Final Report on Strategic Alternatives for the Village & Town of Seneca Falls, NY: Considerations for a New Governance Model

Publication Date: November 2008

Publisher: Center for Governmental Research Inc.

Author(s): Scott Sittig; Charles Zettek

Research Area: Government

Keywords: Government Management; Shared Services/Consolidation

Type: Report

Coverage: New York

Abstract:

The leaders of the Village & Town of Seneca Falls engaged CGR to help them achieve a major goal: reducing the cost of government to help stimulate economic growth in the greater community. They asked CGR to develop a strategic plan for implementing shared service alternatives up to and including dissolution of the Village. CGR found that every major service or function that the Village currently provides can be provided by, or managed by, the Town. The community would potentially save $393,000 in costs by dissolving the Village and consolidating government operations.

In addition, potential new AIM incentive funding from NYS would bring in new revenue of $495,000. After factoring in other revenue shifts, including significant revenue the Town receives from a landfill, CGR estimates property taxes for a Village of Seneca Falls resident owning a home with a $100,000 taxable assessed value could be cut $975 a year if the Village dissolves and consolidates with the Town. Residents of the Town outside the Village currently pay no property taxes but would pay about $375 a year on an equivalent home in this upstate NY community. The recent PowerPoint presentation of the study's findings is available.