Last Week's Local News Round up
Rural broadband and lead abatement moving forward, a sales tax showdown, school budget and electric bus proposition defeated, the search for a new county administrator, and more
Two Critical Projects Moving Forward After all
Rural Broadband: The County Legislature called a special meeting ahead of its regularly scheduled May 22 meeting to vote on a resolution that would withdraw the county from a commitment to the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board (CNYRPDB) in support of the CNYNET Broadband Network Project. The county would provide $3 million upfront as interim construction financing to expand broadband access in Cortland County and be reimbursed in full in 2.5 years through a NYS ConnectALL program grant.
There was misunderstanding about whether the county would be reimbursed in full and whether they could lose their investment if the aggressive construction timeline was not met. David Bottar from CNYRPDB attended the meeting and answered questions in person as well as provided written answers to the county’s questions, addressing all the concerns.
Not only will the county be reimbursed in full, they have the potential to increase revenue and realize cost savings through the project. Since the county will retain some ownership of the project, it could see between $25,000-$50,000 in revenue from users who join the network. In addition, if the county and other public entities utilize the network for their own internet services, it could save approximately $25,000 a year.
Most importantly, previously under-served rural areas will have access to high-speed fiber-based broadband. That should have been enough reason. In the 21st century, access to high-speed internet is vital to learn, work, and do business. Most school districts provide Chromebooks to all students and utilize the Google Classroom platform, requiring students to access and submit assignments online. Academic success at the high school and college level depends on reliable internet service. As remote jobs increase, access to high-speed internet determines where one can live and work.
Legislator Keith VanGorder expressed his support for the project only when the prospect of businesses gaining access was introduced and the conversation was framed around growing business. Growing businesses is certainly laudable, but apparently serving residents was not enough.
Ultimately, the resolution to withdraw was defeated, meaning the project will move forward as initially approved. Only Legislator Linda Jones voted “yes” to withdraw from the project.
Lead Remediation: I wrote in a previous post about Cortland’s childhood lead poisoning problem and the plan for the county to give back a $1.9 million Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to address it. While the resolution to rescind the acceptance of the grant passed the Finance and Administration Committee, it ultimately was pulled from the full Legislature agenda, meaning the grant will move forward.
It is good news for the county that these two projects are moving forward. However, the process by which they are is concerning. In both cases, it appears the county did not have all the facts, and once they did, any concerns were addressed. Rather than putting forth formal resolutions to pull out of critically necessary projects for the county, perhaps the legislature should get all the facts first.
Sales Tax Showdown
The County had an updated sales tax agreement with the City of Cortland on its agenda for May 22 but tabled the resolution after the “unexpected actions” of the City at its May 20 Common Council meeting.
The City issued notice to the County in 2024 to terminate the existing sales tax agreement with the intent to renegotiate the terms. After what the County believed to be “good faith” negotiations, the County proposed a retail sales tax agreement to go into effect in January 2026 that shares the sales tax: 60.43% to the County; 17.07% to the City; and 20.50% to the towns and villages. In subsequent years, the shares to the County and City increase while the share to towns and villages decreases.
However, the City “dropped a grenade” (elected City official’s words) on the negotiations when it introduced a Home Rule Request (pg. 6), beginning the formal request to the State Legislature to capture the full 4% of local sales tax for the City, rather than sharing the 1% with the County. The next step would be for Assemblymember Kelles and Senator Webb to introduce the bill at the NYS Legislature and obtain a bill number. The City called a special meeting for today, May 27 at 6 pm. While there is no agenda yet posted, it was verbally announced that the meeting was to move forward with the home rule request and approve a resolution with a bill number.
It should be noted that these negotiations do not raise taxes. The sales tax remains at 8%, with 4% to the state and 4% locally. The dispute is how that 4% is distributed locally.
Both the City and County budgets are tight, and the need for funding is real. Pending cuts to Medicaid and other federal services will only put more strain on the state and municipalities to provide services. The City has the right to petition for the additional 1% tax, which would add millions to their budget. As the County “explores its options” with the City, the current options still leave the towns and villages receiving less.
Homer Mayor Pat Clune attended the Legislature’s meeting and utilized privilege of the floor to speak on the sales tax proposal, giving a scathing review of the County’s proposal, calling out the Legislature for a lack of leadership, and asking for real solutions. It’s worth a listen—video here, starting at 2:02.
For now, how best to provide services and how to distribute tax revenue to pay for those services remains yet to be determined.
Cortland School District Budget and Electric Bus Purchase Defeated
Voters in the Cortland school district went to the polls last Tuesday and voted down both the budget and the purchase of an electric school bus (see previous posts on the proposed school district budget and an electric school bus purchase).
The budget proposed a 4.99% increase to the tax levy and needed a 60% approval from voters to pass since the increase surpassed the tax cap limit. The budget (proposition 1 on the ballot) only received 54% approval so did not pass. The district can now: 1) go back to the voters with the same proposal; 2) modify the proposal to meet the tax levy cap (2.39% increase); or 3) adopt a contingency budget that comes with restrictive conditions. Superintendent Bob Edwards plans to recommend #2 to the Board of Education - to modify the budget proposal to stay within the tax cap levy of 2.39%. The school board is meeting tonight to move forward.
However the Board plans to move forward, voters will need to go back to the polls on Tuesday, June 17 to vote on the modified plan by the district.
Proposition 2 on the ballot (to purchase 1 electric school bus and 3 diesel buses) needed only a simply majority. The proposition failed, receiving only 47% approval. Proposition 3, the back up proposition to purchase 4 diesel buses in case prop 2 failed, passed with 69% approval.
New York State law requires all school district bus purchases to be electric after 2027 with the entire fleet all-electric by 2035. The purchase of the electric bus now would have added NO additional cost to taxpayers. Voting down the proposition was extremely short-sighted as the need to purchase electric buses will only increase as those deadlines get closer, and costs could significantly increase in the future.
Propositions to fund capital projects within the district and the Cortland Free Library budget passed.
Voters elected Board of Education candidates Joseph McMahon (3 year term), Gavin Teeter (3 year term), and Brendan McGovern (2 year term). Current Board of Education member Donald Chu was not reelected for an additional term.
County Administrator Search
County administrator Rob Corpora retires this week, effective May 29, 2025, after serving in the position since 2019 and with 34 total years of service to the county. The Legislature honored his service with a proclamation at last week’s meeting.
The County did not have an administrator when Corpora stepped into the position, and he was credited for righting the “rudderless ship” and cleaning up the “mess” of the County. During his tenure, the finance department was established, and Corpora created structure and processes that will benefit the county in the future.
In April 2025, Deputy County Administrator Melanie Vilardi stepped down from her position to become the Executive Director of the Cortland County Business Development Corporation -Industrial Development Agency (BDC/IDA).
These departures leave the County without permanent administrative leadership staff. Chairman of the Legislature Kevin Fitch will serve in an acting capacity in the county administrator role until a permanent administrator is hired.
As the most senior position, the County Administrator is a key position. To recruit the most qualified candidates, the Legislature approved an agreement with Pracademic Partners, a recruitment agency specializing in public sector executive searches, at a cost of $19,500. Hopefully these funds are an investment in the long-term stability of the county, attracting applications from beyond Cortland County and resulting in the hiring of a highly qualified individual to provide vision, oversight, leadership and budget management.
And a few more items…
Cortland Ward 1: Cortland City Council member Wayne Schutt (R) resigned after being arrested and charged with DWI following a collision on Clinton Ave extension near the I81 northbound ramp. With the vacancy in Ward 1, the Cortland County Republican Committee can nominate a replacement. The Cortland Common Council has announced a special meeting on Tuesday, June 3 at 5 pm for the purpose of voting on the nominee (not yet named) to serve Schutt’s term until the special election. A special election would be held in November 2025 to fill the vacancy until the end of the term.
Increasing City parking: Cortland Common Council approved a lease agreement for additional parking at 76-78 Main Street for $20,000 for a 12-month period. The City plans to designate the spots for long-term parking, allowing the spots between Bru 64 and the VFW building to be used for 2-hour parking.
Donation for Parker School: The City will lease Parker School back to the Cortland School district for kindergarten classes in the fall of 2025 as Barry Elementary undergoes renovation in one wing. Bailey Place Insurance donated $100,000 to the City for improvements to Parker School playground and gymnasium ahead of students re-entering the building. The funds will provide for playground equipment, basketball backboards, gym floor refurbishing and gym mats.
County Courthouse Dome: The County approved a bid for repair and painting of the Cortland County Courthouse Dome. While it would have been beautiful to refurbish the dome with copper, the cost would have been close to $5 million. Painting will be approximately $300,000. At least the “jewel” of the Crown City will no longer be an eyesore with its peeling paint visible for miles.