By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – A proposal from the governor that links state aid to a consolidation plan does not require individual towns, villages and cities to participate, a public update from City Manager Sarah Purdy says.

“The governor’s proposed consolidation plan for counties does not, in and of itself, require towns, cities and villages to participate in consolidation in order to receive their state aid, which is allotted through the Aid and Incentive for Municipalities funding, and which for Ogdensburg totals $1.7 million,” the update says. “Rather, the governor’s proposal requires that the State Legislature adopt his proposal if AIM funding is to be included in the budget.”

The proposal announced in January raised questions and concerns from county, town, city and village officials as details on the proposal were scarce, but Purdy said more details were revealed at the recent New York Conference of Mayors meeting.

The plan outlined briefly in a proposal from the governor appeared to require the county to establish efficiencies with each municipality in order for the entity to receive funding. While this is good news for the city, it could still pose problem for the county, as the proposal requires the county to create and establish a consolidation plan in order or the 32 municipalities within it to receive funding.

That proposal would also need to be approved in a referendum. According to the governor, if the proposal is voted down, a new plan would need to be submitted and another vote held, likely also at the cost of taxpayers.

The county does not receive AIM funding, meaning the county will have to expend resources without gain, amounting to what Assemblywoman Addie Jenne says is an unfunded mandate. Jenne and St. Lawrence County Administrator Ruth Doyle were both critical of the plan when it was announced.

In her update, Purdy said various state legislators are working to separate the AIM funding from the consolidation plan so that the AIM funding is included in the budget regardless of the fate of the consolidation proposal.

“In addition, NYCOM, state legislators and the New York Association of Counties all are impressing upon state officials the fact that all levels of government already do share services and have been for a long time,” Purdy said. “At this point, the message from NYCOM staff to the conference attendees was that AIM funding is not in as much jeopardy as originally appeared to be the case. The fate of the consolidation proposal for counties remains uncertain.”

In January NYCOM Executive Director released the following statement on the proposal.

“Mayors are shocked that Gov. Cuomo would hold municipal budgets and taxpayers hostage by linking current levels of AIM funding to state legislative approval of his ill-conceived mandate on each county to hold a referendum on a county-designed municipal consolidation plan. Such a linkage, if allowed to stand, minimizes the power of the state legislature and diminishes the value of representative municipal government.”