by Nick Mattera Nick.mattera@niagara-gazette.com
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
A study conducted last year by an independent company showed a merger between the Village and Town of Lewiston could pose significant cost savings, improved services and a lessened tax burden — but maintaining the communities’ identity was more important to village lawmakers.
That decision is far too common in both Niagara and Erie counties and has forced local residents to bear the brunt of the nation’s highest taxes, according to regionalism activist Kevin Gaughan.
“In my view and I think in any Western New Yorker’s view from Niagara Falls to Buffalo and certainly from Lewiston to Lackawanna, this is the greatest community in America,” Gaughan said. “But we are dying. There are 3,086 counties in America and in Niagara and Erie counties we see the highest concentration of local government in America, which is why we pay some of the nation’s highest local property taxes.”
Gaughan said Erie County is fifth nationwide in tax costs and Niagara County is fourth, which he attributed directly to the amount of bureaucracy.
“You have 12 towns, five villages in one county (Niagara),” Gaughan said. “Eighteen governments for 200,000 people, outside of New York state that is the definition of insanity. Village governments are an unnecessary leftover vestigial part of 19th century Western New York. They were created at a time when we traveled by carriage and read by candlelight. They act today as unnecessary participants in the endless political bickering that consume our politicians.”
Gaughan noted residents, especially young people, are leaving local communities at an alarming rate. He said 30 percent of residents between the ages of 18 and 24 have left Western New York since 1996. He said the only way to stop this mass migration is lowering the cost of living exponentially.
Get out of town
A yearlong study paid for by a state grant, looked into the cost effectiveness of a merger between the Town and Village of Lewiston and was done by Buffalo-based CRA and Co. The investigation determined village taxpayers would see savings of more than $280,000 over the next two years. According to the study, property taxes would decrease from $6.27 per $1,000 in assessed property to closer to $3. Residents in the town would see little tax relief from a potential merger.
Lewiston Town Supervisor Steven Reiter said he believes in the future the town municipalities may be forced to merge due to budgetary constraints and the vast resources possessed by the town.
“The town is very blessed to have the services it receives and in many instances we are providing services for the village,” Reiter said. “Because of the duplication of services that is already in place in many cases, consolidation makes sense.”
The two municipalities already share services for courts, police and assessor, but additional savings could be found in the Department of Public Works and the elimination of elected officials and other administrative positions.
While Reiter says a merger may be inevitable, he understands the concerns of village residents and their desire to keep the village’s identity.
“If you were to lose the village, you lose an identity, a personal touch that is present. Residents call the mayor and they know him personally,” Reiter said. “If the village were lost, so would that closeness.”
Village of Lewiston Mayor-elect Terry Collesano said when the study was conducted there was no feeling residents were looking for change— as a dissolution of the village would require a public referendum.
“The consensus at the time of the report was we should leave well enough alone,” Collesano said. “We have consolidated so much already, people are content with the services provided to them, they like the village as it is.”
The village failed to move forward into a second phase following the study, despite the possible tax relief for residents.
In communities such as Williamsville, Sloan, Hamburg, Orchard Park and Depew, where Gaughan has work on consolidation and dissolution efforts, his grassroots organizers have circulated petitions to garner signatures throughout the community to force a public referendum on the issue.
“The story of politicians conducting studies to reform or change and then doing nothing has been repeated over and over in this community. It would still be repeated had I not, about four years ago, stumbled across a law that nobody knew existed, which permits us to circulate petitions to downsize town government or dissolve village governments,” Gaughan said. “I have never seen a study of dissolving village government that hasn’t shown property taxes will reduce substantially.”
Gaughan said while the public would be required to vote on the dissolution, the cost benefits often outweigh any negative repercussions.
Gaughan’s not alone
Gaughan is not the only advocate for village and town consolidation or dissolution. In 2007, then Gov. Elliot Spitzer’s administration released a study that provided towns and villages key information when looking to downsize.
“Towns and village citizens and elected officials often think consolidation of entire governments when they look for ways to save money or improve services,” the study reported. “That’s because these citizens and officials feel that since both governments are providing essentially the same types of services combining towns and villages should reduce expenditures and therefore taxes by eliminating duplication.”
The Spitzer report also discussed some of the trials associated with dissolution, including residents’ fear of losing identity, politics, fear of governmental employees losing or changing jobs and conflicting personalities or ambitions of elected officials.
Identity is something Collesano said is important to maintain and believes village residents are comfortable with the way things are.
“I recall going door to door during the election process and people telling me they don’t care if they have to pay more as long as they continue to receive the services they are currently receiving,” Collesano said. “People are afraid if you consolidate, you lose the individual attention you receive now — and I agree with that.”
The Spitzer report recommended certain positions that could be consolidated or eliminated, including clerk, treasurer, tax collector, mayor, trustees, attorney, engineer, building inspector, fire, safety inspection, animal control, central garage, safety inspection, water and sewer.
“We have to reduce the cost of owning a business, owning a home and raising a family and that’s what this is all about,” Gaughan said. “The only way you are going to reduce property taxes is by reducing the size and cost of local government.”
Gaughan has aided in the dissolution and consolidation of several villages and town boards all across the region. He has spent the better part of the past four years studying different communities and said dissolution is more than lessening the tax burden.
Collesano said there is no grounds for the Village of Lewiston to seek change.
“We have consolidated so much already. Unless people come to us and say they want change, I don’t really see a problem,” he said. “People are happy and satisfied with this community.”
Contact reporter Nick Mattera at 282-2311, ext. 2251.
