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#Post#: 952--------------------------------------------------
Western Section Erie Canal Town & Village Operating Costs
Breakdown
DIR By: Doug K
Date: February 22, 2020, 12:38 pm
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You have asked... and here's the answers.
Questions about where the ECNA Town & Village data is coming
from and how we made the graphs have been coming in for 2 days
now.
Many canal residents want to know if what they are seeing is
accurate...the answer is yes, this is what the data shows. To
end the questions I will take a moment to explain how the ECNA
was able to collect and display the graphs you are seeing in the
Forum Board.
Thank you to all who commented or emailed asking for
"verification on our facts"... always make sure those supplying
data can back up their claims.
Since our intended analysis was for Canal Towns WITH Villages we
found a great list of all original and newer municipalities
along the Erie Canal. It was from a Book titled Erie Canal
Legacy by Olenick & Reisem and shows architecture in NYS along
the Erie Canal. The book listed municipalities from City size to
small Hamlets, 106 locations in all.
Our goal at the ECNA, is to show if there is a case supporting
the NYS Government Reduction Act along the Erie Canal. This 2010
NYS Law is trying to eliminate inefficient and unnecessary
layers of lower government agencies, mainly Villages or Hamlets
(if incorporated). We reasoned if the data doesn't support doing
village reductions, it should show, but if the data supports
Village Dissolution that should also be apparent as well. And if
reduction is the best answer for NYS Residents than the ECNA
will back that effort fully.
Here's how we did our analysis... it starts with a Master Data
Table
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
Once we have the data collected we start using Microsoft Excel
Graphing to show what are outliers, data points that are far
exceeding others in the same data set, on both the high and low
ends. We used current data if possible, but also used Census
Data from 2010 for population numbers. Wiki is a great source
for Municipality sizes.
Town & Village budgets numbers are a mix of older years,
2017-18, and others are recent 2019-20. Most of that depended on
how transparent each Town or Village was with their Annual
Budgets. The ECNA did contact a few Villages for budget info as
well since they were least transparent. While some Town &
Village budget numbers may be off by small amounts the overall
data will not be affected greatly.
Just want to be clear.. we didn't take budget numbers to the
"penny" because pennies don't matter when you thousands of
dollars are being wasted.
Here's what some of the graphed data look like... and we
recently updated for the Village of Holley, NY
[attachimg=3]
As you can see the numbers do not bode well for Erie Canal
Villagers. Those graphs have very different monetary amounts,
Thousands to Millions of dollars per Sq. Mile. Most Villagers
along the Erie Canal, as well as Town Residents, rarely get a
comparison view of how their towns stack up to others in cost,
size etc. But if you were trying to understand if your tax money
was being spent wisely & efficiently how else could it be done?
One of our favorite views of data is Cost by Resident...because
at the end of the day that is what matters to a taxpayer
household. And this graph shows EXACTLY why the State of NY came
up with this Government Reduction Act. If someone bought a house
in a Village, they are now trapped into much higher cost than
the folks in the Town around them. Until the Govt Reduction Act
their only recourse was to move. Now they can rally, petition
the Village for a Dissolution Vote and start the process of
making Town AND Village Taxes more equitable to all.
[attachimg=4]
Here's more graph data that we like to show... it's a potential
of savings based on historical numbers by simply dividing the
Taxes Saved by the number of Households in a Village. Actual
saving for Villagers would be based on the assessed value of the
property used to create the current Annual Village Tax bill for
each household... but it does show savings. And we also compared
Towns to Towns & Villages in a special graph.
[attachimg=5]
IN CONCLUSION:
So there you have it... it's starts as an idea, it gets put onto
paper, and data is collected. After that it just analyzing and
comparing to see who operates the best, who's wasting taxpayer
money needlessly and where changes and improvements could be
possible. You can view the data like we do, make your own
determination on what it means, but in the end the data proves,
with doubt, that Village Municipalities may have outlived their
usefulness and now have become an UNFAIR burden to those who
live withing their small footprints.
Something to consider when residents & neighbors in your Erie
Canal Village knock on your door asking for signatures to
Support NYS Government Reduction and dissolve the village to
stop the tax madness.
#Post#: 953--------------------------------------------------
Re: Western Section Erie Canal Town & Village Operating
Costs Breakdown
DIR By: Doug K
Date: February 22, 2020, 1:01 pm
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There are 534 reasons why the NYS Government Reduction Act
should matter to every taxpayer in NY State.
[attachimg=1]
Note: Since the last census, 10 years ago, 21 New York State
Villages have decided they will stop the Village Tax Madness by
Dissolving & Combining with their Townships
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