Excerpts from the 2009 Memorandum of Opposition from the Assoc of Towns

This is not recent commentary, but is recently posted and worth reading.

Excerpts from the 2009 Memorandum of Opposition from the Assoc of Towns to the NY Government Reorganization and Citizens Empowerment Act:

"This legislation does not deal with the true costs of high real property taxes but instead purports to establish a one-stop shopping process to consolidate or dissolve local government entities."

"There is no substantial proof that consolidation results in lower property taxes. The only realistic way in which consolidation could result in cost savings is to eliminate jobs, such as police, fire and highway, or reduce or eliminate services. Legislation changing the fundamental makeup of local government needs to be studied and debated in open with full participation from the public. No good policy is made under the cover of darkness. The manner in which this legislation was introduced and poised to be passed curtails public debate and constructive input."

"Real property taxes are high in New York State for four primary reasons: Personnel Expense; Primary and Secondary Education; Social Welfare Services and Debt. These four categories account for nearly all of the difference in per capita spending between New York and the average of the other 49 states. Despite the assertions in the memorandum in support of this legation, generally speaking, property taxes are not high due the number of local government entities in New York State. Villages and special improvement districts are established to assign the cost of desired services to the people who will be receiving said services. In other words you should not have to pay for a service that you do not receive. Most local government entities have been sharing and/or consolidating services for decades and significant savings have resulted. Cooperation rather than consolidation is favored in many instances because it saves taxpayer resources while keeping local democracy in tact and government readily accessible to the people."

"The Association of Towns is vehemently opposed to the passage of this legislation in its current form."

http://www.nytowns.org/core/contentmanager/uploads/Opposition%20to%20Local%20Consolidation.pdf