Chris Duquin CITIZEN STUDY 1. How much time has Kevin Gaughan and the Williamsville Citizen Study Group spent at Village Hall researching the details of village dissolution?

We don’t know how much time Mr. Gaughan has spent at Village Hall. Members of the Williamsville Citizen Study Group have spent hundreds of hours since December 2009, many of them spent at either Village Hall or Town Hall, researching how dissolution could potentially change services and taxes for the Village residents. We have interviewed four Amherst Town Board members, the Town Comptroller, all of the Village Board members, including the Mayor, and the Village Administrator to discuss the likely effects of Village dissolution on public services and taxes. We have completed a comparative analysis of more than 200 Town and Village single-family residential tax bills and have carefully reviewed both the Town and Village budgets. We did all this because as residents we wanted to know. We did this in order to provide the most accurate information as possible about the likely changes in services and taxes that would accompany dissolution, so that Village residents can make an informed decision about whether or not to dissolve the Village of Williamsville.

Kevin Gaughan 2. How will Village taxpayers benefit if the Village is dissolved?

Our research shows that the Village taxpayers will not benefit from dissolution. There is no indication that the quality of services in such things as trash and refuse pickup, fire protection, and street maintenance will improve. Services such as sidewalk snow removal and tree stump removal are likely to be eliminated. Other services such as those provided by Volunteer Committees, including Main Street beautification, tree plantings, and historic preservation, are likely to be eliminated. Events such as Winterfest, the Easter Egg Hunt, Garden Walk and Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony may also be lost.

Cost savings to the Village taxpayer are likely to be minimal or perhaps nonexistent. Most of the Village property tax goes toward sewer, water, lighting and fire protection. Amherst residents who live outside the Village pay these as Special District fees. The Village tax will be replaced with Special District fees that will wipe out most, if not all, tax savings. If there is a small tax savings, it is likely to be spread across the taxpayers of the entire town, not just to the 4 percent of the Town residents who live in the Village.

3. How much will Village taxpayers really save if the Village government is dissolved?

It depends on exactly how the Town and the Village negotiate the dissolution in terms of tax rates, special district fees and the handling of Village assets and debt. We have completed a study that attempts to predict the effects of Village dissolution on likely tax and special districting scenarios, as identified through our interviews with both Town and Village officials. Results suggest that it is possible that Village property taxes could actually increase, due in part to the predicted costs to Village residents for necessary upgrades to our water system. It is possible that these costs would be offset at some point by a reduction in water rates. However, the analysis clearly shows that it is quite possible that there will be no tax savings to the Village taxpayer. Furthermore, any benefits to the Town in terms of the increased revenue due to Village property taxes are mostly likely to be spread over the entire town and not returned directly to the 4 percent of the Town residents who live in the Village. This further decreases the chances of any significant cost savings to the Village taxpayer.

4. How would businesses in the Village be affected? Will sidewalks be plowed on Main Street and the flowers maintained by the Town of Amherst on the light posts?

While Village government should not significantly impact the customer base in the short term, Village businesses are likely to lose some services that are currently provided by the Village. The Village of Williamsville plows the sidewalks throughout the Village and gives first priority to those sidewalks on Main Street and in front of other businesses in the Village. The Town recently considered and rejected the idea of developing sidewalk plowing districts. It is therefore very likely that sidewalk plowing service will be lost.

Village Department of Public Works employees water the baskets of flowers that help beautify Main Street during the spring and summer. It is likely that this service would be lost. The DPW also assists the Williamsville Business Association with many of the events they put on, like the Farmers Market, Taste of Williamsville and Thursdays in the Village. It would be extremely difficult for the Town to justify providing employees for these services only to businesses along Main Street in the Village without having to perform similar efforts elsewhere in the Town. Village businesses would instead be responsible for all of these functions.

5. What will happen to the Williamsville Fire Department?

It appears unlikely that in the short term the Williamsville Fire Protection District will disappear. Most likely, the town will administer a new special fire district coterminous with the current fire protection area. With the oversight provided by the Village Board gone through dissolution, the effective spending controls would also be eliminated. Over time, the cost of fire protection would most likely increase to levels consistent with other fire districts in Amherst. Since special district budgets do not affect the Town’s General Fund, they are not as rigorously examined by the Town Board. The current location of the fire company to the Main Street business district and to the residents of the Village and South Central Amherst ensures timely response to emergencies. With conversations about consolidating fire districts within New York State, it is possible we could see an increase in fire insurance costs. A reduction in response time would be anticipated if the Snyder and/or Main-Transit Fire Protection Districts were merged with what is now the Williamsville Fire Protection District.

GAUGHAN

1. How much time have I spent at Village Hall researching the details of village dissolution?

In 2006, in the course of conducting a study on local government throughout Erie County, my students and I spent several weeks in the Village of Williamsville and at Village Hall examining the cost to taxpayers of sustaining village government. The results of that study are available at www.The- Cost.org. In addition, in the past four years, I have attended 301 town and village government board meetings throughout our community, speaking with politicians and people about the role of local government in their lives. I have visited three New York State villages – Perrysburg, Seneca Falls, and Ticonderoga – in which residents dissolved their government, and several villages in Maryland and South Carolina (where so many young Western New Yorkers are moving), which function without a village government. My proposal that we dissolve each of our 16 village governments in Erie County is based on this research.

2. How will Village taxpayers benefit if the Village is dissolved?

The question before village voters is whether to dissolve the government, not the village. The Village of Williamsville was founded in 1800; the village government was incorporated in 1850. Thus, the village preceded the government, and it will survive any dissolution of the government.

Village taxpayers will reap several benefits from eliminating the government, including lower taxes, reduced politician bickering, and perhaps most important, gaining direct control over their own community.

Including town and village elected officials, village residents now have 17 local politicians representing them, whose salaries and benefits cost taxpayers more than $600,000 per year. Dissolving the village board and downsizing the town board (which referendum will be before all town and village voters on Nov. 2, 2010) saves taxpayers $115,000 per year.

Bickering between town and village officials – perhaps most painfully illustrated by the claim that town politicians will not serve village interests as well as village politicians – is a principal contributor to Western New York’s chronic economic decline. Our politicians spend so much time rationalizing their existence by running down each other that nothing changes: Peace Bridges aren’t built; waterfronts remain fallow; and opportunities to attract jobs are missed.

Outside New York State, villages are run by volunteer boards and volunteer citizen committees. Ending village government does not remove the closest level of government; it renders Williamsville residents as their own government, responsible for their own fate. That is direct democracy at its finest, less expensive and more accountable than having to sustain five elected village board members.

3. How much will Village taxpayers really save if the Village government is dissolved?

An independent analysis recently revealed that dissolving village government will save Williamsville residents approximately $300 per year in property taxes. Multiplying $300 savings per property taxpayer times the 2,534 households in the village means that Williamsville taxpayers would save $760,200 per year, or $7.6 million per decade. And that’s not all they would save.

Village government costs Williamsville taxpayers $4.7 million per year. Approximately $3.2 million of that comes from property taxes and utility fees that village government collects. The other $1.5 million comes from state tax, federal tax and sales tax revenue passed on to the Williamsville village government. Ending village government will afford us the chance to reduce Erie County’s 8.75 percent sales tax, the highest sales tax in New York State, as well as reduce Albany spending by eliminating the need for state government to subsidize New York’s 556 village governments, including Williamsville.

4. How would businesses in the Village be affected? Will sidewalks be plowed on Main Street and the flowers maintained by the town of Amherst on the light posts?

Businesses in the Village of Williamsville will be unaffected by the elimination of village government, except for their sharing in resultant tax savings.

In each of the 21 New York State villages that have dissolved their government in the recent past, all services that were provided by the village continued, including winter sidewalk plowing and village beautification.

That which renders the Village of Williamsville and its quality of life unique, including the Garden Walk, Old Home Days, annual flower installation on Main Street, youth programs and senior services, will remain exactly as is. Because these services are provided not by government, but by volunteer village residents and volunteer committees, each of which will continue long after the government is dissolved.

5. What will happen to the Williamsville Fire Department?

Both those who support government dissolution and those who oppose it agree that fire protection services for village residents will not change in any way. The Hutchinson Hose Company and Williamsville Fire Protection District serve both Village of Williamsville residents and a substantial portion of the Town of Amherst. Its location is vital to the safety and well-being of the high-density population and business district of the village, as well as surrounding town neighborhoods. As such, it is paid for by both town and village taxpayers, and there exists no rationale reason to change its services in any way.

The Bee

The Bee investigated some of the questions posed to the Williamsville Citizens Study Group and Kevin Gaughan. We spoke with some key figures in the community, and their responses and perspectives follow.

How much will village residents really save if the village is dissolved?

The short answer to that is, no one knows. Everyone the Bee spoke with in the Town and Village government was careful to state that savings would depend on the dissolution plan that is ultimately adopted. Village administrator Lynda Juul pointed out that the formula for distributing sales tax revenue is developed by the county. The current sales tax in Erie County is 8.75 percent. Of that amount, 4 percent of that is returned to New York State and 1.75 percent is retained by Erie County for county purposes. Of the rest of the 3.25 percent, only one-fourth is shared among all the towns, cities and villages in Erie County.

A more detailed explanation of sales tax distribution can be found on the Erie County Comptroller’s website at http://www.erie.gov/comptroller/tax_distribution.asp. It is Juul’s belief that if the village were to dissolve, the portion of the sales tax now received by the village would be allocated to the town.

How would businesses in the Village be affected? Will sidewalks be plowed on Main Street and the flowers maintained by the Town of Amherst on the light posts?

Town Councilman Mark Manna stated that changes in codes that businesses would have to adhere to are negligible.

“Most municipalities adhere to the state regulations and they’re pretty uniform throughout the state,” he said.

As far as services go, he could not speculate on how they might change. Currently, Amherst does not plow sidewalks and any flowers are maintained by the parks department.

“I’d have to say that all depends on the plan that the village comes up with, and if the town accepts it. Services cost money. I’m willing to provide any service the villagers want as long as they’re willing to pay for it,” he said.

Dick Rich, president of the Williamsville Business Association, emphasized that many of the consequences on local businesses are unknown. He is concerned about the potential loss of the close relationship between the business community and the village government.

“I have found working with the government something that we’ve appreciated,” he said. He also expressed concern about the fate of WBA-supported events like Music on Main.

“The businesses have been able to promote a number of different events this year. Some of the businesses are questioning, if the village is dissolved, will we be able to do the kinds of things we want to do? We don’t know. The biggest concern is the fear of the unknown.”

“As a group, I get the impression that most of the businesses in the village are happy that they are in the village, and do appreciate some of the services that they get,” he added. “Beyond that you get into a very grey area.”

What would happen to the Village Planning and Zoning Boards that help preserve the unique architecture of the Village if the Village is absorbed by the Town? Would the current residential and commercial zoning in the Village change?

The village has been seeking to have the town take over the building inspection process. This will most likely happen whether the village is dissolved or not.

“The Town Building Department is currently negotiating with Jeff Kingsley to see what might need to be done as far as contracts and such,” Supervisor Barry Weinstein said. “Nothing of course has been finalized yet. However, we do plan on taking over Village planning if the village wants and if it is dissolved.”

Manna was uncertain how the zoning codes differ between the village and the town. The village recently began the process of overhauling their zoning codes and it’s unclear if they would be adopted by the town or not. But Manna stressed a key point.

“Whether the town or village has what’s known as master plan, all it takes is four votes to change that plan,” he said. “The town board historically has gone against residents and for developers when it comes to controversial developments. I feel the village could lose a lot of its identity if the land use issues are not handled correctly.”

What will happen to the Williamsville Fire Department?

Mike Wutz, past president of the Fireman’s Association of the State of New York, says that it’s unlikely the department will disappear, based on what has happened in other villages in New York State that have dissolved.

The governance of the fire department would change from being a village-run entity to being an independent entity that contracts with the town, like the Getzville and Main-Transit fire departments are. The Williamsville Fire Department currently holds contracts with 16 other districts, which provides 54 percent of their funding.

The other 46 percent comes from the village general fund. For village residents, it doesn’t appear as a separate item on their tax bill, but if the district became independent, it would.

Weinstein confirmed Wutz’s beliefs. “We would not be eliminating fire districts,” he said. “Dissolution is up to the village residents to decide and if its dissolved, then we would have negotiations with the fire district, just as we do with six of the other 10 districts in the town.”

Wutz emphasized that response times would not change, and the overall cost for fire protection would likely stay the same.

For more questions and answers from local representatives, visit www.AmherstBee.com.