Village Board Minutes

January 5, 2012 (35)

A special meeting of the Village Board was held January 5, 2012 at 6:00 PM in the firehouse, 16 Saratoga Ave.

Mayor Winslow called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call: Trustee Denno, Trustee Densmore, Trustee Enekes and Trustee Lescault were present.

Mayor Winslow welcomed everyone in attendance including the speakers and Dissolution Feasibility Committee members.  The mayor gave a brief outline of the formation of the feasibility study committee and their ultimate recommendation to the Village Board not to dissolve the Village.

Michael N’dolo of Camoin Associates presented an overview of the findings of the committee during their work with the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) during the study.  Mr. N’dolo worked with CGR on the study on the financial impacts of dissolution.  Ultimately, the study determined that assuming all services currently provided by the Village were continued by the Town the ultimate savings to the Village resident would be $145 per year on a $100,000 home and an increase of $48 per year to a Town resident with a similar home.  Mr. N’dolo pointed out that according to requirements of the State grant used to develop the study, the possible increase in State aid, known as the Citizens Empowerment Credit, was not used in the estimates.  If the potential aid is included in the calculation the savings for a Village resident would be $242 and savings for a Town resident would potentially be $48.   The main savings in the study are from eliminating the Village Board and Mayor, the Clerk-Treasurer and Deputy Clerk-Treasurer, as well as the Building Inspector.  The study assumed all DPW employees would be hired by the Town, Town Highway employees have a higher pay scale than the DPW therefore there would be an approximate increase in costs of $20,000.  Mr. N’dolo also pointed out that the Town would need to petition the State Legislature in order to maintain the current 24/7 Sheriff presence in the Village, currently the Town cannot enact a special district for enhanced police protection.  In addition, the plan assumed the Fire Department would become an expanded fire protection district to cover the Town and former Village, which may lead to increased administrative costs for the fire department.

Wade Beltramo of the New York Conference of Mayors gave an overview of the village dissolution process.  Mr. Beltramo gave history of villages that had dissolved and those that had dissolution votes that were not ultimately dissolved.  Mr. Beltramo also went over recent changes to NYS law that governed village dissolution, the petition process and the time line of a dissolution if the voters elect to dissolve.

Diana Smith, former mayor of Seneca Falls, spoke of the dissolution of her village.  Ms. Smith discussed the dissolution plan put together in her village, which would have resulted in a 48% reduction in taxes for former village residents.  The dissolution plan was put together with extensive input from the town supervisor leading the committee to believe that the town would support the plan.  Ultimately, the town received backlash from the town residents and has decided not to honor many parts of the plan that was voted on by village residents.  There will be a significant financial impact due to the changes the town board is making to the assumptions of the initial plan.  Ms. Smith cautioned against voting based on the assumption that the preliminary plan the Feasibility Study Committee constructed will be the plan implemented by the town board if the village dissolves.  Ms. Smith also touched on the significant costs of dissolution including legal fees, appraisals, costs of actuaries and auditors and debt service impacts.  The Village of Seneca Falls did receive a dissolution implementation grant to offset costs, but the costs have so far exceeded the amount of the grant.

Committee member Renee Baker spoke about the emotional impacts of the study and commented that in her opinion the village residents receive quality services.

Committee Chairperson Tim Murphy stated he initially did not feel it was necessary to put the dissolution issue to a vote because the committee voted in the majority not to pursue dissolution, after reflection he felt residents should vote.  Mr. Murphy also stated that he felt it would have been more helpful for the committee to have several years worth of figures to identify any trends in spending instead of the one year snapshot they were given.

Committee member Jim Hopkins stated in his opinion the village residents should vote on the issue of dissolution, not a twelve-person study committee or five-person Village Board.  Mr. Hopkins also stated that change is difficult, but the decision must be made.

Committee member Kevin Granger commented that the issue of who would do administrative work for the fire department was never considered.  Currently all administrative tasks are done by Village Hall staff, if the fire department needed to incorporate to provide protection they would need to hire admin staff, auditors and lawyers.  Mr. Granger stated that Greenfield Fire Department spends $100,000 per year in administration costs. 

Numerous village residents asked questions of the presenters relating to the study and the issue of dissolution.  Many individuals in attendance also voiced their opinions in favor or against dissolution.

Mayor Winslow thanked the speakers for their presentations and thanked the public in attendance for their questions and comments.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion by Trustee Denno, seconded by Trustee Lescault, that Board adjourn, 9:06 PM.
Carried – 4 – 0

Nicole M. Colson
Clerk-Treasurer