By ALEX COSTELLO
The measure, called the New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act, would change the laws pertaining to the dissolution of villages and special districts, and restore to the county the power to eliminate villages’ self-rule.
While the potential effects of the act have roused outrage among many village officials, others say that villages aren’t the target of the bill. Instead, they argue, special districts that have the power to tax are Cuomo’s focus.
County Executive Tom Suozzi and Comptroller Howard Weitzman have long fought to eliminate sanitation, sewer and other taxing authorities as a means of reducing property taxes. “I commend the attorney general for joining the consolidation effort,” Suozzi said. “This legislation would put power in the hands of property taxpayers.”
The Assembly passed the bill on Monday, 117-26. It was expected to be put to a vote in the Senate on Tuesday or Wednesday, after the Herald went to press.
The elimination of special districts and the absorption of the services they provide into town or county governments, proponents argue, would reduce the cost of those services, and result in lower property taxes -— or, at least, smaller increases in those taxes.
School districts, whose costs account for about 60 percent of property tax bills, are excluded from the legislation.
Under current law, the dissolution of a village requires a petition to be signed by 33 percent of its registered voters in order for a referendum to be held. Cuomo’s bill would reduce the petition requirement to 10 percent of registered voters or 5,000 people, whichever number is smaller. In Rockville Centre, which has an estimated 17,000 registered voters, about 1,700 people would have to sign such a petition, down from about 5,600 under current law.
According to the state Constitution, counties already have the ability to dissolve villages. But that power was stymied by the Municipal Home Rule Law, passed in 1970, which limits a county to abolishing only parts of a village — its departments, offices and agencies. The new legislation would return to counties their ability to dissolve villages in their entirety.
The bill has angered officials across the county. The Nassau County Village Officials Association (NCVOA), a group composed of mayors and village representatives, held an emergency meeting on May 27 to address the legislation and discuss a plan of action. Everyone in attendance opposed the bill, and many saw it not as a way to help reduce residents’ taxes, but as a power play by those in higher office.
“We need to unmask ‘the plan,’ because there is a plan here,” said Rockville Centre Mayor Mary Bossart. “And part of that has to do with the Master Plan.” Bossart was referring to the Master Plan for Nassau County, which includes creating more affordable and high-volume housing by building apartments near commercial districts and railroad stations as part of the county’s “Cool Downtowns” initiative. Bossart said she sees the proposed law as a way for the county to further its own goals by dissolving villages that are opposed to such projects.
Cuomo’s law would allow people from outside of a village to start a petition for dissolution of that village. And counties can hold referendums on the dissolution of villages that would be put to a vote by the entire county, not just the residents of the village that would be dissolved.
“I want to preserve and protect the villages,” said Assemblyman Robert Barra (R-Lynbrook), who voted against the bill. “They’re very important to the people.”
John Milgrim, a spokesman for Cuomo, said the bill is not intended to take control away from local governments, but to give them even more control.
“This is the epitome of home rule,” said Milgrim. He said the bill was proposed to remove obstacles currently in place that make it difficult to consolidate or dissolve local governmental entities.
“The bottom line is this gives control to the local community,” said Milgrim.
A plan for dissolution does not have to be presented until after a referendum passes. If a village chooses to ignore the referendum, it would face a court order to comply.
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) opposes the bill. “While Senator Skelos certainly supports efforts to reduce property taxes, including the sharing of municipal services and streamlining government,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for Skelos, “he doesn't support the attorney general's bill as it is written and can not support it without meaningful changes.”
The Rockville Centre village board is rallying against the bill. The board convened its own emergency meeting the morning after the NCVOA meeting to discuss its options, and drafted letters to Skelos and Barra citing its opposition. The mayor also filmed a four-minute-long public service announcement for the village’s television channel, encouraging residents to contact their local representatives and voice their opposition to the bill, and sent out a similar message on the village’s phone system.
“What this bill represents,” the board wrote in its letter to Skelos and Barra, “is a transparent attempt to take away assets and taxing authority from incorporated villages and redistribute those assets elsewhere at the expense of residents of incorporated villages, which operate economically and efficiently.”
Comments about this story? ACostello@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
