DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Erie Canal Neighbors Association
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Town Taxes & Village Dissolution
*****************************************************
#Post#: 972--------------------------------------------------
Gold, Silver & Bronze - When being in the Top 3 is not what
you want.
DIR By: Doug K
Date: March 7, 2020, 4:16 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Once again, it's just numbers, and many have said they don't
lie. But how many people talk about the real story behind those
truthful numbers? Not many it seems, especially when it comes to
outdated, redundant , expensive local government in New York
State. It's not a hard concept to understand, and you only need
to see the numbers (and do a bit of simple math) to understand
that the issue with over-taxation in New York State. Village
Government across the state is costing NY Taxpayers
NY State Legislators agreed that this was unnecessary taxation
of its citizens and in 2010 they came up with the NY Government
Reorganization and Citizens Empowerment Act (GRACE). That law
identified about 600 "opportunities" to reduce taxes statewide
with the reduction of local VILLAGE government by either
consolidation with their towns, or enabling "shared services"
with the towns, or by giving Villages and or citizens an easier
path to outright Village Dissolution.
The ECNA has been focusing their attention on the GRACE Law and
how Erie Canal neighbors may be affected by it. The NY main
canal channel has about 32 villages on its waterways, villages
are targeted group for Government Reorganization. Many of those
Village residents are strapped with supporting their County &
Town through Property Taxes as well as having to pay an
additional tax to support the Village Government if they reside
within it's boundaries. It is a double tax on a small portion of
the overall "Town"population and seems like unfair taxation as
most of the townspeople use their local villages often.
Sadly Villagers are still being told it's the price to pay to
have Village Amenities... mostly by that Village Government &
Leadership that has no incentive to voluntarily reduce their
costs. It appears these village leaders care less about moving
NY State off the "Most Expensive US State to Live in List" than
trying to retain their own jobs. So NY Lawmakers gave the
CITIZENS of those Villages the power to call for a Referendum to
Dissolve the Village through a Vote with the GRACE laws. And
many local villages should take their advice and do it,
because.. the numbers don't lie.
WHAT DO THE NUMBERS SAY?
The ECNA data miners looked at the length of the Erie Canal from
Albany to Buffalo, like the song. There are 19 Cities, 44 Towns,
32 Villages and 35 Hamlets along the main NY Canal line give or
take a few. Of those 32 villages we did an extensive data
collection on the annual operating costs for those Villages and
the affect on residents that support those local Village
Governments through their local Village Tax.
The results are alarming and show some major inconsistencies
which must have been apparent when NY Lawmakers passed the GRACE
act.
Here's a Top 3 List that should alarm EVERYONE living in a
Village along the Erie Canal. It shows the cost per resident,
NOT taxpayer, for the 10 most expensive villages we collected
data for. Our data covers Syracuse to Buffalo right now.
Note...for a family of four, in Spencerport, it cost on average
$1700 per person to keep the Village of Spencerport running.
[attachimg=1]
Now the problem isn't just a Village issue, it extends to Town
along the Canalway as well. Here's a look at the cost for
residents to support both Towns & Villages in our study...
another Top 3 award that taxpayers in these locations should be
alarmed about, if only to ask why.
[attachimg=2]
The NY Government Reorganization and Citizens Empowerment Law
was meant to give some relief to NY Village residents, it can
also help towns but mostly the aim was to reduce overall cost to
NY State. So how much are we talking here? Well we did some
simple math and looked at our sample of village data running
some numbers.
Here's what we estimate could be the overall benefit to New York
State, it's Taxpayers, and the heavily over-taxed Villagers who
struggle to support this redundant, micro-managing local
government level. It appears that the cost of running local
Village Government across the state, using our data as an
average, could be higher than $2 Billion.
[attachimg=3]
Is it time for your Village to rethink it's value to the local
Taxpayers?
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1