Guiding True Political Reform in the State of New York
19 Feb
Yesterday the Buffalo News joined me in supporting Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s efforts to help, foster and promote consolidation. Two important points:
Cuomo’s plan would update New York’s confusing and Byzantine rules for consolidation while still maintaining Home rule for local governments. The proposed legislation would:
As the News points out, special districts cost tax payers more than $100 billion a year. That’s simply more than New Yorkers can afford.
Read the Buffalo News Editorial HERE.
See AG Cuomo’s plan HERE.
16 Responses for "News Joins Consolidation Efforts"
While consolidation of our myriad units of government is something that must come, as another famous independent candidate for public office once said: “The Devil is in the Details.”
While Mr. Cuomo’s plan certainly sounds appealing, we do not know the details because the text of the proposed legislation itself is not posted on his website yet.
While consolidation can be good, it can also be bad, and, if done incorrectly, exacerbate Upstate’s high-tax high expense problem. Let me explain . . .
Five years ago Rolf Pendall of the Brookings Institute published a paper “Sprawl without growth: The Upstate Paradox.” In it he documented how urbanized acreage in upstate NY increased substantially, while the population was stagnant or dropped. It is no complicated logic to conclude that if you take the same population but spread it over double the area, you are going to increase your governmental expenses considerably because you will have more water and sewer lines, more roads and other infrastructure to maintain, and greater areas to cover with police and fire protection.
It is no coincidence that these sprawled Upstate areas are also the highest taxed in the nation.
Consolidation done “wrong” could exacerbate this problem. For example, consolidation of a densly populated Village having long established water and sewer systems into a surrounding town would likely result in persons in the sparsely populated outlying areas demanding the same services . . . but it would not be cost effective to service them because they chose to live where people are far apart. Ultimately, that would encourage sprawl in increase the cost of government in the long run.
Let’s get the details on Mr. Cuomo’s plan first before supporting it.
Excellent analysis, Strikeslip. But, we should not fear any higher costs of consolidation. Just because a resident in a far-reaching corner of a consolidated township wants water and sewer, does not mean that they will get it. If the cost of providing the services demanded are more than the taxpayers care to bear, then tough luck!
Consolidation is the best real means of reducing the ridiculous burden we bear with too much government, special districts and schools costs.
Thank you, Mr. Golisano for supporting this extremely important initiative to reduce government costs and hopefully lower citizen’s taxes.
Many gov’t agencies - at all levels could realize cost savings by introducing updated technology and IS into their existence.
Consolidating the many layers of gov’t makes sense. I would be concerned about a reducation of representation though.
None the less, this along with the other things that Responsible NY is promoting are good ideas.
Tom,
I went to the above linked Buffalo News article and the AG Press release regarding re-districting and both are lacking in a specific description of what re-districting will entail. As a concept consolidation sounds like a no brainer. In practice, it would be helpful to have a layman’s translation of exactly what consolidation would look like.
I would suggest taking a county in Western NY and doing a sample re-districting plan so we can all conceptualize exactly what redistricting will look like and how it could benefit us/a county.
In order to inspire New Yorkers to become responsible you need to educate us on the rubber meets the road. On exactly how such proposals will improve our lives.
Strikeslip, I was once part of an extensive town village consolidation study, most of what you quote, sewers and water districts, were addressed and the growth of them can be addressed by districts, if you expand them you charge the new area for it. It was done on Long Island many years ago and is done now when new development is proposed. The issue of ground water pollution is a side benefit. There is no doubt that in general many would see reduced taxes and a few would see an increase, but in the long run all would see improvement. The more you study this the less likely it is that you will ever see it happen.
Ron — I think Upstate is often different from Downstate when considering HOW consolidation might play out…It is just one of those nuances that would get lost in a legislative debate conducted from a downstate perspective.
I think consolidation is more often a good choice on Long Island than Upstate. LI (At least Nassau and Western Suffolk Co) is pretty much “filled up.” In places like Oneida County, however, where you have population centers surrounded by a lot of open space, I can see trouble brewing. Here it is not uncommon for Town taxpayers to be tapped to pay for water and sewer extensions to service private developments in a desperate quest for economic “growth.” Service extensions were made easy in the Greater Utica area when water and sewer were “regionalized.” The result has been rapid development in the suburbs and simultaneous abandonment of the city — all while the REGIONAL population declined. I can see where consolidation of a village into Town could work like “regionalization” did here — making it easier to tap Village residents to support suburban growth.
Strikeship The study I was referring to was an upstate town, the village of Tannersville in the town of Hunter, Greene county NY. 2800 people in the town, Two incorporated villages, four fire companies, three highway departments, three salt storage sheds, two village sanitation departments, two sewer plants, two water companies, one police department, one K to 6 school in Hunter one High School in tannersville. The school serviced 500 kids and has 5 administrators. This does count the county and state crews. I know not all upstate towns are like this but there are many that are and need real consolidation. In the community that I currently reside we have another incorporated village, it is hard on it`s heels and has a fire company that services the town and you pay for it in your town tax, but the town cannot see the fire department budget the fire company reports only to the village. The share the town outside pays to the fire department can not be verified they just submit to the town, the town pays it or there is no fire coverage. I know a great deal about upstate governments and how ineffective they are, I have been a town supervisor of two of them. Ron
Strikeslip, One correction, This does NOT count county and state crews. Ron
Ron - I think each case for consolidation needs to be looked at separately. Every community is different. And consolidation should not be just about saving money, but about better governance.
Here in the Greater Utica area, I would like to see a consolidation of the City of Utica with the immediately surrounding Towns and Villages plus the local Water Authority and the Part County Sewer District - uniting what is really one interdependent community that shares a common infrastructure, common economy, common mass media, and common cultural amenities. This will give the public control over their shared community that they currently do not have with governance split among 10 local governments, an authority and a special county sewer district (largely controlled by people from outside the district).
However, when consolidation is spoken of here, it often takes the form of the County taking over more local functions. That may be OK in a county where there are no other distinct communities, but here in Oneida County we have the City of Rome, which a population density map will demonstrate is distinct from Greater Utica. Water and sewer systems are distinct, concepts of “downtown” to each are distinct, newspaper readership is distinct, etc. Consolidation that would put both of these cities under the same County umbrella (before they have grown together) will inevitably lead to an unhealthy competition for the same resources. It has already taken place to some extent. Right now Rome legislators vote on the side of Utica’s suburbs and against the interests of the City of Utica on sewer district issues — even though Romans are not connected to the system, do not pay sewer fees, and, essentially, have no financial “skin in the game.”
This is why I want to see the text of Cuomo’s proposals — to determine whether it will allow for Greater Utica to consolidate, or whether it will require consolidation at the County level. One consolidation makes sense to me, the other does not.
Our first step should be to eliminate the State Legislature. We spend all this tax payers money for a disfunctional government who’s run by three people. Why are we paying the rest of these idiots. Salary, benefits, staff, cars and etc.???
As someone who lives in Buffalo, NY where we have a county and city government I’m all for consolidation! I’m sick of hearing county and city workers BRAGGING that they do 2 hrs worth of work on any given day and get pd for 8. It’s killing us. And can we build a bridge already, the NFTA is another organization with too much power in this town.
What the public needs is a way to get public officials removed from office when they vote with party leaders instead of the people who they are supposed to represent. We need an organization that is able to recall them.
I have to say I totally agree w/Mr Colonsano. His veiws are right on the money and when I retire or my children are old enough I too will be leaving NYS. Our Government in NYS has been the worst I have ever seen. People are loosing htere homes and jobs left and right. How does our government office expect us to pay taxes with nothing left. I am outta here.
Until we successfully replace the entrenched top-down NYS legislative process of centralized planning and control with a citizen driven bottoms-up government nothing is going to change. I suggest controlled bankruptcy via a constitution convention is the only way to reverse and correct what is happening to the State.
I don’t blame Mr. Golisano for leaving the state if I was in a position to do so I would follow his lead. I am a widow trying to live on my retirement but with the way taxes are in this state it makes it harder all the time. I seems that I am paying more taxes than I am paying for the actual service I’m getting such as telephone, electric etc. The older people are the ones that have paid our dues and now it seems like we are the ones having the hardest time getting by. We need big changes and sadly I don’t see much happening in my life time.
I am sure that every New Yorker undersands the problem But the solution we cannot get reform by election,because both parties send the same candidates these people would have to choose to step off the gravy train and make decisions that benefit taxpayers. Reduce government, state ,town,county, city. How do we regain control of this situation when the NY constitution has no accoutabilty from the elected to the voters.
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