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Opinion: Consider facts when voting on dissolution, says Morristown resident

Posted 6/19/18

To the Editor: Two years ago, the mayor and village board of Morristown where approached to conduct a study on the possibility of dissolving the village government. The premise of the study was that …

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Opinion: Consider facts when voting on dissolution, says Morristown resident

Posted

To the Editor:

Two years ago, the mayor and village board of Morristown where approached to conduct a study on the possibility of dissolving the village government. The premise of the study was that the Town of Morristown has a tax base that is seven times larger than that of the village. However, only the village taxpayers are providing and paying for services enjoyed by the entire town.

Our mayor and village board voted unanimously to hire the Developmental Authority of the North Country (DANC) to do the study, along with appointing a ten member study committee. The study has taken over a year to complete, and has been accepted by the study committee and the village board.

The fourteen meetings conducted by DANC were well-attended by taxpayers and voters of the village. Ovations and praise were given to DANC, the committee, and the village board by those in attendance.

Few were surprised to find out that our combined village/town taxes can be reduced by at least 60% and even fewer were surprised that the town can easily take over the remaining services not already town-provided.

So, what will happen when the village government dissolves?

The current village residents will be served solely by our town government. As noted above, all services available to the village will now be provided by the town.

The Morristown Fire Department will remain a fire district administered by commissioners elected from the former village. The fire district change is unrelated to the tax arrangements.

The village will look and feel as it always has. It is only the extra layer of government that will be removed.

All of the above facts are in the tri-fold produced by DANC with a grant provided by state and village officials. Some village residents dispute the facts and circulate their own versions of the data. But, all the evidence supports the conclusions by DANC and are formally accepted by our village leaders.

Thanks is due to our mayor and the other village officials who made the very difficult decision to adhere to the oaths of office and to service above self. Also, thank our town leaders for taking an active role in the study, and being well-represented at every meeting.

Please consider the facts provided by our leaders and vote to dissolve the extra layer of village government on June 26.

Kathleen and James Kelly

Morristown