TOWN OF ITHACA

FISCAL YEAR 2016 BUDGET SUMMARY
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Total Budget increase of $506,161 or from $24,296,077 in 2015 to $24,802,238 in 2016.

The budgeted total for Personnel Costs increases from $5,332,745 in 2015 to $5,470,306 in 2016,
an increase of $137,561 or Personnel costs represent 22.1% of the Town?s total 2016
budget

Total for Personal Services increases to $3,449,706 in 2016 from $3,434,355 in 2015, an increase
of $15,351 or 

The budgeted total for Employee Benefits increases to $2,020,600 in 2016 from $1,898,390 in
2015, an increase of $122,210 or Total employee benefits are now 58.6% of the total for
employee salaries and wages.

- Payments for employee retirement are budgeted for $574,000 in 2016, a decrease of $1,700 or
0.3% from the $575,700 total budgeted in 2015.

- Payments for employee health insurance are budgeted for $1,004,500 in 2016, an increase of
$98,900 or 10.9% from the $905,600 total budgeted in 2015.

Capital Projects will total $4,500,000 in 2016; a decrease of $125,000 or 2.7% from the $4,625,000
total budgeted in 2015. Capital projects represent 18.1% of the Town's total budget.

Contractual Services increase to $10,766,943 in 2016; an increase of $168,595 or 1.6% over the
$10,598,348 in 2015. Contractual services represent 43.4% of the total budget for 2016.

Equipment/Capital Outlay decreases from $907,000 in 2015 to $840,000 in 2016; a decrease of
$67,000 or Equipment/capital outlay represents 3.4% of the Town's total budget.

Sales Tax collections for 2016 are budgeted at $3,000,000. Sales tax collections for the Town have
been strong in recent years, but 2015 collections estimated at $3,009,681 will fall short of the prior
year total by Sales tax collections represent 12.7% of the Town?s total budgeted revenues.

Contributions to community organizations/programs will total $342,909 in 2016. This is a decrease
of $41,505 from the prior year, eliminating the Town's annual contributions to the Tompkins County
Public Library, Lifelong, Gadabout, Human Services Coalition, and hydrilla outreach services. Of
the total, $323,009 is budgeted in the General Townwide Fund, with the remaining $19,900
budgeted in the Water Fund.

The Town will transfer (re-designate) $75,000 from the unreserved fund balance in the General
Townwide Fund to the Parks and Open Space Plan Reserve.

The 2016 Property Tax Levy will total $7,685,200, an increase of $475,000 or 6.59% over the prior

year. This increase does not comply with the property tax cap and tax freeze for 2016. Property
taxes are the Town?s largest revenue source, representing 32.5% of total budgeted revenues.

The property tax bill for a typical property in the Town of Ithaca will increase from $1,365.26 in 2015
to $1,424.48 in 2016, an increase of $59.23 or The typical property in the Town of Ithaca is a
single family residence with an assessed value of $190,000. The property tax bill totals shown
include water and sewer benefit assessment charges.

Water rates will increase 2.7% to $6.55/1000 gallons of consumption. Sewer rates, also based on
water consumption, will increase 0.9% to 4.31/1000 gallons. The combined effect on the quarterly
water sewer bill will be an increase of $2.02 or increasing from $97.96 per quarter in 2015
to $99.98 per quarter in 2016.