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County administrator: budget gap narrowed to about $4.5M; administration proposes partial use of reserves
Summary
County Administrator Corsa Acunfi told legislators the $11M gap is down to roughly $4.5M after cuts, revenue adjustments and proposed one‑time uses of reserves; administration proposes using $1.5M to reduce the tax levy and $1.2M for one‑time expenses, with further departmental analysis to follow.
County Administrator Corsa Acunfi told the Tompkins County Legislature on Aug. 19 that administration has narrowed an earlier $11 million shortfall to roughly $4.5 million as it finalizes the proposed 2026 budget.
"We sat down with the department. We evaluated the numbers...and we have, as of now, been able to close the gap down to about 4,500,000," Acunfi said, outlining a strategy that includes tapping $2.7 million previously reserved in a tax‑stabilization fund. Acunfi said administration proposes using $1.2 million of that as a one‑time expense fund and applying $1.5 million directly to reduce the tax levy.
Administration also said it would propose increasing a contingent account by about $1.4 million and set aside roughly $3 million in contingency to allow for unknown mandate costs. Legislators pressed staff for department‑level revenue and expense breakouts to understand how the adjustments were achieved and how persistent any reductions are.
Several legislators cautioned that using one‑time reserves to fund ongoing programs can create an "artificial" levy number unless the body explicitly tracks which expenses are ongoing versus one‑time. "If our tax levy does not support ongoing programs," one legislator said, "we might want to keep track of that as we go forward." Finance staff agreed to provide more granular breakdowns and to circulate the proposed budget books to legislators before the public presentation next week.
What's next: Administration aims to deliver a proposed budget within the legislature's 4–6% target window next week; staff will provide the department-level revenue/expense breakdown requested by legislators prior to formal hearings.
