Listen and subscribe to Backstory on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music or wherever you get podcasts.

Part I: For years there's been deadlock over plans to bring basic services — like showers, lockers and charging stations — to people living in the homeless encampments on Ithaca’s West End known as The Jungle.

But that's about to change. The city is turning a former Burger King restaurant into a resource center and, later, a temporary winter homeless shelter. So who’s paying for it? And how does it fit in the county's other efforts to address homelessness?

Part II: Tompkins County is eying a potential deficit as it begins planning for next year’s budget. Policy changes at the federal level aimed to reduce the federal deficit could drive administrative costs up for local government.

Editor’s note: transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors. Access it by clicking the transcript button on the embedded player.

Original air date: August 8, 2025

Produced by Megan Zerez.

Reporting by Matt Butler and Megan Zerez.

Cover photo by Casey Martin.