cornell and tcat: get the facts
Cornell criminally underpays TCAT, the bus service that graduate workers, undergraduate students, and the Ithaca community rely upon to get around. In 2025, TCAT requested an additional $500,000 from Cornell to avoid service cuts. Cornell countered with a measly offer of $31,000. Even after facing backlash, they only coughed up $280,000, falling hundreds of thousands of dollars short of what TCAT really needed to run as smoothly as it could. Is your bus routinely too full to take more passengers at your stop in the morning? Have you ever been stuck waiting in the snow for a bus that never comes? That’s Cornell’s fault.
cornell and icsd: get the facts
Cornell paid the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) $700,000 in FY 2025-2026. As a nonprofit institution, Cornell is tax-exempt. This means that while the average Ithacan is taxed at 15% to fund ICSD, what little money Cornell pays to fund education in Tompkins County is voluntary. If Cornell were required to pay taxes, their contribution to ICSD would be upwards of 10 million dollars. In spite of this clear deficit, Cornell had the gall to brag about their $700,00 payment, touting their meaningful partnership with the district. As an institution dedicated to learning — so much so that their motto is “any person, any study” — Cornell must contribute more to education in Ithaca.
