Fredonia Mayor Mike Ferguson is saying all the right things when it comes to consolidation and sharing of services.

The mayor said during a recent Fredonia Village Board work session that consolidation is a necessary effort to keep village government financially viable in the wake of a 2025-26 budget that increased taxes 54% to $61.09 per $1,000 assessed value. Most taxpayers saw a roughly $540 tax increase.

No one wants to see that happen again – least of all Ferguson and Village Board members.

“I want to talk about the fact that we are still in the first quarter of our current budget, and we have, as elected officials,made a promise to our constituents to work diligently to cut costs and generate more revenue,” Ferguson began. “I think we have found some ways to generate revenue — I still think we have to take a good, hard look at cutting costs.”

It’s the first quarter of the fiscal year, which means Ferguson and the board need to do more than talk the consolidation talk. It’s time to find ways to walk the consolidation walk.

Ferguson mentioned some specific items during the most recent work session: changing from a fire zone to a fire district, discussions with the Fredonia and Dunkirk police departments on a possible shared headquarters, consolidation of some items with the town of Pomfret and continued sharing of equipment with Pomfret and Dunkirk. A vote is coming up on Sept. 10 on the future of water service in Fredonia and could end the debate over whether the village will have its own water service or acquire water from elsewhere.

That’s a lot to get done in a year. And even then we’re not sure those types of moves will bring taxes back down to where they were before this year’s 65% tax increase. Achieving that type of savings likely means entire departments may need to consolidate – like the Police Department – or significant layoffs, like positions in the Fire Department that have been added in recent years. Let’s face it, the bulk of spending is on people, not things.

Ferguson is saying the right things. It’s a tone that has needed to be set for a long time. But taxpayers who took a right hook to the chin with the village’s 2025-26 tax hike need more than a new tone to be set. They need the board to punch back in the form of large-scale savings to the next village budget.