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Tompkins County finance staff report mixed department revenues; sales tax and casino receipts up
Summary
County finance staff presented department-by-department revenue reporting showing a mix of under- and over-performance; Daryl reported Q4 casino revenue growth, higher sales-tax receipts, modest cannabis receipts and investment returns, and noted timing and grant documentation as causes for some shortfalls.
Tompkins County finance staff presented a department-level review of 2025 revenues and expenditures at the Budget, Capital and Personnel Committee meeting, highlighting timing differences, grant disbursement delays and department-specific variances.
Finance staff explained the county records revenue on a modified-accrual basis: revenue is recorded when earned, even if cash has not been received. That accounting treatment and point-in-time reporting led to several apparent shortfalls that staff said may correct as reimbursements are received or as pending vouchers are processed.
Highlights from the financial reports presented by Finance Director Daryl included a Q4 casino revenue figure of $626,700 (about a 2% increase over the prior year quarter and a 4.8% year‑to‑date rise), Q4 total countywide sales tax receipts of $21.5 million (Tompkins County’s share about $12.1 million), and fourth-quarter cannabis receipts to the county of about $29,290. Daryl also reported 2025 year-end interest and investment income with New York CLASS yields at roughly 3.79% at year-end.
Department-level notes included an airport transition that led to roughly $112,000 over budget in operating results and use of fund balance for transition costs; an assigned counsel overrun that appeared to be about $479,000 with some pending payments; emergency-response revenue tied to a rapid medical response grant (about $600,000) delayed by an absent executed grant agreement; and highway use of approximately $637,000 of fund balance for approved debt and capital contributions.
Committee members asked about encumbrance cutoffs, how grants are budgeted, and how contingency and mandate-contingency funds are being used. Staff said that for some departments revenues are received late and may be recorded in subsequent periods, and that the county is tightening how it budgets and records grants to avoid spending before executed grant documents are in place.
The finance presentation was followed by the committee's regular business and resolutions. Members praised the increased transparency of the reporting and requested a consolidated year-close summary ahead of the budget retreat so the legislature can see final 2025 department positions and expected revenues going into the 2026 budget process.
