Binghamton, NY – Senator Lea Webb and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo announced today that the enacted FY 2024-2025 State Budget includes over $11 million in Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) funding for Broome County, an increase of more than 7% from last year’s budget. Included in the AIM funding is more than $10 million for the City of Binghamton, representing an 11.61% increase from the prior budget for the city.

Said Senator Lea Webb (SD52), “I am thrilled that we were able to deliver a long-overdue increase to AIM funding in this year’s budget to give our municipal leaders some flexibility as they complete important infrastructure projects in our cities, towns, and villages. Our municipalities rely on AIM funding to maintain their infrastructure and make necessary improvements. It is time to update the AIM formula to reflect inflation and revenue shortfalls facing our communities in the wake of the pandemic.”

Said Assemblymember Donna Lupardo (AD123), “Every year municipal expenses go up while AIM funding has remained flat. Because unrestricted state funds are so hard to come by, every increase is immediately put to good use. I have advocated for increases for many years and intend to keep up the pressure so that AIM funding reflects the real need on the ground. This will require a serious review of the formula used for determining these allocations.”

Said Mayor Jared Kraham, “This much-needed increase in AIM funding will help the City continue to deliver critical services to residents while protecting the pockets of our hardworking taxpayers. My thanks to Governor Hochul, Senator Webb and Assemblywoman Lupardo for securing this critical funding for municipalities.”

The enacted FY2024-2025 state budget includes a $43.4 million increase in AIM funding, with a total of $758.1 million for the program statewide. Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM) is the primary source of unrestricted state aid for local governments. Since the FY2011-2012 budget, AIM funding has been held flat at about $715 million. This is the first increase in more than a decade. 

In Broome County, the towns and villages all received 7% increases in their enacted AIM funding, totaling $326,560 in allocations for the Town of Union, $334,294 for the Village of Endicott, nearly $200,000 for the Village of Johnson City, and $171,153 for the Town of Vestal.