Brockport Village Board members say it’s time for them to get back to work doing the job they were elected to do now that they have set a date for the vote on dissolution of the village government.
Voters will head to the polls Tuesday, May 24 from noon to 9 p.m. to decide on the question: Should the Village of Brockport be dissolved? Yes or No?
“We will continue to provide you with factual information to help you make an informed decision,” Mayor Margay Blackman said in a Village Board Statement to Voters she read during a special Village Board meeting Saturday, March 5, called to set the date for the special vote.
“We firmly believe that dissolution is clearly not in the best interest of the Village of Brockport,” Mayor Blackman said.
She noted that water rates have been a talking point for dissolutionists. “Dissolution would not reduce water rates for over half of Brockport households,” the mayor said. “Customers using 40,000 gallons or less annually would pay more to Monroe County Water Authority. Only very large water users, predominantly rentals, currently pay more.” She said the village water fund keeps the water infrastructure in good repair and that the cost of village-billed water includes the bond payoff for the Main Street Reconstruction, which would continue even if the village dissolves.
Additionally, if the village were to dissolve, the Brockport Police Department would be eliminated, Mayor Blackman said. “The (Monroe County) Sheriff’s Department is first rate, but cannot match the community knowledge or response time of the Brockport Police,” she said.
Members of NY Villagers for Efficient Government, who petitioned for the dissolution vote, have said they want the vote because village residents continue to struggle with village taxes and fees, and that the tax levy has grown more than $500,000 since the 2009/2010 budget.
They said policing is a science and that the Sheriff’s Department will, “have protection where it is most necessary.”
“It’s really not about police protection,” NY Villagers for Efficient Government member Rhett King told the Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald, “it’s about loss of jobs and power.”
At the March 5 special meeting of the Village Board, Mayor Blackman said because of the timing of the dissolution petition, the vote could not occur at the same time as the June 21 village elections. The special election will cost the village $1,600 to $2,000, the mayor said.
