MALONE — A public hearing will be held Tuesday, Aug. 21, so the Village Board can decide whether to hold a referendum on possible dissolution of the Village of Malone.
The hearing is set for 7 p.m. at the Village Office meeting room at 16 Elm St., and the public is being encouraged to attend.
A committee appointed to research not only dissolution but opportunities for shared services and consolidation between the town and village has recommended creation of a town police force. That would need State Legislature approval and is something that has not been done for more than 80 years.
Under dissolution, property owners in a special policing district, which would include the existing village and adjacent portions of the town, would pay a special fee of about $8.64 per $1,000 of assessed property value for police protection. The rest of the town would continue to rely on the State Police.
Special districts would also be created for street lights (73 cents per $1,000) and leaf-and-brush pickup (42 cents per $1,000) and lingering village debt ($1.93 per $1,000).
The overall estimated savings with dissolution for village properties is about $330 the first year and about $55 on town properties.
Those figures are contingent on the town’s continued collection of an incentive payment from the state, which must be appropriated in the governor’s annual budget.
The Village Board has until Sept. 6 to decide if it will put the issue before voters in the Nov. 6 general election.
If dissolution is put up and approved by voters, the Town Council would have two years to put the plan in place, and the village would disappear as of Dec. 31, 2014.
The Village Board could also take no action, which takes dissolution off the table for two years.
If the plan is not forwarded for a vote but enough signatures are collected by residents seeking a referendum, the question would still be put on the Nov. 6 ballot.
If it is approved by voters that way, the two-year implementation window disappears, and the village would dissolve at the end of the year with no transition plan in place.
Email Denise A. Raymo:
draymo@pressrepublican.com
