Ithaca council tables vote on Cornell funding increase

Ithaca officials voted Wednesday night to table a decision on Cornell's most recent counteroffer for an increase to the university’s yearly contribution to the city until next month, prior to a previously scheduled city budget meeting on Oct. 11.

Over 30 Ithaca residents and Cornell students aired their opinions with Cornell’s recent offer of a $4 million yearly contribution to the city at the common council meeting, some urging city officials to ask for upwards of $20 million annually from the university.

“It’s strange to me that we must educate some of the most educated people in the world on basic civics," Ithaca resident David Wynegarden said. "Being a good neighbor is something we all understand and we live it every day.

“This is unsustainable, and it’s not abstract, and this isn’t a future thing 21 years away, this is happening now. One of the worst parts I believe about the MOU (memorandum of understanding) deal is that it locks us in for 21 years, it doesn’t give us the right to re-negotiate, it doesn’t give us the right to make choices and work together as a community to address our needs. It’s not fair for us not to be involved in this process and I really praise you for delaying this vote.”

The background

In August, more than 15 members of the Make Cornell Pay Coalition urged Ithaca's Common Council to pursue increased funding from the university — which owns an estimated 47% of the city’s property value but is largely property tax-exempt as an educational institution — in negotiating an updated MOU that would govern the university's yearly contribution to the city budget.

The MOU — which was initially established in 1995 and amended in 2003 — is set to expire in June 2024, the Cornell Daily Sun reported.

Resident concerns

Cornell, under the current agreement, provides about $1.6 million annually to the city of Ithaca through a voluntary agreement outlined in a memorandum of understanding with the city, while Ithaca residents contribute $30.5 million in property taxes annually, the Cornell Daily Sun reported.

If passed, under the proposed agreement, Cornell will begin providing $4 million to the city annually moving forward, but nearly everyone who spoke during public comments at the meeting argued that the $2.4 million increase was not enough.

“When presented with a proposed $4 million contribution from Cornell, I can’t help but wonder if they genuinely believe that this offer of 0.04% of the $10 billion endowment is in good faith or if they just don’t think that we have the initiative to stand up for the residents of this town,” Ithaca resident Olivia Vincent said.

“If they say time is money, let's imagine that instead of having $10 billion, Cornell has 10 billion seconds. If I were to stand here and count out 10 billion seconds, (City Clerk) Alan (Karasin) would be mad, because I’d be standing here for 317 years, 35 days, and 17 hours,” Vincent continued. “Proportionally what Cornell has offered would equate to a little over 46 days, the lifespan of a single flea, over 317 years. If someone has a 10-course meal, and they go from offering you crumbs to a piece of bread, that is a significant increase, but it is not just, and it should not be considered the best that they can do.”

Council delays

Several councilpersons agreed with Vincent and the others who said that $4 million is not the best the university can do, said Fourth Ward Alderperson Jorge DeFendini, who added that the council’s decision to delay its acceptance of the university’s offer was to make the university meet the city halfway.

“What’s really sad and incredibly frustrating is that we can’t have an honest conversation about this proposed deal and its merits because everyone at this table is concerned, rightly so, about how we square away the budget without taking this offer,” he said. “To me that sounds less like a partnership and more like a hostage situation.”

He proposed that Cornell commit to its $4 million contributions to the city this year to allow for city budget negotiations to continue while the city and university mull the yearly contribution. However, the council took no action Wednesday in terms of officially furthering negotiations.

The $4 million proposal represents nearly 4.5% of Ithaca’s $90 million proposed budget.

DeFendini and fellow Fourth Ward Alderperson Tiffany Kumar voiced their concerns with the length of the MOUs term, 21 years, echoing several Ithaca residents who spoke prior to councilor comments.

“I am prepared to thoughtfully engage this deal if $4 million dollars is enough – it isn’t - and if 21 years isn’t too long a term - it definitely is - but for that to happen Cornell needs to meet us halfway,” he said. “Cornell can and should commit to a stop-gap deal to allow the city’s budget process to continue so that we can have a fair discussion over this MOU. If Cornell is genuine in their desires to reach a fair agreement with the city, they must realize that leveraging concerns about lucrative tax increases or massive cuts to the budget is a dirty trick and makes good faith negotiations impossible.”

Fifth Ward Alderperson Robert Cantelmo agreed with DeFendini’s concerns with the deal, and said he was happy to see that the council will be given more time for community input.

“The city’s currently at 70% of its debt limit and has significant near-term infrastructural demands that support not just those here today but everyone who travels in and out of Ithaca to work and study at the university” Cantelmo said. “I am dismayed that we need to weigh the choice around this MOU against a looming budget deadline and I’ll echo that call for a pledge of at least contributing the $4 million that they have offered to our budget negotiations so that an impasse does not force council to make the choice between cutting essential services or a 5% increase in property taxes."

“No matter what happens I think it's abundantly clear that going forward we need to work with Albany to reexamine state law pertaining to the tax status of residence halls and other non-educational buildings,” he said.

Ithaca Mayor Laura Lewis once again backed the agreement Wednesday night. Lewis had originally announced her support when she and Cornell announced the proposed agreement earlier this week.

“I would like to reiterate my support for this agreement, “ she said Wednesday. “To increase the voluntary payment from 1.6 million to $4 million annually is significant and the amount of money in the 2023 budget, I do not view that as pressure on the part of Cornell.”

Cornell responds

Cornell’s Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina joined the council’s discussion about two and a half hours into the meeting, and offered further details on Cornell’s side of the negotiations. Malina has been part of a team from Cornell that has negotiated with the city for the past five months surrounding its annual yearly contribution and MOU with the city.

"The increase from $1.6 million to $4 million dollars I think says a lot about our desire to be a partner to the city, and it’s important that we keep the components of this MOU in context with everything else that we do," Malina said.

Malina said Cornell pays over $30 million to city infrastructure, and services like Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit each year.

“You could understand that we can’t engage with that MOU on its merits because we have this situation with trying to square away our budget right now,” DeFendini said.

“I don’t understand why you can’t consider the MOU on its merits, it is before you for consideration,” Cornell’s Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina said.

“Because if we decide that it is not an adequate enough deal, we can’t really make that decision because we will have to consider radically increasing our city’s taxes, or making immense cuts to our budget,” DeFendini responded.

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Ithaca delays Cornell MOU vote: Many city residents agree