Photos by Tom Rivers
MEDINA – Village residents are showing up in big numbers at the polls today to vote whether or not the village government should dissolve.

East Center Street is lined with signs, showing support for dissolution and also urging villagers to oppose it.

These signs appear in a front yard along South Main Street.

About 200 people voted in the first two hours the polls were open after noon today. Voting is at the Senior Center at 615 West Ave.

Village residents are asked one question: “Shall the Village of Medina, New York be dissolved?”

Norma Huth, right, is one of the election inspectors inside the Senior Center.

Two voters leave the polls and another resident makes her way to the voting site, which will be open until 9 p.m.

This vehicle parked in a village municipal lot shows how one person feels about the dissolution issue.

Boundaries have been established as people make their way to the polls.

The name, “MEDINA,” is on the train depot, which is now the Senior Center. Orleans Hub will have results of the referendum later tonight.

About 3,000 eligible to vote on dissolution

MEDINA – A big turnout is expected at the polls today when the Village of Medina votes whether or not to dissolve the village government.

There are about 3,000 eligible voters. Residents 18 and over had to register to vote with the Orleans County Board of Elections by 10 days before today’s election.

There are 37 absentee ballots, and most have already been received by this morning, said Village Clerk-Treasurer Debbie Padoleski. Another 49 ballots were issued to disabled residents. All of these ballots need to be in today to count in the election.

The polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center at 615 West Ave. Residents will be asked “Shall the Village of Medina, NY, be dissolved?”

The votes will be cast on paper ballots. Padoleski expects election inspectors will have the votes counted by 9:30 to 10 p.m.

Recent village elections have had light turnouts. A mayor and trustee election last March only turned out about 400 voters. Two write-in candidates, Mike Sidari and Marguerite Sherman, pulled off an upset in that election, which included Andrew Meier as an unopposed candidate for mayor.

In March 2009, about 600 people voted in a trustee race where Kelly Kiebala and Mark Irwin were victorious over Owen Toale and Clayton Ehrenreich.

A year after that election, Ehrenreich and Tabelski both ran for mayor. About 800 people voted then, with Tabelski, the incumbent, winning another two-year term.

Padoleski said the village elections used to draw more people to the polls. She remembers when the races would bring out at least 1,000 voters.

She expects a big turnout today.

Editor:

When people try to justify dissolution, they often say that talks were getting nowhere. Mayor Meier called it a brick wall he was up against. But when I analyze that wall, I can’t help but ask: Who laid the bricks?

Shared services discussions started and then fell apart a couple of years ago. Happily, talks resumed. There were cautious overtures made between individuals on all three sides.

But then, right as things were getting going, the mayor made the choice to seek a grant for a dissolution study. This was after that same agency (CGR) he tasked with developing a feasibility study which had already recommended shared services as a better option for Medina.

Most recently, even when the community made it clear they were ambivalent at best regarding the prospect of dissolution, and village trustees insisted the mayor renew shared services talks with Shelby and Ridgeway, Mayor Meier worked alongside the group One Medina to collect signatures to force the vote for dissolution. I know he felt strongly about it. And I know he truly loves Medina, his home.

Yet, by primarily focusing on dissolution efforts, in the midst of shared services talks, feelings of disbelief, mistrust, and betrayal developed amongst both town boards. Never were shared services, and the elimination of duplicated services, truly explored as extensively as they should have been.

Seeking dissolution smack dab in the middle of shared services talks is like asking your cousins to help you fix up the family homestead grandpa left everyone, and then, right when everyone’s set aside the time, gotten their tools ready and rolled up their sleeves, your cousin Jeb shows up with a bulldozer. Just in case.

It begs the question: Why? Maybe, just maybe, dissolution is being sought so aggressively because it means dissolving existing contracts between the village and its workforce. Maybe those employees will make out fine, maybe not. I doubt they’ll be just fine. The very community Medina was asked to compare itself to, Seneca Falls, admitted that their police officers faced a $2/hour wage cut after they dissolved.

It doesn’t sound that bad until you do the math: working a regular 40-hour week, that’s $80 a week. That’s a major portion of the week’s grocery bill. We’re not talking chump change. We’re talking about a living expense. We’re talking about upwards of $4,000 in a year.

Proponents of dissolution talk often about how the village will keep its services and village employees will keep their jobs. What they’re much less forthcoming about is in terms of what happens to the public employees’ contracts. And that’s just not right. Dissolution will wreak havoc in the lives of village employees, change the quality of services and throw this entire community in to a tailspin, with Ridgeway and Shelby being left to pick up the pieces.

If the village thinks there are employees who make too much or who need to make concessions, there’s a way to deal with thatthe bargaining table.

I saw my father-in-law go through this same scenario after he retired from Harrison Radiator. Two years into his retirement, they jerked the rug out from under him and said, “Oh hey, sorry about that. Your contract doesn’t exist anymore.” Gone was half his pension and gone was more than half of his health insurance benefits. Anyone who knows people in the area that went through this know what I’m talking about. It’s criminal. To see a similar situation brewing on Medina’s own horizon is horrifying. And to see it possibly happen to the people who risk their lives for us? Even worse.

So what to do? It seems as though everyone is being told there are only two solutions: Dissolve, or Be Crushed (by overwhelming taxation and duplication of services). But this notion that there is only one solution is not true. There are at least two other options.

One, the three sides need to get back to the work already begun on shared services talks. If voters (from any of the three entities) feel that there is stonewalling or an unwillingness to cooperate from any elected official then that is the time to exercise your voting rights and your right to run for office.

And two, the towns and the village need to press the state to be more forthcoming with the monies that are rightfully ours. (Click here to see “State shortchanges villages with aid, leading to their demise” and Click here to see “Here’s a resolution that every elected official in Orleans should support.”

Both ideas are a place to begin. I hope that on Tuesday, the villagers of Medina vote No on dissolution, and give shared services and cooperation a real chance.

On Wednesday, I hope all of us can begin anew: the Village of Medina, the Town of Ridgeway, and the Town of Shelby, dedicated as one to autonomy, to representation, and to cooperation.

Respectfully,

Karen Jones
Shelby

Editorial

That will be the question Tuesday, when village residents go to the polls from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center

MEDINA – Dissolution of the village has been a heated topic for much of the past year. You don’t see much sustained interest in civic affairs these days, with public policy issues bringing hundreds of people to informational meetings.

Residents have been inundated with messages from the media, paid mailers, yard signs and impassioned citizens on both sides. The dissolution issue has drawn the attention of media throughout Western New York. Many villages wrestle with similar issues faced in Medina: escalating taxes on a shrinking tax base and population.

One thing is clear: villagers and people outside the village value the work done by the Medina Fire Department, the Police Department, the Department of Public Works and other village staff. The village isn’t putting out a bad product.

The issue is money and how to pay for these services. The village receives little in state aid and from the local sales tax dollars to help pay for these services. That seems unlikely to change.

State funding

Orleans Hub has written about the funding disparity from the state for Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. Villages get about $7 per capita in AIM funding while upstate cities get $277 per person. It is a dramatic difference and it’s a big reason while city taxes are much lower than in villages like Medina. Consider that the City of Batavia has a tax rate of about $9 per $1,000 of assessed property and the village of Medina has a combined village/town rate of about $20.

Medina, population 6,065, receives $38,811 in AIM funding. Salamanca in Cattaraugus County is nearly the same size and gets $928,131 for a city of 5,815 people.

Fair AIM funding would do more for Medina than dissolution. The question is whether the village would ever get much more in AIM. I don’t think so under Gov. Andrew Cuomo and this State Legislature. The governor wants fewer governments, and villages are an extra layer within towns.

The governor supports state funding to dissolve or consolidate governments. That incentive would be $541,000 for the Medina community.

I’d like to see more. Only 11 villages out of about 550 have followed through with dissolution since 2009. Many of them are tiny without police.

Many of the villages don’t trust that the state incentive money will be there for years to come. No one can say for sure.

If the state wants to promote more dissolutions it should increase the incentive. Right now it’s 15 percent of the combined tax levy in the affected municipalities. I’d like to see at least $1 million for the Medina community. That’s about what Medina would get in AIM funding if it were a city.

Village residents need to consider the political environment. Is there a reasonable chance the AIM funding will be increased? The governor this past week announced a $1.7 billion tax relief proposal for upstate. He didn’t include more AIM money.

Our state legislators don’t seem optimistic we’d get more, and frankly it’s not an issue they’ve rallied behind. None of the local towns or the county have taken up the fight to help villages get more AIM funding. The municipalities haven’t even passed a symbolic resolution of support.

Our poorest people pay the highest taxes

Medina village residents receive “heightened services” with police and a paid fire department. Those employees will often go outside village borders to assist in the towns. The Medina Police Department responds to about 200 calls outside the village annually, for example.

The village property owners foot the bill for all of this work. And then they pay in town and county taxes.

The Medina Fire Department heads down East Center Street on an ambulance call Friday that was outside the village.

It wasn’t too long ago when Middle Class families and the more well-to-do made villages their destination of choice for owning a home. The taxes may have been higher, but the residents could afford it. The poorer folks tended to be out in the country.

Those roles have reversed. Census data shows the median household income in the Village of Medina from 2009 to 2013 is $40,014 for 2,409 households. The Census Bureau reports 20.9 percent of those are in poverty.

Countywide, the data is better. The median household income is $48,502. Of the 15,725 households, 13.4 percent are in poverty.

The poorer people now tend to live in the village, and they pay the bigger tax bill – a combined $54 per $1,000 of assessed property, one of the highest rates in the state.
Move outside the village lines and people can lop about $12 off that tax rate. On a $100,000 house you save about $1,200. That is a tough disincentive for the village to overcome.

The discrepancy has driven out investment and residents. Many of the businesses – manufacturers and retail – will set up just outside the village lines where there is close access to the population but a much smaller tax bill. Those businesses also can tap into village water and sewer (at a slightly higher rate). If they have a fire or police emergency, Medina will be quickly on the scene.

A community in decline

Medina’s downtown has seen a rebirth in businesses and events, including the Parade of Lights. But the neighborhoods are struggling.

The assessments in Medina, for the houses especially, have been falling. Overall, the village tax base was $156.0 million in 2005. Almost a decade later in 2014 it was at $166.3 million. That includes $4.1 million for Orchard Manor, which came on the tax rolls for the first time in 2013. That is a 6.6 percent growth over nearly a decade, which doesn’t it keep up with inflation.

If you take off the Orchard Manor assessment, the village’s taxable value has fallen from $166.1 million in 2007 to $162.2 million in 2014.

Go outside the village line in Shelby and Ridgeway, and the home and land values saw significant increases. The outside-village land in Shelby grew from $86.5 million in 2005 to $108.3 million in 2014. In Ridgeway, the outside-village land increased from $102.5 million in 2005 to $128.2 million in 2014, according to data from the Orleans County Real Property Tax Service.

Shelby grew 25.2 percent outside the village and Ridgeway jumped 25.1 percent during the nine years.

These numbers should sound an alarm for the village. Orleans Hub has written extensively about the difficult position the local villages are in. Many people tell me I’m too “Pro Dissolution.”

I live in the Village of Albion. I want to see the villages of Holley, Lyndonville, Medina and Albion all be vibrant communities today.

But I recognize there is a major problem here. I hear the stories first-hand about people moving out, or staying and being crushed by their taxes. Many more people want to move out but they can’t sell their house, or they are offered a fraction of what they paid for it – with that sale price from 15 to 20 years ago.

The marketing and public relations specialists hired to defeat dissolution have used images of Medina that show a vibrant downtown and charming scenes along the Erie Canal.

Thankfully, some of that still exists. But the Medina story includes neighborhoods in decline, houses abandoned or in neglect. An anonymous donor has provided $400,000 in matching funds to get houses painted and windows repaired the past two years. That has helped the community look more appealing, but this village is clearly suffering.

These boarded-up houses at 613-615 and 617 Genesee St. were torn down in November 2013. They depressed the neighborhood. The village would like to take down more houses, but they are costly projects.

When I talk with local officials at the village, town, county and state levels, I often tell them they shouldn’t just judge Medina on the downtown. Look at the whole community, and look at the numbers.

And face the prospect that it could get worse.

The village gets very little in sales tax revenue

The village needs money to tackle its problems and to lower its taxes. I’ve advocated that the county share more of the local sales tax. Our county gets about $15 million a year in the sales tax, mainly from retail establishments in the villages or close to the village lines.

But only about $400,000 of the total, less than 3 percent, is redirected to the villages. The county shares $1,366,671 of the $15 million with the 10 towns and four villages. That share has been frozen since 2001. That year the county took in about $10 million in sales tax. It has increased by 50 percent or $5 million since then, and all of that increase has stayed with the county government.

The county leaders say they are burdened with Medicaid, state mandates and community college charge backs. When pressed on the issue, the county officials say they don’t have to share any sales tax with the towns of villages. Some counties don’t share sales tax, including Wyoming County. However that county runs the local hospital and nursing home.

In Orleans, the county is far less burdened with services. Much of the critical work is done at the town and village level, yet they get very little of the sales tax money.

Genesee County shares 50 percent of the sales tax with its towns, villages and the City of Batavia. Those communities have much smaller tax rates than in Orleans. Consider the Village of Oakfield, population 1,813. It will get about $300,000 in sales tax from Genesee in 2014. Medina, population 6,065, will receive $159,586.

There doesn’t seem to be any willingness from Orleans County to give more to the villages or towns. Keep in mind, Holley, Albion and Medina all have police departments that allow the county to run a smaller Sheriff’s Department, saving county taxpayers from an increase in costs with more deputies. It would make sense to direct more sales tax to the villages to help pay for the police protection.

The ethanol plant tax windfall – for everyone except the village
Western New York Energy opened in late 2007, producing about 55 million gallons of ethanol a year from a site at the corner of Bates Road and Route 31A.

The company has been a goldmine of new tax revenue for the governments in the Medina area, except for the village. The plant is on the east side of Bates Road – not the west side. Same thing with Brunner and that puts the companies just outside the village limits.

Brunner has grown in the Medina community, putting on additions at its site at the corner of Bates Road and Route 31. The company is on the east side of Bates Road, just outside the village line, which means the village doesn’t get any tax revenue from Brunner.

The ethanol plant pays out more than $1.2 million to local governments each year. (23 percent of that or $271,319 is being held in a stabilization fund to help provide a cushion when the 10-year Empire Zone benefits expire. After that, WNY Energy is expected to pay a smaller tax bill.)

The past few years have been a bonanza for several taxing entities with the ethanol plant. Medina Central School has received $535,623 annually from Western New York Energy, with Orleans County getting $232,310, the Town of Shelby $140,391, and Lee-Whedon Memorial Library $40,882. The Town of Ridgeway even gets $4.57.

The Village of Medina, the one with the ladder fire truck and the police close by, gets nothing.

Brunner has expanded several times on the east side of Bates Road. It’s been a big tax generator for the Town of Ridgeway, the school district and county. But the village gets nothing.

Since the village Fire Department took over as primary ambulance provider for western Orleans in 2006, it has tried to get a $10,000 contribution from Shelby and Ridgeway. They have paid nothing.

Many of the Village Board members who have wrestled with these issues for years are frustrated and angry about the lack of funds trickling into the village coffers. The Orleans Economic Development Agency has pushed to get the village some revenue from these businesses that use village services but are just across the village lines.

The two towns, the county and the school district all agreed to share some of the funds in the future. That deal was struck about three years ago. It hasn’t resulted in any money for the village yet, but it could with the Keppeler site on Route 31A and other projects near the village, if the companies hook into village water and sewer. That provides a window of hope if you’re a village taxpayer.

Village employees are paid a lot
Don Earle, the Seneca Falls town supervisor, talked about his community’s experience with dissolution when he visited Medina on Friday. Earle said the anticipated savings with dissolution were actually much more than advertised.

That was partly because village employees who shifted to the town payroll were paid less. They kept their jobs, but they made less money, which eased some of the pain for taxpayers.

I don’t begrudge anyone a good salary. I wish we had more people making a good dollar around here. It would help the local economy, help the churches, help people afford some of the maintenance projects in these old mansions around here.
But I think the village workers are paid too much in a poor community with such high taxes.

The Empire Center lists the salaries for every state, county, town, village and school district employee. I’m not going to list these salaries, but Medina in 2013 had one employee over $80,000, nine in the $70s, six in the $60s, and 16 in the $50s. I can see why the union and employees have been so active in trying to defeat dissolution.
In 2013, 48 people on the village payroll were paid $2,358,819.

Dissolution would help, but it’s not enough
Village residents can knock about $6 per $1,000 of assessed property off that staggering tax bill if the village dissolves. For a $70,000 house that would be $420 less in taxes.

That may sound like a lot, but even with dissolution the rate would be $48. That is still among the highest in the region and still puts the community at a competitive disadvantage in attracting businesses and residents.

OneMedina wants to dissolve the village and merge towns of Shelby and Ridgeway. A town merger would bring an additional $447,000 in state aid each year. That end result, which would be years in the making, could make the community a little closer to average for tax rate.

I give Medina Mayor Andrew Meier and the OneMedina members credit for forcing this issue. They knew it wouldn’t win them a popularity contest.

Many people have misgivings about the state incentives. I’d like Gov. Cuomo or Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to stand on Main Street and assure the community the state incentive money will be there for years and years to come.

And I’d like to see them increase the incentive, even if they raised it from 15 to 20 percent. That would be another $180,000 with the village dissolution.

Dissolution Plan doesn’t identify much in efficiency savings
When the Dissolution Committee started meeting to hash out a dissolution plan, I was expecting far more than the $277,000 in operational efficiencies. That is less than 3 percent of the budgets of the two towns and village.

The savings should stand on their own, outside of the state aid, if the community is going to realize a more efficient government. We found out the local governments are already lean. There aren’t extra people on the payroll.

How would towns treat village if dissolution goes down

My big fear with the vote on Tuesday is it will be rejected and the towns, county and state will take that as a sign the village people like things just the way they are.

The county won’t give any more sales tax. The towns will feel more empowered to be stingy with village taxpayers, and the state won’t entertain giving more AIM funding.

The village will continue in its downward spiral. (It wouldn’t get another chance for a dissolution vote for four years.)

Better scenarios?
The village’s total tax levy is $2,738,602 in 2014-15. How could that be reduced if the village stays intact?

Here are some scenarios for cutting taxes if the village decides against dissolution:

The county either offers to take over policing countywide or gives Medina $500,000 more in sales tax (about half of the village police budget). Maybe the county agrees to start smaller, directing $150,000 to help support the Medina police. That would be 1 percent of the sales tax. It should send a similar amount to Albion for its police department and maybe a third of that to help sustain the Holley police.

If the county won’t budge, the villages should consider eliminating their police departments and the community should insist the county step up with more deputies.

The towns of Shelby and Ridgeway each agree to pay at least $25,000 towards the Fire Department ambulance service. The towns follow through with promises of shared services and help plow village streets and better fund the parks program.

Our local state legislators make more state aid for villages their top priority in Albany. They convince the governor and the State Legislature that villages are like mini cities, providing an array of services but facing aging infrastructure, decaying housing stock and a host of other challenges.

The state sees the light and agrees to $100 per capita for villagers, which would be $190 million out of the state budget. That would be about $600,000 more for Medina.

The Keppeler site in Shelby near the village attracts several tenants and they pay a lot in taxes, with the village getting a big chunk of those funds. The EDA also works with the communities to rewrite tax-sharing deals for the ethanol plant, Brunner and others just across the village line, giving Medina a cut of the revenue.

Village employees step forward and offer to take a 5 percent pay cut. That alone will save about $120,000.

The towns and village work together on several community development projects, which could include better gateway entrances to the community, a trail project by Glenwood Lake and other projects that draw more residents to the community and improve the quality of life for those who already live in Medina.

Are any of these scenarios plausible? That will be something for village voters to consider on Tuesday. Will Medina have strong partners in the future at the town, county and state level?

If I was a Medina villager, I would give it one more try. If there are no signs of progress, dissolution would be an issue again in four years.

But if village residents vote on Tuesday to dissolve the village, I wouldn’t blame them.

‘What we would have changed? We would have done it sooner’

Photos by Tom Rivers – Don Earle, town supervisor of Seneca Falls, said dissolution has been a positive for that community. He addressed about 200 people today during a discussion at Medina Theatre.

MEDINA – On Jan. 1, 2012, the Village of Seneca Falls was no more. It dissolved.

Nervous residents who feared the change still had their garbage picked up, water came out of the tap, and police officers and firefighters responded to calls.

“It was just like the year 2000 with the Y2K, remember that?” Seneca Falls Town Supervisor Don Earle told about 200 people in Medina tonight. “Nothing happened.”

Earle was invited to Medina by Mayor Andrew Meier to share Seneca Falls’ experience with dissolution. Seneca Falls is similar in size to Medina, with 6,681 residents compared to about 6,065 in Medina.

Both communities have a strong historical fabric and treasured business districts.
Earle said the Village of Seneca Falls was being crippled with an astronomical tax rate that was chasing out residents. The village officials put off needed maintenance and infrastructure upgrades because of the rising tax burden, Earle said.

Residents still worried about losing the village and the dissolution vote barely passed in Seneca Falls with a 1,198-1,112 vote on March 16, 2010.

A dissolved village isn’t a defeated community. Don Earle said Seneca Falls is a much more vibrant community post-dissolution.

A stronger community has emerged, with dramatically lower taxes for the former village residents, a manageable increase for residents outside the town, and improved overall services in Seneca Falls, Earle told a crowd at Medina Theatre.

He remembers the worry with the changeover, that the community somehow would by stymied with critical services no longer provided.

It was a challenge transitioning the village services to the town, but Earle said he and most residents in Seneca Falls only have one regret in the process.

“What we would have changed?” Earle said. “We would have done it sooner.”

Village residents have seen their tax rate fall from about $17 to about $6 per $1,000 of assessed property with dissolution. The outside village residents were paying $1.86 per $1,000. Now they pay about $5 per $1,000 of assessed property (not including school and county taxes).

Although they pay more in town taxes, Earle said the outside-village residents now have an equal voice in what happens in the former village area.

Most village employees did not lose their jobs. They became town employees, although they were paid at a lower rate. Earle said the village had a higher pay structure than in town.

Seneca Falls formed a town-wide police force and added three officers. Shelby Town Councilman Steve Seitz reiterated his concern that a dissolution plan for Medina calls for adding one full-time police officer despite expanding the coverage area from 3 to 98 square miles.

Steve Seitz asks Don Earle about police services in Seneca Falls.

Seitz doesn’t think the Medina plan is realistic. It identifies $277,000 in operational savings and $541,000 in additional state aid for an overall $818,000 benefit in reduced taxes.

The town leaders also don’t trust the state to come through consistently with the $541,000 in aid for the Medina community.

Earle noted that Seneca Falls has received its promised state aid of $535,000 each of the past three years.

“You can never, ever get a guarantee from the State of New York,” Earle said. “All I can say is we’ve gotten it for three years and there is no indication it will be cut.”

Shelby and Ridgeway town officials have said the $277,000 is too little for combined budgets of about $11 million. That’s less than 3 percent in savings.

In Seneca Falls, the community found more savings than what was projected in the plan. The town found it could streamline operations and was able to reduce a few positions, Earle said.

The Seneca Falls example isn’t the best comparison for the Medina dissolution, said Andina Barone, a public relations consultant for the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby. She noted the Village of Medina is about half in Shelby and half in Ridgeway, making it more challenging for a seamless transition.

Seneca Falls also has a large landfill and revenue from that helps drive down taxes in that community, Barone said.

Earle said villagers in Seneca Falls didn’t get a break in their village taxes from the landfill. Once the village dissolved, they were better able to receive the financial benefit of the landfill, he said.

Even without that landfill money, the village tax rate would have dropped from $16.93 to $9.18 per $1,000, he said.

Medina resident Dick Berry said the towns should provide more services to village residents, who are already paying $1.1 million in taxes to the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway.

Seneca Falls hasn’t lost its heritage because of the dissolution, Earle said. He noted Old Forge also hasn’t lost its identity, even though that Adirondacks community dissolved in the 1930s and now a hamlet in the Town of Webb.

Seneca Falls, especially the villagers, are experiencing immediate tax savings with dissolution. The bigger benefits will come in the years ahead, Earle said.

“The long-term benefits are going to be tremendous,” he said. “You’re operating as one. You’re not competing against each other.”

Earle was asked about shared services talks between the village and town in Seneca Falls. It was a fruitless and frustrating exercise that wasn’t going anywhere.

“People don’t want to give up power,” Earle said. “When they don’t want to give up power, shared services really don’t work.”

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said shared services haven’t resulted in much progress for nearly three years. He and other village residents noted the village pays $1.1 million in taxes to Ridgeway and Shelby, without getting anywhere close to $1.1 million in services.

Village Trustee Marguerite Sherman said she is optimistic the village and two towns can achieve significant savings with shared services. The two towns are serious in wanting to plow village streets and provide other highway services, which would be a big savings for Medina, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Sherman said.

She wants the community to give shared services more time before voting for dissolution.

Shelby Volunteer Fire Company President Gary Lamar states his support for the Medina Fire Department, saying the group provides critical fire and ambulance services in western Orleans County.

Earle said one of the biggest challenges with dissolution was the aging village infrastructure and equipment. The village didn’t have the capital to keep up with roads, sewers, waterlines, 10-wheel trucks and other big ticket items, he said.

The town has made an inventory of infrastructure and equipment and is working to establish a schedule for upgrades.

A dissolution committee in Medina has suggested creating special taxing districts for village debt, a fire district, a town-wide police force for the two towns, an ambulance corporation that would contract with the fire district to continue the existing service, and an LDC (local development corporation) for water and sewer.

Earle said he didn’t like the idea of an LDC, of creating that layer of government.

The other taxing districts aren’t outside the norm in local government, Meier said. He noted the towns using special districts for their numerous water districts, as well as lighting and fire services.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier

Medina residents will vote on dissolution from noon to 9 p.m. on Tuesday at the Senior Center. Meier said he hopes it’s a first step to reducing government layers and driving down taxes in the community. He would like to then see the two towns work towards a merger.

The village is currently solvent and paying its bills, Meier said in response to a question.

However, the taxes are much higher within village borders, compared to residents who live outside village lines in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway.

“The problem with the village, by the mere virtue of its existence, is we’re setting our residents up for double taxation,” Meier said. “That dramatically increases taxes for village residents.”

District eyes offering the minimum tax break

Photos by Tom Rivers – Carl Boyle of Lyndonville tells Medina Central School Superintendent Jeff Evoy (in back) that the district should support a tax exemption for veterans. Boyle served during the Cold War and he said the tax exemption doesn’t include Cold War veterans.

MEDINA – The Board of Education hasn’t made a final decision, but the group is leaning towards offering about 500 veterans in the school district a discount in their school taxes, a move that will cause a tax increase for nonveterans.

“It’s a difficult decision in light of the economy and the poverty in our county, and in light of the debt we owe our veterans,” said Chris Keller, president of the Medina BOE.

The Board of Education discussed offering the exemption to veterans during Tuesday’s board meeting. Board members said they don’t want to put undue financial stress on nonveterans.

With that in mind, the board is considering offering the minimum tax exemption to veterans. If it approved, nonveterans would pay $32 more in taxes for a property assessed at $100,000, school superintendent Jeff Evoy said.

Veterans who served in wartime (World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Persian Gulf Conflict since Aug. 2, 1990) would get $6,000 off their assessments. That would save eligible veterans about $140 each. (The district’s tax rate is $23.31 per $1,000 of assessed property. Multiply $23.31 by 6 to determine the dollars saved through the exemption.)

The state in December 2013 voted to allow school districts the option of giving the exemption. The county, all 10 towns and three villages already had been offering it to veterans. (Only the Village of Albion doesn’t, according to the county Office of Real Property Tax Services. Updated 10:30 a.m.: The Village of Albion offers the exemption to veterans in World War I, WWII, and the Korean War.)

Board of Education President Chris Keller said the district wants to offer the exemption for veterans, but school officials don’t want to shift too much tax burden on other residents.

Medina is the first school district in the county to take up the issue. Veterans in November approached the Board, asking the district to implement the exemptions.

“It’s not an easy issue, no question about it,” said resident David Barhite. “But we wouldn’t be here without our veterans.”

Barhite said veterans deserve the tax discount. Many of them sacrificed pay and benefits from their jobs to be in the military, he said.

In addition to the $6,000 wartime exemption, veterans who were in a combat zone could have their taxable assessed values dropped by another $4,000. That would save another $93.24.

Veterans who are disabled from their military service could get $20,000 off their assessments, which would save them $466.20, based on the district’s current tax rate.

The state law allows districts to offer double what Medina is considering. The maximum exemption would be $12,000 off for wartime service, $8,000 for combat duty and $40,000 for being disabled.

If Medina offered the maximum exemptions, nonveterans would see their taxes go up $51 for properties assessed at $100,000, according to school officials.

Dave Kusmierczak said veterans could use the exemption, but he would prefer it to be offered through state income taxes and not property taxes.

Maureen Blackburn, former BOE president, said the community has many struggling young families, where $30 to $50 more in taxes is a big deal.

“That might be snow boots,” she said.

Blackburn said she holds veterans “in the highest regard,” but the district needs to consider the impact and tax burden on younger families, who live in a much different and more difficult economy these days. Many of the families are working double jobs and still not making ends meet, Blackburn said.

“I would like our young families to have a place at the table when you’re considering your decision,” she said.

Nelda Toussaint also spoke against the exemption, saying it wasn’t fair to other residents who would see a shift in their taxes. Another resident, Tim Elliott, said he thinks many residents are struggling to get by, and the added taxes would be difficult for them to pay.

The New York State School Boards Association opposes the “alternative veterans exemption” because it would require other local taxpayers to make up the difference. The association would prefer to see the state provide the exemption through state income taxes.

“The law as is presents school boards with a dilemma,” NYSSBA Executive Director Timothy G. Kremer said in a statement last February. “If they adopt the exemption, that would increase taxes for other taxpayers in their district. If they do not adopt the exemption, they could be viewed as not being supportive of veterans.”

Local veteran Dave Kusmierczak said veterans could use a break in their taxes. The exemption through property taxes not only shifts some of the tax load to nonveterans, but it also excludes many veterans, Kusmierczak said. If they don’t own property, they won’t get an exemption. He would like to see the benefit offered through income taxes so more veterans would be able to use it.

Carl Boyle served in the Cold War, but the state doesn’t include that as wartime service. He said the proposal discriminates against veterans in the Cold War.

Carl Boyle served overseas in Germany during the Cold War. He isn’t eligible for the wartime exemption because Cold War veterans weren’t included.

Boyle said he slept for months outside in the cold during his service, and tensions were high with the Russians.

“It was a war of nerves,” Boyle told the Board of Education. “It took a toll on me and several other thousand Cold War veterans. The Cold War vet is being crapped on. That isn’t fair. That’s discrimination.”

Medina has 217 veterans eligible for the wartime exemption and 260 more eligible for service in a combat zone. Of those two groups, 95 are rated as disabled.

BOE President Chris Keller took a poll of board members on Tuesday, to see where they stand at this point. Several said they were in favor of offering the minimum exemption. But the board wants more time to consider the issue and weigh the impacts.

Offering the exemption would also reduce the district’s STAR funds from the state by $4,524, with nonveterans to make up that difference, Evoy said.

The district will have another public hearing at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10 for the minimum exemption levels. The board could vote on the issue at that meeting. In order for the exemption to apply to the 2015-16 school taxes, the board needs to adopt the exemption by March 1.

BOE member John McCarthy said the district is in a difficult position. He said the state allowed the exemption, but passed the decision making and impact to the local level.

“It will pit neighbor versus neighbor, and school district versus school district,” McCarthy said.

MEDINA – Regardless of the dissolution vote on Jan. 20, there will be another village election in the spring with two trustee positions on the ballot.

The village election usually falls the third Tuesday of March, but this year that lands on St. Patrick’s Day. Because of that, the Village Board voted to move the election a day later to March 18, a Wednesday.

Trustees Mark Kruzynski and Mark Irwin both have their positions up for election.

Petitions are currently available at the village office. Petitions can be turned in to the village clerk between Feb. 3 and Feb. 10.

Even if dissolution is approved on Jan. 20, the village government will remain for an estimated two years to allow for a transition.

Besides setting the date for the next village election for March 18, the board on Monday also hired a new police officer. Edwin Bower comes from the Holley Police Department. He graduated from the Rural Police Training Academy last March. He will start at Medina with a salary at $44,712.

Village also adopts law for temporary storage shelters

Photo by Tom Rivers – Craig Lacy addresses Medina village officials on Monday during a public hearing. The group includes, from left: Village Clerk Debbie Padoleski, Village Trustee Mark Kruzynski, Trustee Marguerite Sherman, Mayor Andrew Meier, Trustee Mike Sidari and Trustee Mark Irwin.

MEDINA – The Village Board approved two local laws on Monday, one that establishes a 15-minute parking space on North Main Street in front of Napa Auto Parts and another law that regulates temporary storage shelters.

Craig Lacy, owner of Napa, said his customers are often frustrated with the parking situation near the store at 345 North Main St. The village has a 2-hour parking limit on Main Street, but many vehicles seem to be there much longer, making it a challenge for merchants, Lacy said.

His store and others on North Main Street don’t have the option to park behind the building, freeing up space on Main Street. He tries to point some customers to a lot in the Canal Basin, but customers prefer being closer to the store.

Lacy requested two 15-minute parking spots and the Village Board voted to give him one from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Trustee Marguerite Sherman said Lacy’s building is in an unusual spot at an intersection with a bump-out.

“There is a need for something,” she said about the parking situation. “I can feel for what Mr. Lacy has to say. You hate to open up a can of worms, but something needs to be done to help out.”

The board approved the 15-minute spot and Mayor Andrew Meier said the board would consider such requests on a case-by-case basis. Meier said Lacy faces competition from the chain auto parts stores that have their own parking lots.

The board and Medina Business Association said they would again remind downtown business owners and their employees to park behind their buildings if possible and use municipal lots to free up space on Main Street.

Police Chief Jose Avila reported to the board that the police enforce parking laws, and wrote 180 parking tickets throughout the village last year.

The board also approved a law for temporary storage containers – Pods and shipping containers – that are becoming increasingly popular.

Some of these containers stay on sites for months, resulting in deteriorating appearance in property and in complaints, village officials said.

The new regulations for temporary storage containers establish them as portable storage units without a permanent foundation. They may include cargo containers, truck trailers, construction trailers and bulk solid waste containers.

The village is limiting sites to a maximum of two cargo containers for no more than 60 days per calendar year. If homeowners suffer a fire or flood and need the container longer, they can seek a demolition or building permit with the cargo container to be removed a week after the demo or building permit expires.

The regulation proposes similar standards for portable storage containers and establishes setback requirements.

Semi-truck trailers are limited to commercial or residential sites. Construction trailers are allowed in commercial, residential and industrial sites but must be removed a week after a building permit expires or certificate of occupancy is issued.

Bulk solid waste containers are allowed for up to 45 days in a year. They must be kept at least 5 feet from side and rear property lines and at least 10 feet from front property lines, according to the new regulation.

MEDINA – The Board of Education will take comments from the community on Tuesday about whether the district should adopt a tax exemption for veterans.

School districts can offer up to a 15 percent reduction in assessed value on property owned by veterans who served during a time of war. They may receive another 10 percent if they served in combat zones.

If a veteran was approved for a 15 percent exemption that would save them $349 for a house assessed at $100,000. (The school district’s tax rate is $23.31 per $1,000 of assessed property.)

Districts also have the option of giving veterans a reduction based on service-related disabilities. For example, a veteran with 100 percent disability could get a 50 percent property tax reduction.

The Board of Education will have a public hearing on the issue at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Board Room located at the District Office, One Mustang Drive.

The district has estimated the impacts of the Alternative Veterans’ Tax Exemption for other property owners.

On a $100,000 home, with the minimum or lowest option, the estimated increase for a non-veteran would be a $32.00 or 1.37 percent tax shift. If the maximum exemption was offered, nonveterans would see a $51.00 or 2.19 percent increase in their taxes, according to school officials.

Approving the exemption would also reduce the STAR payments for district residents. The STAR is applied after other exemptions are factored.

The district is expected to discuss those impacts at Tuesday’s meeting.

Photo by Tom Rivers – Jonathan Higgins, a captain with Medina Fire Department, speaks to the Village Board tonight, asking the group to pursue a federal for more firefighters.

MEDINA – The Village Board will pursue a federal grant to add staff for the Fire Department. Whether the village will seek two or four full-time firefighters remains to be decided.

Jonathan Higgins, a captain with the Medina FD, presented the grant program to the board during today’s board meeting. The federal Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response grants would cover firefighters’ salary, benefits and retirement contributions for three years, as long as Medina maintains its existing staffing levels of 13 full-time firefighters.

The department also has two temporary paid positions. Those spots could be made full-time without the temporary status as part of the grant, Higgins said. He would the department to add four staff, making the two temporary part of the regular paid crew and adding two more.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier wants to pursue the grant, but he isn’t convinced the village should go after four more paid positions. He worries if the community could afford the salaries after the grant expires in three years.

Medina isn’t obligated to continue the positions after three years.

The village tried for the SAFER grant last year and sought two positions. It wasn’t approved for the grant. Higgins believes the Fire Department has a compelling case for the grant.

The department responded to nearly 3,000 calls last year. The Fire Department went from six to 13 full-time staff in 2006 when it took over the ambulance service in western Orleans from Rural Metro.

The Fire Department estimated then that there would be approximately 1,500 annual calls for service. Last year it responded to 2,986 calls. The call volume has been growing about 200 calls a year since the village become primary ambulance providers for western Orleans.

“If we keep increasing our calls by 200 we’ll be drowning,” Higgins told the Village Board.

He said the department’s application would have a better chance for approval by seeking four firefighters, rather than two.

The Village Board agreed to pay $1,800 to Grantmasters Inc. in Lewiston to write the grant, which is due to the Federal Emergency Management Agency by March 6.

The board, however, wants more time to decide whether to seek two or four firefighter positions. Meier said the department may not be able to offset 17 full-time positions through ambulance-generated revenue.

“I see four firefighters as being a very tough pill for the community to swallow,” Meier said.

Higgins said the increasing call volume has generated larger than expected revenues for the fire department. The village in October also approved higher mileage reimbursement rates for the ambulance (from $20 to $30) and a $50 out-of-district surcharge for calls outside western Orleans.

Over a full year, Higgins said those charges should add another $250,000 in revenue for the department.

The Village Board voted to start the grant application process, while Meier and the fire department look at revenues and costs for the department, trying to project the future.

If the village is approved for the grant, the new firefighters likely wouldn’t be hired until early 2016 with the grant covering their salaries until early 2019.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Former Village of Medina Trustee Owen Toale, left, and current Trustee Mike Sidari share their views on why they oppose dissolution of the village government, which goes to a vote on Jan. 20.

MEDINA – Two sides, one for dissolving the Village of Medina government and the other in favor of keeping it, shared their views during a debate on Orleans Radio this afternoon.

Dissolution opponents say Medina Mayor Andrew Meier has pushed too hard and too fast for dissolution before exhausting possibilities of shared services and cooperation with the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby.

Village Trustee Mike Sidari and former Village Trustee Owen Toale say dissolution would result in less services for villages residents, and they are doubtful they would see much tax savings.

“I’m disappointed we basically had this dissolution vote shoved down our throats,” Toale said in the debate. (Click here to be directed to Orleans Radio, and then click on the podcast to hear the debate.)

Meier and OneMedina leader Dean Bellack spoke for dissolution, which goes before village voters on Jan. 20 from noon to 9 a.m. at the Senior Center.

The village has suffered from falling tax assessments, a shrinking population and rising tax rates, the two said.

Meier said the village government is an unsustainable model. A dissolution plan would preserve existing services while reducing the tax rate in the village by $6 per $1,000 of assessed property.

(The vote on Jan. 20 will be whether or not the village should dissolve, and won’t be about a specific plan.)

OneMedina leader Dean Bellack, left, and Medina Mayor Andrew Meier both spoke in favor of the village dissolution, saying it would reduce taxes, making the community more attractive for residents and businesses.

The village has been forced to pare back some services and cut back on employees in recent years, Meier said. He only sees more reductions without a major change in how the services are provided.

“We will see declining services and staff until we fix this problem,” he said.

The $54 overall tax rate in the village is the highest in the Finger Lakes region. It is a major disincentive for investment and retaining and attracting residents and businesses, Bellack said. Meier said the high tax rate in the village has trapped the community “in a downward spiral.”

Bellack said dissolution would be a first step in reducing government costs and drawing more state aid for the community. If the village dissolves, OneMedina will then push to have the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway consolidate into one. That would provide a more efficient government, and also give the community more clout, Bellack said.

Without dissolution and its promise of reduced taxes, Bellack only sees more decline in the village. He also worries for the current village workforce with the existing village model.

“If I were a village employee I am working for a municipality that is running out of money,” Bellack said.

Sidari believes there can be savings with more shared services, perhaps through code enforcement and clerk functions, as well as highway duties.

Meier said there won’t be significant savings by “tinkering” with shared services. The village will still be stuck in a model that oppresses village residents, he said.

Sidari said the village should press for more state funding through Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. Villages only get $7 per capita in AIM while cities get an average of $277 per capita. Sidari would like to see all of the local municipalities pass resolutions, and see if a movement can spread around the state for fair treatment in AIM for the villages.

“We’re not going to get anything if we don’t ask for it,” Sidari said. “It’s time to fight for what is ours.”

Meier said dissolution would provide $541,000 annually in new state aid. That is a state law to encourage dissolution, he said.

Toale and Sidari both said they have misgivings if the state would come through each year with that money.

Dissolution also would provide $277,000 in efficiency savings, which is less than 3 percent of the village and two towns’ budgets. That is a narrow margin, dissolution opponents said.

Bellack and Meier both see more savings through attrition as employees retire and village debt is paid down.

If the dissolution vote fails on Jan. 20, it can’t be brought up again for at least four years. If it passes, the village and towns would have at least two years to implement a transition plan.

Bellack said the community needs a change, otherwise it could see more population loss and higher taxes.

“People are choosing not to live in the village,” Bellack said. “That is our story. Nothing our opposition says will change that.”

Toale said he hopes the dissolution vote fails, and the community gets more time to pursue shared services. He believes significant savings and partnerships can be reached while keeping the village government structure.

“There is more than one solution, but we haven’t worked hard enough to find it,” he said.

It will take strong leaders at the village and town levels, working for the good of the community, Toale said.

File photo by Tom Rivers – A souvenir glass from the Ale in Autumn is pictured in September 2013. Ale in Autumn started in 2009 and sells out with 750 participants at each event.

MEDINA – The postcard mailer proclaimed there would be no more Ale in Autumn, Wine About Winter and other events if dissolution goes through on Jan. 20.

Medina’s heritage is at stake with the vote, according tot the mailer from “Taxpayers for Medina.”

“If the village was dissolved we would lose our history and identity,” the mailer states. “Our rich cultural traditions set us apart from other communities. Events like Wine About Winter and Ale in Autumn make Medina great. They would not continue.”

The mailer has irked the Medina Business Association’s president. Cindy Robinson, leader of the group, said the dissolution vote won’t have an impact on the events, which are paid for and planned by the Business Association.

“The events will go on regardless of dissolution,” she said. “They are being done by the MBA. There is no reason we would stop doing it.”

The MBA teams with the Village Tourism Committee for the Olde Tyme Christmas celebration the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, an all-day celebration that is capped with a Parade of Lights. If the village dissolves and the Tourism Committee goes away, Robinson said MBA could step up and fill the roles from the Tourism Committee.

The postcard includes images of downtown banners and decorations that were paid for by the MBA, not the village. The clock at Rotary Park, also featured on the postcard, was a local fund-raising effort, and wasn’t paid for by the village.

MEDINA – Orleans Radio, an on-line site that has been streaming music by local musicians, will host a live debate on Sunday about the proposed dissolution of the Village of Medina.

The debate will be broadcast live from 1 to 3 p.m., and can be accessed at OrleansRadio.com. Alex Feig is the site’s founder and he will host the debate on Sunday, trying to help educate the public before the Jan. 20 vote. Village residents will go to the polls from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center to decide if the village government should be dissolved.

The debate will include dissolution supporters and foes. Medina Mayor Andrew Meier and One Medina leader Dean Bellack will have a chance to advocate for dissolution. Dissolution opponents – Village Trustee Mike Sidari and former Trustee Owen Toale – will get a chance to share their views.

Feig will moderate the debate, which will be broadcast from the conference room at the Paper Boys. The speakers are expected to discuss the dissolution proposal, impact on village services and taxes, voting eligibility and collateral effects on the community, according to Feig.

The debate will be available to hear in a podcast after the live broadcast.

Village, about same size as Medina, dissolved after 2011

MEDINA – On March 16, 2010, the Village of Seneca Falls made history. In a narrow vote, village residents approved the largest village dissolution in New York.

Seneca Falls had 6,681 village residents in 2010, according to the Census. That is just a little bigger than the Village of Medina, which has 6,065 residents.

Dissolution barely passed in Seneca Falls with a 1,198-1,112 vote. Dissolution took effect on Dec. 31, 2011.

Don Earle, Seneca Falls town supervisor, will be in Medina on Jan. 16 to share his community’s experience with dissolution, discussing impacts on taxes and services, and the community’s reaction to the changes.

He will be at Medina Theatre on Jan. 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. He will be joined by Don Colquhoun, chairman of the Medina Dissolution Committee; and Dean Bellack, one of the leaders of One Medina, which favors the village dissolution.

“It’s very important to hear from someone who has done a successful dissolution,” Bellack said. “We want to show people the end result.”

Earle’s presentation will be from 5:30 to 6:30 with a reception to follow for residents to meet Earle and the other presenters.

Medina village residents will vote on the issue on Jan. 20 from noon to 9 p.m. at the Senior Center.

The town leaders in Shelby and Ridgeway have bitterly opposed dissolution since a plan was approved last April by the Dissolution Committee. That plan, which keeps existing village services, doesn’t need to be followed by the towns if dissolution is approved.

Village DPW, police and firefighters all have stepped up efforts in recent weeks to oppose dissolution.

“A lot of people are focused on fear,” Bellack said. “The town supervisor from Seneca Falls understands the issue and the transition. He can help people understand how it can look in the future.”

One Medina wants to dissolve the village, and then work towards a consolidation of the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway. The town leaders say they aren’t interested in a consolidation between Ridgeway and Shelby, but Bellack said a merger would make sense in the future.

“I believe in my heart people will embrace dissolution,” Bellack said. “Ultimately one government rather than three is a better business model for forever. Dissolution is the first step and it’s the hardest.”

The Shelby and Ridgeway town officials also are having a joint public forum on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. That meeting will be at the Medina High School Auditorium, and town officials will urge village residents to oppose dissolution.