by Bea Peterson
The hot topic at the second public hearing on the Village of Hoosick Falls Dissolution Study, held at the Senior Center on Thursday, October 18, was the Police Department. At the opening of the meeting Paul Bishop from the Center for Governmental Research, the company performing the study, reviewed the three options before the Village. He reminded everyone that the options affect only 28 percent of their tax bill, the Village portion. The remainder is controlled by the State, the County, the Town, the Fire Districts and, a very small portion, by the Cheney Library.
[private]The options are: Option 1 – dissolve the Village including the Police Department. More than half the savings, or $390,000, would come from abolishing the Police Department. Option 2 – Dissolve the Village but retain the Police Department as a town-wide Police Force. Option 3 – Do not dissolve the Village but consider sharing services between Village and Town in the areas of the Courts, Highway/Public Works, Tax Assessor, Clerk’s Office and Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer. Options 1 and 2 would require a referendum. The referendum could possibly take place during the March 2013 general election.
The first to speak before the 60 or so people at the meeting was lifelong Village resident and part time Police Officer Bernard Davock. He had looked on line for local history and found there was an historic precedent for town-wide police protection. Four constables were appointed shortly after the Town’s formation in 1788, he said. When the Village was incorporated, it also had constables. Sixty-one years later, in 1888, the police force was incorporated. He noted that Town residents don’t want to be “policed.” The role of the police is not to look over everyone’s shoulder, he said, but to protect and help in times of need. He added that almost all of the officers are also trained as emergency first responders.
Joseph Nuccio, a member of the study Steering Committee said it would be difficult to bring new residents and businesses to Town if the Police Department were eliminated. Rick Tinkham, a Town resident with properties in the Village, agreed that the Village definitely needs a police department. Margaret Merwin added that the kids need to see them driving by. Mark Surdam, Village resident, Town Councilman and member of the Steering Committee, said his main concern was also law enforcement because of the lack of proximity to County Sheriff and State Police barracks.
James Martinez, Village resident and President of the Hoosick Federal Credit Union, said he couldn’t imagine running the Credit Union without the Police Department. He added that he thought dissolution might eliminate the “us versus them” mentality since we’d all be on the same page. Ric DiDonato disagreed, stating some Town residents don’t even realize Village residents pay Town taxes. “They won’t be happy with us,” he said. He also agreed that the Police Department does an excellent job.
When Steering Committee Member Bob Ryan asked for a show of hands from the 60 or so people in attendance regarding their thoughts on the various options almost every hand went up in support of maintaining the Police Department. About half raised their hands against dissolution. Many were undecided when assuming that there would be a Town-wide Police Department and only about a half dozen people supported dissolution.
People Want Services And Community
Mayor Matt Monahan said he grew up in Hoosick Falls and came back here to live. “I remember a different place as a teen,” he said. “There was a lot more going on.” He said on a recent walk through the Village he saw 19 vacant buildings and store fronts. “I don’t want to see skyscrapers, I just what those buildings filled.” He added that the Village tax base is shrinking and the population is declining. “In six years six buildings have been torn down, sixteen people have grieved their taxes and their assessments have been lowered.” He added that there is certainly community activity but not many business opportunities. He said the Village is able to provide financial help to businesses, adding that businesses could benefit from a lower tax rate.
He said dissolution is the most aggressive approach to spurring growth and reversing the shrinking tax base. He noted that the lower taxes may be a small difference for a homeowner, but it may be a big difference for a business.
Steering Committee Members Jeremy Driscoll and Dennis Casey both spoke of returning to Hoosick Falls for what it had to offer as a community. Driscoll, however, said traveling 600 miles a week with ridiculous gas prices, topped with ridiculous taxes, is a major concern.
Residents Deborah Alter and Ramon McMillian chose to purchase a home in the Village when they were relocating 14 months ago. Alter said a sense of community is important. “I’d rather have services and community than that small amount of tax money,” said Alter. McMillian thought it was more logical to explore further shared services to see if the Town and Village can work well together, then look at dissolution later.
Judith Flynn said for the difference in taxes she would just as soon keep everything how it is. She said in the winter she knows her hill will be plowed right away. She is not confident the Town would take care of it as quickly and access could be jeopardized, for example.
Former Village Mayor Don Bogardus said this issue has been discussed before. “People want the services,” he said. “If you live in the Village you want these special services. If you feel like you don’t need them, you live in the Town.”
No Guarantees
Should the Village vote for dissolution, the Village Board and the Village Office and its employees, Clerk, Treasurer, Assistant Clerk, would be eliminated, as well as the Assessor and Building Inspector. The Town would need additional highway employees but not as many as the Town and Village together have now. The Village Planning Board and ZBA would be eliminated. All Village properties would be given over to the Town. Districts would have to be set up to accommodate water, sewer and trash removal payments. They would appear as line items on the tax bill.
There would be little savings regarding the Court as the same number of people would still appear, only in one Court. The savings is estimated at $623,000 with eliminating Police and $233,000 with maintaining the Police Department. Added to that is the 15 percent State dissolution incentive of $336,000. That amounts to a savings of $569,000 a year that could be used to reduce Village and Town taxes.
Bishop also noted that there is no guarantee that incentive funding will not disappear at some point. He explained it is similar to CHIPS money. That, too, could disappear.
If there was a vote to dissolve the Village and create a Town-wide police force, the Town could decide, years later, to dissolve the department. Village laws would stay in place for two years. After that, the Town could choose what laws to keep or eliminate. Seneca Falls created a town-wide Police Department after successful dissolution, said Bishop.
Hoosick Falls would undoubtedly retain its name for postal purposes. Fort Ticonderoga and Old Forge, Bishop said, still identify themselves as Villages, years after dissolution.
Next, the Steering Committee will meet to determine a final recommendation, which they will present to the Village Board. The Board will then decide to accept or not accept the recommendation. If the Board determines dissolution is not the best option, no referendum will happen and the Village will work with the Town to look at ways to share services and cut costs. Mayor Monahan said the Town and Village highway departments have worked well together for years, for example.
Of the 96 Villages that have gone through this process, only eight dissolutions have passed. To review the complete study compiled by the Center for Governmental Research visit www.cgr.org/hoosick.
Members of the Steering Committee are Hoosick Falls Mayor Matt Monahan, Village Trustees Jeremy Driscoll and David Borge, Town of Hoosick Councilmen Mark Surdam and Louis Schmigel, Rensselaer County Legislator Lester Goodermote and Village residents Bobby Ryan, Joe Nuccio, Dennis Casey and Kendal Baker.[/private]