Professional Documents
Culture Documents
OPEN FORUM
Monday, October 26 at 7:00 pm
Location: American Legion
249 Main Street
Johnson City
AGENDA:
Meeting Guidelines
Who We Are
Key Definitions
Background
Our Approach
Elements of the Dissolution Plan
Alternative Solutions
Closing Thoughts
Public Questions & Answers
Meeting Guidelines:
Who We Are:
Key Definitions:
Part – Town = Current areas of the Town of Union outside of the Villages of Johnson City and Endicott (i.e. Endwell,
West Endicott, West Corners, Westover, North Endicott, Fairmont Park and Choconut Center).
TOU = Town of Union
TOVE = New Town of Union (outside of the Village of Endicott)
JC = Village of Johnson City
Plan = Village of Johnson City Dissolution Report & Plan (as originally drafted and subsequently amended)
Committee – Johnson City Dissolution Committee
Memorandum of understanding (MOU) – is an agreement between two parties in the form of a legal document. It is not
fully binding in the way that a contract is, but it is stronger and more formal than a traditional gentlemen’s agreement. It
does not legally obligate either party.
Shared Services = Consolidation of services while keeping Village & Town government
Bias – influence in an unfair way, prevents consideration of an issue or situation
Propaganda – presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis
Fear mongering – is the use of fear to influence the opinion and actions of others. The feared subject is sometimes
exaggerated.
AIM – Aid and Incentive to Municipalities from NYS
Transition Plan – A detailed list of all the activities, tasks along with financial impacts by each department.
Background:
Background
State of New York – Office of the Attorney General
Citizens for a Better Broome – “their mission is consolidation on a county wide basis”
Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce
John Sullivan conducted the petition drive
Petition required 30% of voters (approximately 2827 signed)
Article on October 8, 2009 in Press & Sun indicated “only 20 signers ultimately asked
for their names to be removed”
Foiled information revealed 118 letters submitted to remove their name from the
petition
Committee of 16 established with 14 that remained
18 months to develop
2 public meetings
4 members signed the petition (Klish, Carr, Hussar, Phillips)
Bias or conflict of interest?
Dissolution committee told to focus on day one. CGR consultant Charles Zettek
told committee to create a plan that allows for the possibility of Endicott
dissolving into Union in the future. (Press & Sun Bulletin article, October 2008)
Our Approach:
Performed in-depth analysis of the Plan & Addendum:
Try to validate the numbers
Identify gaps or concerns
Identify potential risks
Reviewed the wording (likely, estimates, assumes)
Reviewed propaganda materials & identified inconsistencies
References used in analysis:
Dissolution Report/Plan & Addendum
Village Law Article 19
NYS Office of Attorney General’s Website
NYS Division of Local Government
NYS Department of State – How to Guide for Consolidation & Dissolution
NYS Consolidation for Towns & Villages – Impact of changing Town-Village Structure
on Federal & State Aid
Department of State – Local Government Handbook
Legislative Commission on State-Local Relations – Consolidation of Location
Governments
CGR Website
Other municipality studies on consolidation & dissolution
Revitalizing NY – Empire State Future website
Miscellaneous (i.e. Propaganda, Newsletters, Newspaper articles, etc.)
Village Government
“If the Village of Johnson City dissolves, the general government services provided by the
Village government will either be provided in whole or in part by the Town of Union, or not
provided at all. The Town, in some cases, will be required to provide certain services under
Town law, but in other cases, the Town can choose whether or not to continue providing
services and at what level” (page 7 of the Plan)
“The Town will take ownership of the Police/Court building and will move all current Town
Court operations there. Interior renovations will be made as required to accommodate the
enlarged Town Court operations resulting from the combination of the Village and Town
Court operations.” (page 7 of the Plan) – how much will this cost the tax payers?
The Village Board of Trustees and Mayor will be eliminated. “The Town will assume
legislative responsibility for the former Village with no additional pay. The size of the Town
board will not change” (page 7 of the Plan)
April 2008 dissolution meeting John Bernardo expressed his opinion that he felt that the Town of
Union Supervisor’s position could remain part-time, after dissolution.
Concern: If all the services are dissolving into the Town, how can current Village board
handle this workload. Based on previous board meetings & minutes our local government is
pretty busy. What analysis was done to estimate workload?
Police Department
“The Town will have to request that the State Legislature authorize
creation of a Johnson City Police District. Once this is created, the Sheriff
will manage and provide police services within the former village for a
total fee to be negotiated with the Town, with such fee charged as a
district fee”. (page 14 of the Plan) Page 61 identifies a police district fee will that
change?
Contract – will the Village be under the current Sheriff’s labor agreement
or is that a part of the negotiation above for a separate contract?
Supervisors – are there guidelines on how many men they can manage?
Refuse Department
“Village Management estimates that somewhere between 100-140
businesses in the Villages would be affected by a change to the Town
procedures. Going to commercial contractors under the Town procedures
will increase refuse collection costs to these businesses; however, the
financial impact will have to be determined by each business customer”
(page 21 of the Plan) – what is the estimated cost?
“Depending on the post-dissolution service outcome of the newly
established routes, the Town could consider adding two to three additional
laborers” (page 21 of the Plan) - what is the estimated cost?
Fire Department
“To estimate the financial impact of establishing the 60 career firefighter
plan for the Village of Endicott FD serving JC Fire Protection District. The
Committee budgeted one-half the cost of the department or $2,960,500.
“This would be the cost of the first year of the Inter-Municipal Agreement
between the Town & Village of Endicott.” (page 12 of the plan)
What are the projected costs after the first year?
Misc. Items:
NYS Aid – Youth Programs ($7,382 – Sara Jane Johnson) – Town is
not eligible.
Culture & Recreation ($120K) – Eliminated – State aid based on
projection.
The Tax Bill will contain tax levies for:
County, Town of Union, Police, Fire, JC Debt, Library, Parks, Highway
Due in January of 2011.
Closing Thoughts:
A transition and financial management plan should be done prior to a Yes vote. This
would allow the Village & Town to identify gaps and financial issues still buried among
the details.
There are no guarantees and the Committee can’t be held liable.
JC is the first village of it’s size and complexity – so let’s do it right the first time.
There are Alternatives:
Vote in Strong new leaders
Work with local government to develop a revitalization plan to address decay/blight, etc. You
need this whether you stay or dissolve.
Look at ways to increase revenue
Potential to lease or sell some of our assets
Cleanup JC & market it’s real estate to bring in new business
Capitalize on the gas industry, BU, Good Will Theatre, etc.
Promote JC’s significant industrial history to encourage visitors