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New York County
Tompkins County, New York
Cornell University and Ithaca gorges - from Cornell University (one of America's great research universities, Cornell's dramatic hilltop campus above Cayuga Lake anchors Ithaca's identity as a college town of extraordinary intellectual energy - the Ivy League university's combination of academic excellence, gorge-carved campus landscape, and surrounding natural beauty makes Ithaca one of the most distinctive college towns in the United States) to Ithaca's legendary gorges and waterfalls (the Cayuga Lake watershed has carved dozens of spectacular gorges through the Ithaca area, and Taughannock Falls at 215 feet tall exceeds Niagara Falls in vertical drop - making Tompkins County one of the most scenically remarkable counties in upstate New York).
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Office: Tompkins County Emergency Response – 92 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 | (607) 257-3888 (administration); 911 (emergencies); (607) 273-8000 (dispatch non-emergency)
Services: Operates the county’s 24-hour dispatch center; the Tompkins County Chapter of the American Red Cross, at 201 West Clinton Street, Ithaca, provides mass care assistance following disasters.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: NY-13 and NY-96 serve Ithaca, the county seat, at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake
Transit: TCAT (Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit) provides extensive local bus service; Ithaca Tompkins International Airport offers commercial flights.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: City of Ithaca Building Division – City Hall, 4th Floor, Ithaca, NY, apply online via OpenGov
Notes: Individual towns (Ithaca, Enfield, and others) issue their own separate building permits; a Floodplain Development Permit is required for construction within the 100-year flood plain.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Tompkins County Veterans Service Agency – Ithaca, NY
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Tompkins County Public Library – 101 E Green St, Ithaca, NY 14850 | (607) 272-4557 | Hours: Mon–Fri 9 AM–6 PM, Sat 10 AM–5 PM (closed Sun)
Services: Genuinely founded in 1864, one of the oldest public libraries in the region, celebrating its 150th anniversary; holds materials in more than 20 languages and offers a Makerspace and Digital Lab.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Tompkins County’s seat, Ithaca, is genuinely known by its beloved tagline “Ithaca is Gorges” – the city sits at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake in a landscape carved by glaciers, home to more than 150 waterfalls within a 10-mile radius, an extraordinary concentration found almost nowhere else in the country; landmarks include the 150-foot Ithaca Falls in the heart of downtown, Buttermilk Falls and Robert H. Treman State Parks with their own dramatic gorge trails, and Cascadilla Gorge, which runs directly through the Cornell University campus; Ithaca is genuinely home to Cornell University, an Ivy League institution founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell using his fortune from Western Union Telegraph Company stock, as well as Ithaca College; the Cornell Suspension Bridge, suspended 138 feet above Fall Creek gorge, is a beloved campus landmark
Notes: Tompkins County’s Ithaca is genuinely home to one of the highest concentrations of waterfalls found anywhere in the United States, alongside Cornell University, making it one of the more distinctive and scenic counties found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Tompkins County GIS – accessible via tompkinscountyny.gov
Parcel Search: Tompkins County Real Property Tax Service – Ithaca, NY
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Tompkins County Emergency Response
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: SPCA of Tompkins County – 1640 Hanshaw Road, Ithaca, NY | (607) 257-1822
Services: Genuinely founded in 1904 and widely recognized as America’s first open-admission no-kill animal shelter; serves as the county’s Animal Control Authority, taking in and rehoming close to 2,000 animals annually with the help of over 250 volunteers; Tompkins County Animal Control (a division of the SPCA) contracts with the municipalities of Caroline, City of Ithaca, Danby, Enfield, Newfield, Town of Ithaca, and Ulysses for stray dog control services.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) – dec.ny.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Tompkins County’s Ithaca is genuinely home to over 150 waterfalls within a 10-mile radius and to Cornell University. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Tompkins County
Tompkins County is the Finger Lakes’ Cornell University and gorges county – the Ivy League campus perched above Cayuga Lake, the surrounding waterfall-carved gorges, and Ithaca’s vibrant progressive college town character make Tompkins County one of upstate New York’s most intellectually and naturally distinctive communities.
Ithaca (the county seat, population ~31,000) is Tompkins County’s governmental, academic, and cultural hub, a Finger Lakes city whose Cornell and Ithaca College presence creates a youthful, innovation-focused community anchored by stunning natural scenery.
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Tompkins County Assessor at 125 E. Court Street, Ithaca, NY 14850, phone 607-274-5517. NY assessed at percentage of full market value.
Courts & Legal
Tompkins County Supreme Court at 320 N. Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850, phone 607-272-0466, handles probate through Surrogate’s Court.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
320 N Tioga St, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-5431
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Tompkins County Surrogate’s Court, Ithaca (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Cornell University, Ithaca, holds significant regional and historical archival collections.
Local societies
No dedicated Tompkins County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Tompkins County Surrogate’s Court 320 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 216-6655 Tompkins County is in New York’s Finger Lakes region, seated in Ithaca, home to Cornell University.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
New York probate and estate administration is governed by the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) and handled by the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. New York has 62 counties, each with its own Surrogate’s Court.
Voluntary Administration / Small Estate Affidavit (SCPA Article 13) – available when the decedent’s PERSONAL property (not real property) has a gross value of $50,000 or less, excluding certain property automatically set aside for a surviving spouse or children under 21 (EPTL 5-3.1). Owning real property does NOT disqualify an estate from this process – only the personal property counts toward the $50,000 cap. The filing fee is just $1.00.
Probate – required when there’s a valid will and the estate exceeds the small-estate threshold or involves real property.
Administration – required when the decedent died intestate (no will); the Surrogate’s Court appoints an administrator following the statutory priority order under SCPA 1001.
Step 2: filing for probate or administration
File the will (if any) with the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled, along with a probate or administration petition.
The court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without a will) to the appointed fiduciary.
The fiduciary notifies creditors and beneficiaries and inventories the estate’s assets.
Debts, expenses, and any required New York State Estate Tax are paid.
The fiduciary distributes the remaining assets according to the will or New York’s intestacy law and files a final accounting to close the estate.
What it costs
Voluntary Administration filing fee: $1.00.
Full probate/administration filing fees vary and generally scale with estate value.
UNIQUE TO NEW YORK: New York imposes its own separate state ESTATE TAX. For 2026, the New York basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000 – estates at or below that owe no state estate tax. New York has an unusual “cliff”: if the estate’s value exceeds the exclusion by more than 5% (over $7,717,500 in 2026), the ENTIRE estate becomes taxable from the first dollar. No portability between spouses. Rates range from about 3.06% to 16%.
New York has no separate state inheritance tax.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
779 Warren Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 257-1345
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
128 E Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-5522
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
55 Brown Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-6600
Social Services
320 W State St, Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-5252
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Tompkins County Health Department – Ithaca, NY
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Ithaca
Population: 105,000
Established: 1817
Tier: 2
Public Records
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