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Home My WebLink About2020-12 Newsletter Town Tax Bills are mailed no later than January 1st and due by February 1st Water Bills are due by December 30th The Town of Ithaca’s portion of your Town and County 2021 Property Tax Bill is a Total Tax Rate of $5.8826/$1,000 assessed value (AV) which is a 5.31% decrease from the 2020 Total Tax Rate of $6.2125/$1000 A.V. This calculation does not include special districts such as Lighting Districts and Water & Sewer Benefits. The Town Rate meets/is under the 2021 State of NYS Property Tax Cap. Under State law, the property owner is responsible for paying the tax bill on time regardless of whether a paper bill makes it to them via the USPS. Tax bills are uploaded to our website under “How Do I” – “Pay Bills Online” and “Taxes”. http://www.town.ithaca.ny.us/how-do-i/pay-bills-online You can print your bill from there or simply make a notation on your check in the memo section indicating the Bill # or the address for the tax bill. PAYMENT OPTIONS Drop Box, Online Payment Portal, or USPS Mail You may view and pay your bill(s) online at http://www.town.ithaca.ny.us/how-do-i/pay-bills-online For water bills, you will need your account number. Online payments are by a third-party provider who charge a fee which is disclosed when you enter your account number. Although Town Hall Offices are open to the public at this point, for your health and safety and ours, we are encouraging mailing or dropping your payments rather than in-person payments. The drop box is located to the left of the Buffalo Street entrance door for payments. Although the drop box is locked and secure, we don’t recommend depositing cash. Payments that are postmarked by the due date are considered on time. When using a financial institution’s “bill pay” option, please be mindful that those types of payments are often delayed from the day you enter the payment request. Billing/payment questions - Debby Kelley at 607-273-1721 ext. 114 or dkelley@town.ithaca.ny.us For name or address changes: Water/sewer accounts - Bolton Point at 277-0660 ext. 230 or wfisher@boltonpoint.org Property taxes -- Tompkins County Assessment at 274-5517 or assessment@tompkins.co-org Think Snow! Yes, it’s that time of year again. Below are the Town’s guidelines for snow operations Regular snow removal hours are 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and as needed on nights and weekends. County roads and rural connector roads are our first priority followed by all other town roads, with the priority there being emergency vehicles and school bus routes when applicable. Snow plowing operations start early in the morning, so please be mindful of parking on roads and shoulders so as not to hinder our efforts. If a vehicle does hinder snowplow operations, the vehicle will be towed at the owner’s expense. If you use a snow removal service for your property, it is important to remind them that any snow from plowing driveways should be completely cleared from the road. Snow left in roads from your driveway can create a dangerous obstacle for our drivers and a possible liability situation for the homeowner. Please plan extra time for travel and reduce speed on wet or snow-covered roads. Remove snow, frost, and ice from all vehicle windows. Not only will you be able to see, but it is the law. If you have any questions regarding the Town’s snow removal operations, call the Public Works Department at 273-1656 or e-mail us at publicworks@town.ithaca.ny.us. Parks, Trails, Preserves & Recreation Resident Survey The Town needs your help! How do you use the Town’s existing parks, trails and preserves? Do you participate in any local recreation programs? What would you like our parks, trails and preserves to look like in the future? Did you know we have a community garden on West Hill or approximately 215 acres of preserves? The Town has great pride for its trails, parks and preserves. We are moving forward with reviewing and updating our 1997 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan which includes exploring what recreational amenities to develop over the next several years. The Town is committed to enhancing the quality of life for all residents through an array of wholesome recreational activities that encourage connections to land and nature and that promote health and fitness. Our goal is to develop a network of trails and to introduce targeted and strategic new recreational initiatives. Planning is the necessary first step in this process so that the potential benefits of its parks, trails, preserves and recreational resources might be fully realized. We would like to encourage all Town of Ithaca residents and other users of Town recreation facilities to complete an on-line survey. Let us know how you use our current amenities and what you hope might be available in the future. Your collective answers will help guide the Town on updating the Plan. We need your input. Town of Ithaca Parks, Trails, Preserves & Recreation Resident Survey Danby Road / Rte 96B Sidewalk Completed! Construction crews were busy this summer working on a long-awaited new sidewalk on the Town’s South Hill. Just completed, the 0.7 mile-long sidewalk is located on the east side of Danby Road (State Road 96B), stretching from the City/Town of Ithaca municipal line to the Ithaca College entrance at Alumni Circle. This much needed pedestrian infrastructure, complete with lighting, will provide South Hill residents, students, and businesses with safe access along the busy state highway. The new sidewalk seamlessly connects to the City of Ithaca’s sidewalk system, creating an extensive sidewalk network linking the City and the Town. Thanks goes to the City of Ithaca for making this important linkage happen by completing construction of their Aurora Street sidewalk section last year, in anticipation of the Town’s plans. Funding for the $1.5 million project was provided in part by a grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Alternatives Program, administered by the New York State Department of Transportation. These funds covered 80% of the cost of the project, with the remaining 20 percent provided by the Town of Ithaca and Ithaca College. Town of Ithaca Seeks Logo Designs for its 2021 Bicentennial The Town of Ithaca’s logo, pictured here, was created by Michael Ocello in 1980 when he was the draftsman for the town (the logo is dated 9/30/80). Noel Desch was the town supervisor at the time. The logo’s symbolism graphically represented what the town was known for at that time. The buildings represent residential and commercial components while the trees denoted open space. The barn is a nod to the town’s agricultural past. Cayuga Lake is prominent in the foreground. The date that the town was incorporated is in the book. The Town of Ithaca is celebrating its bicentennial in 2021. We are interested in design submittals for a special bicentennial logo that we might use in a variety of ways. The Town has changed since 1980 and we seek your creative drawings and sketches that capture what the Town is today or how it has changed over the past 40 years while incorporating aspects of our 200-year history. The logo in 1980 captured the essence of both: not only what the town was but still is today embodying residential, commercial, and agricultural components. We seek new 2021 logo concepts from amateurs to professionals. Please send your design electronically by February 10, 2021 to Paulette Rosa: PRosa@town.ithaca.ny.us. Multiple electronic formats will be accepted (e.g., Publisher, Adobe, JPEG). Please be sure to include your contact information. By submitting, you are implicitly granting us permission to use your design in some capacity if we so choose, e.g. we may want to post some entries in our lobby. Town Board Topics Short Term Rental Legislation – The Short-Term Rental Committee (STR) has been drafting legislation to regulate short term rentals for three years. The draft is close to coming to the full Town Board for review and discussion. Interested residents should begin paying closer attention if they would like to express their opinion. Notices and information will be sent via this newsletter, town board agenda items and legal public hearing notices. The STR generally meets at 4pm on the 2nd Monday of the month, just prior to the Town Board regular meeting. Links are on the website calendar, or feel free to reach out to the Town Clerk for information and assistance. Code Enforcement and Zoning Department Dear Friends and Neighbors, During the holiday season, it is important to check that your smoke detectors/alarms are properly installed and functioning in your home. Detectors give people the warning and time to get out of a dangerous situation, in the unfortunate event there is a fire or a smoke-filled area. All new & existing residential buildings are required to have smoke detectors/alarms installed in each bedroom, outside the bedroom doors, and one on each level of the house (including the basement). In certain circumstances, you may be able to have the requirement for a detector outside bedroom doors covered by one detector if they are grouped in one area. Several companies make battery-operated detectors/alarms, with an optional 10-year battery, which are safety compliant. If you are replacing smoke detectors/alarms or installing a new hard-wired or wireless system, it is important to install the same brand detector/alarm. This allows the detectors/alarms to maintain communication properly. If it is not possible to find a replacement in the same brand, you should replace them all with a singular brand. Combination smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors/alarms are readily available and may be another good option. There are also battery-operated wireless interconnected alarms (they “talk” to each other) available that may provide the same level of safety if your budget allows. Smoke detector/alarms typically have a rated life of 5 to 10 years (The manufacture date is typically on the back side of the alarm). Replaceable batteries should be changed at least twice yearly, commonly done during daylight savings time changes for an easy reminder. To make sure they work when you need them, please check your detectors to ensure that they are not beyond their rated lives. This is only a brief summary of the NYS Code requirements for smoke alarms/detectors and does not cover many situations. An educational flyer from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is here: NFPA Smoke Detector Program. If you have a live cut tree in your house for the holiday season, please make sure to keep water in the tree stand. For more safety tips on fresh cut trees, please see the following link from the NFPA: Fresh Cut Tree Safety If you have any questions at all, please email us at codes@town.ithaca.ny.us or call us at 607-273-1783 option #2. Thank you, Marty Moseley Director of Code Enforcement ****** Happy Holidays and a wish to all for a Happy, Healthy New Year ******