Members of NY Villagers for Efficient Government say they are bringing dissolution forward in Brockport for a second vote because now is the right time.
“People have been asking us, ‘What’s going on? Are we going to do it again?’ ” says village resident Francisco Borrayo. He is a member of NY Villagers for Efficient Government -a non-profit organization – which recently petitioned the village to hold the vote.
Brockport residents voted against dissolving their municipal government in 2010, but resident and NY Villagers for Efficient Government member Rhett King says many warned that their vote to preserve the government at that time was not an endorsement, but a second chance. “We woke up the community,” he says. “We are so glad to be able to bring this vote to the residents of the community.”
At the heart of the matter is the growth in the tax levy, group members say. “The mayor is saying we are financially better off (than in 2010). The village government may be better off, but not the individual,” a village resident says. “Since the 2009/2010 budget, the tax levy has risen more than a half-million dollars ($530,000) or 25 percent.” When the same resident researched State Comptroller records on the levy back to 2005/2006, she found that since that time, the levy has increased more $1 million. “I thought it had to be wrong, that’s an astounding number” she says, but checking through Village Board meeting minutes confirmed the numbers.
NY Villagers members say although there may not be time to develop a dissolution plan before the vote – which will likely be in mid-to-late May – they would like the Village Board to commission a study which would give recommendations and information on possible cost savings of dissolution.
Rhett King says typically, the studies do show cost savings. In the Village of Macedon, for example, he says, a study took three weeks to complete and showed a real property tax savings of about 40 percent with dissolution (www.cgr.org).
“If things are that good (in Brockport), they have nothing to fear,” he notes of the results of a study. “People would have information and be able to make an informed decision.”
Brockport Mayor Margaret Blackman says there is not time to do a meaningful study between now and the date the vote would have to take place. She explains that the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester (CGR) – which completes “dissolution studies” as part of their business – has already contacted the village, telling village leaders a study could be done before the vote; however, implying (Blackman) that the study that would be done – in such a short span of time – would not truly cover all the issues that would come with dissolution.
“This issue came up after the last vote and our grant writers responded at the time, ‘Why would Brockport want to dissolve? Brockport is not the kind of village that dissolves.’ We don’t need a boilerplate study that will be hastily done and at this stage could not possibly include all the dissolution costs and the outcome of dissolution because that outcome rests in the hands of the town.”
NY Villagers members say they have been researching financial numbers from villages around Monroe County. According to their findings (available on their website: village-dissolution.com/ ), Brockport has the highest tax rate of any village in Monroe County – $11.88/$1,000, while at the same time also has the highest rate of poverty – nearly 28 percent. They say the differences in property taxes between the Village of Brockport and the Town of Sweden on a home assessed at $120,000 breaks down to $106 more per month for village property owners.
“That’s 48 and one-half gallons of milk per month,” a NY Villagers member points out. “Pennies a day (in taxes) may be easy for some, but not for others.”
