As Forestville debates whether to dissolve the village government, five years ago and 10 to 30 miles away, residents in the villages of Perrysburg, Randolph and East Randolph were contemplating the same thing. The three villages all voted to dissolve in 2010 and in 2012 the village governments were no more and the towns picked up where they left off.

In the three years since then the municipalities have had some challenges, but have come out the other side with an overall benefit to residents.

PERRYSBURG

In March 2010, the dissolution vote passed 60-11, constituting about one-third of the village’s 189 registered voters. An OBSERVER article noted this was three times the turnout than the prior two village elections.

At the time, then village Mayor Anthony Kota called the dissolution a “win-win.”

By Dec. 31, 2011, two years after a study was done by the Center for Governmental Research, the village was officially dissolved.

At the last village board meeting, Kota reflected on the past, he recalled financial issues revealed in a state comptroller’s audit and a lack of people willing to run for office.

“I look back to when I first started; shortly after I first started, (the village) was audited by the state for missing money and lack of accountability. There were a lot of problems,” he said in a Dec. 17, 2011 article.

Special districts were formed for special residential, encompassing garbage pickup and street lights, fire and sewer, but the town did not continue the large garbage pickup or sidewalk plowing services. The water district was run by the town prior to dissolution.

Nearing three years later, there have been some bumps in the road, specifically about the elimination of sidewalk plowing

According to Supervisor Dennis Stopen, the town received a petition from town residents asking that sidewalk plowing not continue in the village, which only benefited about 40 homes in the whole town.

Stopen warned that residents in future dissolutions need to be informed of what services the town is willing and able to provide.

“The people who come to me or (Highway Superintendent Dan Stang) didn’t understand the full impact of what it was to dissolve the village. The village and the town need to come together and determine what services the town will provide,” he said.

He continued his advice on the only way to reduce taxes.

“To save money the town has to assume the duties of the village or the services have to be given up,” Stopen added.

He admitted the town’s taxes have been pretty stable in the time since dissolution and its residents are eligible for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tax freeze rebate. Clerk Tamara Utley confirmed this, but noted the water district just finished a large improvement project, which was started before dissolution and will impact water bills.

She said other than a few issues, there has been little controversy before the vote and after.

“For here there wasn’t a lot of controversy over dissolving the village. There weren’t even a lot of people coming in during those times when the town and village sat down at meetings and had public hearings. There just was not a lot of controversy at that time. There were some people who were obviously against it and they voiced their concerns, but I don’t think it was very controversial here. People weren’t seeing a huge change here and they didn’t lose a lot in services, just because there weren’t a lot of services here, we’re just so small. It’s working here, it’s been a positive here,” she said, also noting that each situation is unique.

RANDOLPH

On the same night as Perrysburg residents decided to dissolve, the villages of Randolph and East Randolph also approved the measure by votes of 125-11 and 57-11 respectively.

Districts were formed for lighting, water, sewer, garbage pickup, sidewalks, debt and special improvements and on New Year’s Day 2012, the village residents were now simply town of Randolph residents.

Eventually, the fire department formed its own district with a board of fire commissioners and the emergency squad became its own fee-for-service operation.

Randolph, a town of about 5,000 with about half the population living in the former villages, is located along the Southern Tier Expressway in Cattaraugus County. Downtown boasts a handful of restaurants, a bargain store, a grocery store, a bank, car dealership, several auto repair shops and some boutiques in addition to the school, churches and the post office.

East Randolph was split between the towns of Randolph and Conewango. Town Supervisor Dale Senn said the two towns share services in that area.

Senn, a town resident who also owns property in the former village, said the result has been what was expected.

“Taxes did go down, they were around $12 (per thousand assessed value) and they went down to about $10 and we’ve kept them at $10 because of the tax cap. We have a healthy fund balance that we can give employees a raise and keep our equipment going and not have to raise taxes at all. The state has a kitty you get money from when you dissolve – how long that will last nobody knows – but they still are trying to get people to do it so it’s still there. That’s a healthy sum of money and that helps with the fund balance. The former village residents pay a little higher taxes because of the debt and the fire district and things like that, but it’s a very small amount,” he explained.

” It was a fair amount of money to change the sewer and water district over to the town; we had to hire an attorney to do that. But, it has gone well I feel. Like I said we can keep the taxes at the same level and use the fund balance that we generate and most of that is this money from the state. So we can continue to grow and keep up technology-wise, machinery-wise and infrastructure-wise.”

However, he said Randolph had a unique financial situation going into dissolution.

“I don’t know how it is in Forestville, but historically here the village residents paid 65 percent of the townwide tax anyway. So they got a little relief. I think it’s been successful here,” he said.

In addition, the downtown businesses have not been negatively impacted by the change and have also benefited from lower taxes and the assistance of an economic development corporation.

“As I read the paper other people are going above the tax cap, but we don’t have that worry,” Senn added.

FORESTVILLE

The situation in Forestville is different on many counts from both nearby dissolutions.

The population sits somewhere in the middle of the three former villages, but the village is facing similar challenges – financial issues, rising taxes and a small pool from which to draw elected officials.

On the other hand, both Perrysburg and Randolph received grants to conduct board-initiated studies, giving consultants plenty of time to develop in-depth studies and officials and residents plenty of time to mull over the results, ask questions and make informed decisions.

Where the village of Forestville was able to do a study at no cost to village taxpayers, it came at the cost of time and scope of the study.

The “high level financial analysis” by CGR determined the village could maintain services and experience a 55 percent tax cut if dissolution was approved. However, concerned residents have questioned numbers based on budget figures from a dramatic tax hike as well as a lack of audited financial statements.

Residents on both sides of the discussion have called for more information on Forestville’s financial health.

The village is moving forward with an external audit, but results will not be available until December at the soonest.

In addition, the issue of identity is worth noting. Where both the towns of Perrysburg and Randolph had similarly named villages; that is not the case with Hanover and Forestville. However, if Forestville were to dissolve, it would not be the only active community in Hanover not to be represented by a village government.

“I don’t live in the village, but I represent you. This is a very personal decision and I ask you to look at the numbers and make a decision. I live in Sunset Bay, which is not a village, but it is a community. … Your governance is up to you, but Forestville will always be a community,” Legislator and Forestville Government Efficiency Task Force Chair George Borrello said recently.

The study and dissolution were explored after Chautauqua County loaned the village $150,000 for an emergency waterline replacement outside the village in an area that would become part of the water district. This debt and another for a building demolition threatened a 445 percent tax increase in the 2014-2015 budget. The loan lessened the blow to a 112 percent tax increase, but also came with the stipulation that dissolution and other efficiency measures be considered.

The study is available at www.cgr.org/forestville.

Registered voters who reside in the village may cast their vote Nov. 3 at the municipal building between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Comments on this article may be sent to ngugino@observertoday.com