourism staff on reserves and the operational trade-offs of diverting one-time room-tax funds to the airport. “When reserves were last calculated in May we had $1,300,000 in reserves approximately $700,000 of that is allocated to ongoing contracts leaving about $500,000 available,” the tourism presenter said, adding that the $500,000 allocation would “effectively leave our reserve balance depleted for room tax.” (Nick Hemholt)

Multiple legislators said they supported the airport but questioned using program reserves that fund grants, capital projects and ongoing contracts. One legislator said the tourism program had discussed building reserves to smooth downturns after the COVID period; another said the county should prefer a recurring revenue source rather than a one-off reserve draw to support long-term airport needs.

Budget details and trade-offs: The tourism presentation listed two requested enhancements: increasing the tourism program director position to 40 hours per week and the proposed $500,000 allocation to airport operations. The presentation also said the five-year agreement with the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce to operate the convention and visitors bureau included a voluntary $95,000 reduction in 2026 from the draft amount. Tourism staff said the $500,000 would be drawn from room-tax reserves and that, as presented, it would reduce the available reserve balance to near zero.

Next steps: Tourism staff and administration will return with more detail on reserves, alternative funding options and how the airport allocation would affect grants and ongoing contracts. Legislators signaled they would debate the proposal further during voting sessions.

Ending: The tourism presentation closed with staff offering to provide quarterly room-tax reports and to work with legislators on options for funding the airport request and protecting community grant programs.