The Village of Brockport made history in June of 2010 when it was the first village in the state to hold a dissolution vote under a law that went into effect that year. Dissolution was rejected by village residents at that time by a resounding vote of 959 to 662, but now a group of Brockport citizens are again petitioning for local government dissolution.
“Many village residents feel the village government is a redundant and expensive layer of government that we can no longer afford,” a group of Brockport residents wrote in a news release submitted by Rhett King. They delivered their petition calling for a referendum on village government dissolution to the village clerk on Monday, January 25.
Those submitting the petition said that they are concerned over village taxes, rates and fees. Specific concerns listed in their statement include:
•Brockport village government imposes the highest village tax rate in Monroe County – $11.88/$1,000 assessed valuation
•the highest water rate in the county – $4.67/1,000 gallons water
•the creation of fees including a sewer fee, to raise additional revenue
•the increase of many existing fees on homeowners
The news release states that according to state law, 250 signatures were needed to begin the dissolution process. “Village residents have collected 429 signatures to initiate the process,” the news release states.
The village clerk has 10 days to certify the validity of the signatures. Residents filing the petition said they will have more comments once the signatures have been certified.
Following the failed dissolution vote in 2010, Brockport resident Carol Hannan, who had at that time just been elected as a village trustee, told Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald, “We need to make sure that three-and-a-half years from now, no one will want to dissolve the village.”
The 2010 dissolution campaign was bitterly fought with the Brockport Police Department at the heart of the issue. The cost of the police department is a significant portion of the village’s budget and dissolution threatened to eliminate it.
“People did not want to lose their village police,” Brockport Police Chief Daniel Varrenti said following the vote in 2010. “There is no substitute for local policing.”
New York State began a push for government consolidation/dissolution in recent years. Just one year ago, in January of 2015, residents in the Village of Medina in Orleans County, rejected dissolution of their municipal government by a vote of 949 to 527.
