(Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith/The Cortland Voice).
The City of Cortland Common Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to request extra aid and incentives for municipalities (AIM) funding from New York State.
AIM funding, according to the Office of the State Comptroller, helps 141 towns and villages across New York pay for essential municipal services such as water, sewer, public works, and first responders. AIM is funded at $656.1 million in the 2021-22 enacted state budget.
City mayor Scott Steve said the city’s resolution joins other municipalities in calling for $210 million in increased AIM funding after discussing the matter with other municipal leaders from the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM).
In a letter from NYCOM, signed by 350 local leaders from all over the state, officials claim there has not been an increase in AIM funding in the last 13 years. The resolution from the common council also notes that inflation has eroded AIM funding by roughly 29 percent in that time period.
Steve, who said he has started the city’s budget process, said the city has gotten even less AIM funding than other municipalities in the past.
“In the past, when the AIM funding was addressed, they’d take 10 percent of everybody’s budget, but because we didn’t have (our capital budget lines) in there, we were getting a lower amount,” he said.
Further details of NYCOM’s request for more AIM funding remains to be seen.
