Three years shy of its 200th birthday, the Oneida County village of Whitesboro — population 3,943 — might go away. Last week, the village board set a Jan. 4 special election to decide whether to dissolve Whitesboro. Brenda Gilberti is the mayor. She spoke with staff writer Hart Seely. What prompted this move? We are in the process of...
Only 10 percent of the village of Whitesboro's 2,250 registered voters needed to sign a petition to put the dissolution proposition up for a vote. Three years shy of its 200th birthday, the Oneida County village of Whitesboro — population 3,943 — might go away. Last week, the village board set a Jan. 4 special election to decide whether to dissolve Whitesboro. Brenda Gilberti is the mayor. She spoke with staff writer Hart Seely.
What prompted this move?
We are in the process of an audit by the state Comptroller. We had a revenue anticipation note that kept growing from year to year — ending up at $498,000 — which the state Comptroller said we absolutely had to pay back. State aid-sharing was reduced, and our revenues were severely inflated. ... People’s taxes went up approximately 47 percent, and they didn’t like it.
When did they start talking about dissolution?
In March, new (state) legislation streamlined what they call government consolidation. ... Dissolution, to initiate it, used to take 33 percent of the electorate signing a petition. The new legislation changed it to only 10 percent. So, in a village with 2,250 registered voters, it took 225 signatures to start the process.
It’s a complicated process, right?
Brenda GilbertiExtremely complicated. The problem is the time frames. For example, after they put in the petitions — and 290 signatures were valid — the clerk had 10 days to validate them. Then you have 30 days to set a referendum, which must be no less than 60 and no more than 90 days away.
But the problem is, there’s no study of the impact first. When people vote, they’ll have no real clue what they’re voting on. If the vote comes back yes, we’ll have to make a mandatory dissolution plan.
Estimates are the costs will be $60,000 in attorneys’ fees, and between $30,000 and $40,000 in consulting fees. That’s money we don’t have in our budget.
So will dissolution save taxpayer money?
That’s the problem. You don’t know if you’ll save any money. You don’t know what services you’ll lose.
...Right now, village taxes pay for police, fire, DPW (Department of Public Works), street lighting, sewer districts, road maintenance, garbage pick-up. If this dissolution happens, village taxpayers will still be responsible for that existing village debt. ... And the town (of Whitestown) won’t take on a $2.4 million operation and not charge you anything.
What happens to the village hall?
Anything that we could sell, we would have to sell. If not, everything would be the property of the town.
This a hot topic around the village?
Yes and no. It seems like there’s a handful of people, and I don’t think they’re informing the people that sign the petitions. They’re saying, “Your taxes will go down,” but there’s no proof taxes will go down.
Is this due to voter anger in general?
Absolutely. It’s anger from taxes going up, and the economy, and it’s coming from higher levels. It’s trickle down. Consolidation seems to be the hot topic nowadays, but consolidation doesn’t always save money. If you want the same services, you still have to pay for them.
What’s next?
I’m going to set up meetings between our board members and (the town) councilmen, so we can work together. This is new to them, too. They’d be forced to take on the village. Also, sewer repairs, things like that, will stay exclusively with the village taxpayers.... Studies of other villages that have gone through this show savings, if any, of 2 to 5 percent. I think that’s minimal compared to the loss of personal services.
If the vote were tomorrow, any idea how it would go?
Tomorrow? I don’t think people are educated enough on it right now. If it were held tomorrow, I think you’d have the people who went out with the petitions, I think they’d be the ones to vote.
Is this going to tie up village government?
It absolutely has crippled us. We are trying to work on inter-municipal agreements to share services, which would reduce taxes and still keep our identity. What municipality wants to merge with somebody who might not be here next year?
A sign of the times?
I think it’s a sign of the times, and I think it will backfire.
Why do you feel that way?
I think this is coming from upper government. They’re trying to find answers, so they’re blaming everything on the municipalities. I don’t think the municipalities are the problem. I think they give you the most for your money. This is a push from upper government, and I don’t believe bigger government is necessarily best.
When you look across Upstate, isn’t there a sense that there are too many towns, villages and counties?
Look, I can understand people being upset with so many different layers of government. But with those layers also come services. ... Think about fire department response times. There has to be a plan so people have police and fire coverage — but what will the response times be?
When will you be able to give people answers?
It’s going to be after we hire the consultant and attorney.
But that won’t happen until after the vote?
Exactly.
So the vote is — ?
On an idea. It’s a bit backwards, isn’t it?