Archive: Opinions

To be honest it's great for me when the local municipalities battle each other.  Making a small town newspaper interesting is a constant challenge, so when local politicians and officials call each other names or accuse each other of dastardly deeds it gets readers' attention.  I have to complain that local officials have been making me work harder recently.  There has been a significant increase in local municipal cooperation.

One symptom is a joint Town and Village of Lansing board meeting scheduled for the April 29th.  Town and Village officials have talked about joint meetings for years but there hasn't actually been one in at least a decade.  Years ago Town Councilman Bud Shattuck would occasionally attend Village Trustee meetings, and for the past few years Village Trustee John O'Neil has attended almost every Town Board meeting and kept his board apprised of Town activity.  But that's not the same as both boards fully present working on issues of mutual interest.

Relations hit a low in 2010 when the Town and Village squared off over snow plowing.  The Town was asking to be paid what it actually cost to plow Village roadways after years of being paid way below cost due to an odd contract.  The Village claimed the Town was inflating its cost estimates.  The disagreement led to the Village taking on its own plowing.

Village Mayor Donald Hartill threatened to secede from the Town, claiming it would save villagers tax money and Supervisor Scott Pinney insisting that merging the municipalities would save them the money.  Hartill said village taxpayers were paying the Town of Lansing $700,000 per year, but only receiving $100,000 worth of services.

Today both boards refer to each other respectfully with Town and Village officials saying they can work together to iron out differences.  Actually scheduling a joint meeting took much time, but the boards are now working on an agenda of items they can begin to work on together.

When I attended the Lansing Economic Development Committee meeting Wednesday I sat next to Lansing School Business Administrator Mary June King.  Over the past year or two the Town and School District have taken a closer interest in what the other is doing.

Town officials worry that school taxes are two high and spiraling out of control.  While they acknowledge they cannot control what the school board does at budget time, they have taken a proactive approach.  Much of the recent activity to build a sewer and create a town center has been motivated by a plan to increase the tax base.  With more property owners to share the tax burden, each pays less.  King has repeatedly warned that with significant revenue loss from the devaluation of the Cayuga Power Plant and cuts in state aid, the school tax rate could rise in double digits over the next three or four years.

The town center may be possible without sewer, but it won't be nearly as effective in attracting the density of development that town officials hope will attract developers to the center of town, preventing sprawl and protecting farmland.  King has another reason to support it: in addition to speeding the growth of the tax base it will eventually save the schools cash.  She is looking at $2 million in septic replacement, and while state aid reduces that figure King says that the cost of replacing the septic systems and hooking up to sewer is likely to be about the same.  The savings will come in eliminating maintenance and future septic system replacement.  And it will remove a huge headache for school officials.

So you see King and Acting Superintendent Chris Pettograsso taking a strong interest in town activities, and you see town officials reciprocating.  Supervisor Kathy Miller and Councilwoman Ruth Hopkins were at a school budget community forum last week in part to get a better handle on school finances and partly to offer information about economic development efforts in the town.  County Legislator Pat Pryor was there, too, as well as Assemblywoman barbara Lifton's chief of staff Linda Smith. 

This spirit of cooperation can only be good for Lansingites.  It is too soon to predict whether they will be successful but it is encouraging that our local taxing authority officials are working together to find ways to rein in taxes gone wild.  Well, it's good for all Lansingites except me -- now I have to find something else to write about every week!

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