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The latest talks may take place between the Village of Mohawk and the Town of German Flatts. The Evening Telegram is reporting that Mohawk has approved a resolution to begin talks with the Town to merge their respective fire departments. The Town will vote on a similar resolution on Wednesday night. Legal fees involved with the consolidation process would most likely be picked up by a State grant, as the State is actively promoting the consolidation of local government services as much as possible.
First off, I don't think I even have to point out how ridiculous it seems that within the Town of German Flatts, which has a population of only 13,629, there lie three different fire companies; Mohawk, Ilion, and German Flatts. Three different companies that have to purchase equipment and maintain their firehouses, both activities that cost the tax payer money. So on the surface it seems logical begin the process of merging these institutions.
So, the question I present to you is: why can't consolidations go farther than this? Instead of having three fire companies that cover the Town, why not merge all three into one unit and have that operate out of both the Mohawk and Ilion Fire Stations. This would save the taxpayers even more money, while providing the same level of service that is provided now. It may even stream line the ability for fire fighters to respond to major incidents; instead of having to activate another fire company for a large blaze they could then simply call more of their own men in.
So, kudos to Mohawk and, hopefully, German Flatts for agreeing to begin the process of consolidating their fire departments in an effort to save the tax payer money! It is consolidations of these types that will begin to, albeit slowly, bring down the cost of local government. My challenge for other local governmental officials is to begin to find ways to realize larger tax savings through consolidations. Yes there have been steps in the right direction, but moves such as; Ilion and Little Falls sharing of a Fire Chief; Mohawk and Herkimers sharing of a Police Chief; and many of the schools sharing personnel such as business managers, miss the overall point that we need more concrete consolidations such as is being proposed by Mohawk and German Flatts. If our region is to prosper once more we need to significantly lower the burden on the tax payer for local services, and that means making real consolidations.
4 comments:
Consolidation is the key to helping bring down the high property taxes in upstate.
Sean: You are completely correct. In most instances it does not make sense to have a large number of entities covering a small population. This is especially true in the Valley, where you have four different Villages, four different school districts, four different fire companies, and four different police forces, all covering a population of 21,000 that is located in close proximity to each other. The only reason this system exists is because of lines drawn up a long time ago, and thus it has been this way ever since. There is a lot of waste having four separate entities for all these things.
The main opposition that I see to consolidation is that many feel that they would loose their local institutions and their sense of community. Being here in Scotland has been eye opening in the way that they organize their local governance. Here in Edinburgh, the City Council governs the local affairs of the entire Edinburgh region, this includes smaller towns and suburban villages. The villages retain their own identity as being villages, but they are just covered by the City's fire, police, and other services. Thus, leading to cost savings.
Could a similar structure work here? I highly doubt it due to how entrenched out system is, but it just goes to show that there are ways to actually lower property taxes besides just blowing hot air at them (such as one Jim Seward likes to do constantly).
Brendan - spot on.
Did you know that with new laws on the books, municipalities could be forced to consolidate based on a referendum of the voters? The AG pushed this forward last year and basically, if a petition is submitted calling for the study of consolidation of two governmental entities (think Village/Town or multiple fire districts) that is signed by 10% of the registered voters of said entity, the entity is required to put a consolidation study up for a simple up or down vote. If approved, the entities must conduct a study and implement a consolidation plan within a certain time limit.
I'm quite sure a lot of info on this is available on the AG's website.
Tim: I have had a look at the law and it is an interesting concept. The only problem is that one would not only need the 10% of registered voters to sign the petition, but 50% to see that they would be saving money by voting for abolishing their local institutions.
There is a complete lack of trust in political entities of any type these days, and I feel as though were there to be any consolidation votes, they would be voted down as people would be too worried that a higher level of government would not be able to provide them with the same level of services.
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