Local government entities were called upon to work together to press state legislators to enact chapter amendments to the Government Reorganization Act, which will take effect on March 21, at a special forum sponsored by the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM).

Garden City Deputy Mayor Donald Brudie, Trustee Nicholas Episcopia, Village Administrator Robert L. Schoelle, Jr. and Village Clerk Brian Ridgway attended the Oct. 29th forum, which focused on the act and the reasons why amendments are needed.

“The forum on consolidation/dissolution was well presented, very informative and well attended by representatives from Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties,” Schoelle told the Garden City News the day after the meeting via e-mail. “All appreciate the efforts of the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM ) and the Nassau County Village Officials Association (NCVOA ) to keep village officials informed on the ramifications of the Attorney General’s Government Reorganization Act.

“I have attended several programs on the subject that were also presented by NYCOM. The message that I have consistently come away with is that Villages are the most accountable, efficient and democratic entity in New York State. Villages provide the services that are needed and desired by their residents and village dissolutions create more local governmental entities (special districts).”

The act’s ramifications can be quite disastrous, according to Warren Tackenberg, executive director of the Nassau County Village Officials Association. “The orchestrated bill of the attorney general of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, is probably one of the worst bills that I as a layman have ever read. I am not a lawyer, but I read the bill and even I was astounded by it. I think it’s very dangerous. I think it’s a threat to local control in the state of New York. Home rule is at peril, and I also think it’s a threat to democracy.”

One of the major concerns NYCOM and NCVOA have with the act, which was signed into law on June 24, is that it allows for a lower threshold for elector-initiated dissolution of a Village. All that is needed is for someone, who does not have to be a Village resident, to circulate a petition and secure the signatures of 10 percent of all of the Village’s qualified voters, or 5,000 signatures, whichever is less. The current law requires signatures of 33 percent of all Village electors.

Once a petition is filed, the Village’s Board of Trustees must enact a resolution to schedule a referendum held no more than 90 days from the resolution date, even if it’s in the summer when many people are away on vacation. If the vote does not pass, no dissolution petitions will be permitted for four years. If the referendum passes, the Village must develop a dissolution plan within 180 days. Although the act does not specifically mention the use of a study committee or consultant, the forum’s presenter, NYCOM General Counsel Wade Beltramo, said it is generally necessary.

The Village Board may also initiate dissolution by adopting a resolution endorsing a proposed dissolution plan, after the issue is studied by a special committee and/or consultant.

Another problem Beltramo highlighted during his presentation was that if a dissolution plan is passed, it takes effect even if the Board of Trustees is against the action, unless a petition is filed within 45 days of the plan’s voter approval. The petition must contain signatures of at least 25 percent, or 15,000 of the Village’s electors, whichever is less. Beltramo said this is a very large hurdle, and essentially allows for dissolution by default.

NYCOM recommends the following changes be made to the act: raising the signature threshold for dissolutions to 25 percent; clarifying the petition signature process; mandating that a study be done first before a vote; lengthening the time frame for conducting studies; and requiring the vote to be held at a normally scheduled election. NYCOM also seeks to change the law to allow the democratically-elected Village Board to approve or disapprove dissolution after receiving the study.

Deputy Mayor Donald Brudie voiced his concerns with the act in an e-mail to The Garden City News: “The law, which provides the mechanism for the consolidation or dissolution of, inter alia, villages in the state, purportedly to reduce taxes and expenditures, may very well accomplish the opposite. The forum did serve to substantiate the age-old maxim, ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.’ In my opinion the law is nothing more than a politician’s gimmick to deceive the voters into believing that they have our concern at heart and we will be receiving appreciable property tax reductions. While this may be somewhat true of very small communities in upstate New York, where very few services are rendered, the contrary appears true for our region of the state.

“Any proposed tax savings, as I understand the bill, will not affect the very tax that appears to be choking most residents, i.e. school taxes. Any property tax reduction that is enjoyed by consolidation or dissolution will be offset by a concomitant reduction of Village services. You will now have to rely on county or town government for those very same services for which you were previously accustomed to call Village Hall. Be prepared, should this (consolidation/dissolution) ever happen here, to stand in line when you call to complain or to seek services.”

Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, who represents the 16th Assembly District which includes towns and Villages in North Hempstead, turned to the auditorium filled with mayors and other local officials and called upon them to press their legislators to amend the act. “I hope that there will be a groundswell from local governments around the state,” she said. “Then, and only then, can you wake up the legislature to pay attention to get this through. I do believe if the right combination comes together, and the right what I think to be rather benign amendments, amendments that do what they’re supposed to do, empower the people, I think we can have success here and we can all come out as victors.”