Village of Windsor Makes a Wise Decision to Not Consolidate
By Jim Willis on Jan 9, 2008 in Government & Politics | Printable Version
I’ve written before about the folly of municipal political consolidation. The Press & Sun-Bulletin reports today that a group of people in the Village of Windsor appointed to study dissolution of the Village (and merger with the Town) spent a year looking at it and came to the same conclusion.
According to the article:
…a nine-member committee…spent last year researching dissolution, consolidation and cooperation between the village and town. The committee recommended that the village remain intact and also outlined options for shared services and cost savings, including using one attorney for the village and town. The study was nonbinding.
According to the study, the owner of a $75,000 house in the village would save $94 annually if the village dissolved.
“We know the savings aren’t there,” Trustee Rich Dillenbeck said. “There are other ways to save money.”
The Villages of Johnson City and Endicott would do wisely to pay close attention to the finding from Windsor. Bottom line: Political mergers do not result in a cost savings for taxpayers–they only result in less representation for the people and more political control by fewer people at the top.
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