MEDINA – The committee looking at a possible dissolution of the village of Medina government will meet at 8 a.m. Thursday at City Hall. It will be the committee’s first meeting since a May 6 public meeting, when most speakers were strongly against dissolution.

The committee will weigh public comments as it works to craft a final document that will be presented to the Village Board. Don Colquhoun, the committee chairman, said he expects the committee will be able to complete its work with another meeting after Thursday.

The Medina Dissolution Committee accepted a draft of the plan in April. It faced its first public scrutiny on May 6 when about 300 people attended a forum at the middle school. Many of the speakers at the May 6 meeting lived outside the village in the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby. They don’t want to see their taxes go up as part of the dissolution.

Outside-village residents in Ridgeway would see a 46 percent increase in their town taxes while Shelby residents outside the village would see a 10 percent increase in town taxes, according to the plan.

Dissolution would reduce the current rate for village residents in Ridgeway from $19.49 per $1,000 of assessed property to $14.30. That $5.20 reduction would save a homeowner with a $70,000 house $363 a year in taxes.

In Shelby, village residents currently pay a $19.80 rate for village and town taxes. That would drop by $6.70 or 34 percent if the dissolution plan takes effect.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier sees dissolution as the first step of a two-step process for a leaner government. The tax increase outside the village could be reduced if the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby merge into the town of Medina, Meier has said.

Meier and others in the community are pushing “One Medina” as the ultimate goal for town/village government in the community.

If the village dissolution goes to a public referendum, only village residents will be eligible to vote.

Opinions run gamut, but most speakers oppose dissolution

Photos by Tom Rivers – Neil Sambovski of Ridgeway, outside the village, speaks against a dissolution of the village because it would drive up taxes for residents in the town outside Medina.

MEDINA – It’s been a topic of conversation for months in coffee shops and the community.

“Everyone has an opinion,” Don Colquhoun, chairman of the Medina Dissolution Committee, said about a plan to dissolve the village’s government. “If you talk to anyone in the village or in the towns, you have an opinion.”

Tonight residents were welcome to air their opinions in public, and many seized the opportunity.

“They’re diverting the tax from people in the village to people outside the village,” said Hannah Brant, a village resident with property in the two towns. “It’s driving a lot of fear into the community.”

Brandt was one of 300 people who attended a public meeting at Wise Middle School about the draft dissolution plan. It calls for dissolving the village of Medina and having its government services picked up by the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby, and other taxing districts or entities.

Colquhoun and the Medina Dissolution Committee approved a draft plan last month. Many residents spoke at the nearly the 2 ½ hour meeting and were against the village dissolution – for many different reasons. Their comments will be considered in any changes to the plan that would then go to the Village Board.

Don Colquhoun, chairman of the Medina Dissolution Committee, said the group will next meet in late May or early June to consider residents comments and whether the draft dissolution plan should be altered.

The Village Board will have public hearings if it decides to proceed with dissolution. It would then go to a public referendum for village residents only.

Several residents outside the village in the two towns said outside-village residents should have a vote as well. One resident called the plan “taxation without representation.”

The plan shifts some of the current villages expenses to the two towns, in particular to Ridgeway. Outside-village residents in Ridgeway would see a 46 percent increase in their town taxes while Shelby residents outside the village would see a 10 percent increase in town taxes. More village streets happen to be in Ridgeway, and so is Boxwood Cemetery, which would become the responsbilty of Ridgeway as part of the plan.

“If my taxes go up 46 percent, I’m leaving Orleans County,” said Neil Samborski of Ridgeway. “We can’t afford it.”

Village resident J.C. Hobbs said village residents have long been overburdened with taxes. He said there needs to be a push to reduce the village taxes.

“It’s all about fairness,” he said.

Village resident J.C. Hobbs said village residents pay too mch in taxes, especially compared to outside-village residents.

Village residents would see a drop ranging from 27 percent in Ridgeway to 34 percent in Shelby. The rate in Ridgeway would drop from $19.49 per $1,000 of assessed property to a projected $14.30, according to the plan. That $5.20 reduction would save a homeowner with a $70,000 house $363 a year in taxes.

Village residents in Shelby currently pay a combined $19.80 rate ($16.45 to the village and $3.35 to the town). That would drop 34 percent to $13.10 and would cut the tax bills from $1,386 for a $70,000 house to $917.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said the current taxing structure artificially makes the village taxes about 20 percent higher than those just outside the village borders. Dissolving the village would make the tax rates more equitable.

He worries the current system funnels too much tax burden on village property owners. It is chasing away residents and investment, leading to blight and shrinking tax assessments.

“A healthy town requires a healthy village,” Meier said.

Even with dissolution, village residents will pay about $4 more per $1,000 of assessed property than the outside-village residents. The village debt would stay with the village property owners until it is paid off in abut a decade. That accounts for $2 of that projected tax rate. A new fire district also is suggested to maintain the Medina Fire Department.

The Ridgeway residents outside the village currently pay a $6.71 rate for town, lighting and fire protection. That would rise 46 percent to $9.83 if the village dissolves and services are picked up according to the plan.

Shelby residents would see a 10 percent increase with dissolution with the current rate for outside-village residents going from $8.36 per $1,000 of assessed property to $9.17. That would raise taxes for a $70,000 home from $585 to $642.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier said village residents are unfairly burdened with high taxes.

The committee is suggesting a new debt district, two lighting districts, a water/sewer local development corporation, and a new fire district. Ridgeway would take over a town police force that would be contracted to include Shelby, according to the proposal.

Former Mayor Marcia Tuohey said she expects taxes would increase overall because of the new layers of government that are less accountable to residents.

“In the long run we’d be abdicating a lot of our services for more money,” she said.

Marguerite Sherman, a new village trustee, also said dissolution would result in less efficient government, trading one layer for up to five.

She and Mike Sidari, another new trustee, made a point of saying they aren’t necessarily in support of dissolution. Sidari said he moved to the village 29 years ago because of the police protection and other services, which he said naturally results in a higher tax burden compared to the rate outside the village.

“If the village goes by the wayside, there will be less control and who knows where the taxes are going,” he said.

The plan sees $277,000 in cost savings and $541,000 in additional state aid for $818,000 in overall benefit. But with combined budgets of more than $10 million, the $277,000 was called a small amount in operational savings.

The number could have been higher, but the Dissolution Committee didn’t want to eliminate any jobs or curtail services.

Village resident Todd Bensley doesn’t think the savings are enough to warrant dissolution of the village. He thinks the tax burden could be cut with more shared services with the two towns, and a push to become the City of Medina. That would result in siginifciantly more in state aid. Right now Medina receives about $45,000 in state aid as a community of about 6,000 people. Similar-size cities, such as Salamanca, get nearly a $1 million in state aid.

The City of Sherrill has half as many people as the village of Medina, but gets nearly $400,000 in state aid, Bensley noted.

The average village property owner would see $363 in tax savings, according to the plan.

“That sounds good, but look at all of the things we’re losing,” he said.

Bensley serves on the Village Planning Board, which he said has been committed to preserving the downtown historic district, while also welcoming businesses.

“The residents have worked hard to make the village what it is and I want it maintained,” Bensley said. “The mayor is asking us to get rid of a village with a 182-year-old tradition to save a few hundred dollars.”

Bensley also said he didn’t like that the village’s reduction comes with an increase to residents outside the village.

“I don’t want to save money on the backs of my neighbors,” he said.

Dave Kusmierczak said state and federal policies have hurt small-town upstate New York, providing too little aid and too many mandates.

Several residents were critical that the Dissolution Committee didn’t include more representation from outside-village residents. Only Cindy Robinson, a  downtown business owner, lives outside the village. Other committee members include Colquhoun, Meier, Village Deputy Mayor Mark Irwin, Charlie Slack and Thurston Dale.

Meier said village residents are also town residents. The committee acted with the best interest of the community at heart, he said.

Leaders from the two towns and village met often in a consolidation and shared service study in 2011. The group suggested the village and two towns merge into one government entity. Meier and village officials wanted to make that happen, and town leaders said then a village dissolution would need to be the first step.

Meier said the bigger savings will come if the two towns join into one town, after the village dissolves. There would be more state aid and more cost efficiencies, bringing down the community’s overall, tax rate, Meier said.

In the mentime, he has sought concessions to village residents from the towns. Meier said village residents pay to plow and maintain village streets. They also are taxed for town streets. He wants an exemption in that portion of the town tax bill, which he said could knock $1 off the tax rate for village residents.

He cited the reconstruction of Gwinn  Street, a popular thoroughfare in the village used by school buses and other traffic. Village taxpayers footed the entire $900,000 cost for improvements to that street, depsite its widespread use by motorists outside the village.

Residents enter the gymnasium at Wise Middle School. They walk past a display showing the tax savings annually for residents in the village, depending on the assessment of the property. About 300 people attended the meeting.

Kit Trapasso is a retired psychologist at Medina Central Scool. He lives in the village and has witnessed an exodus of residents, not only from the village but Orleans County and Western New York. (The eight WNY counties all had a population loss from 2000 to 2010.)

Schools have experienced significant drops in student enrollment, prompting some districts, including Medina, to close a school. The Towne Primary School closed about two years ago.

“In New York State we are taxing ourselves to death,” Trapasso said. “I hope as a community we’re willing to work together to say let’s be in for a change.”

Trapasso said he favors dissolving the village and merging the two towns because it has the most savings and promise for reduced tax bills.

Tom McGrane, a retired teacher, said the dissolution process hasn’t gone well. The two towns have sent out information “that has been dividing us.” McGrane said Meier as mayor, Skip Draper as town supervisor of Shelby, and Brian Napoli as town supervisor of Ridgeway need to get over “turf wars” and find a solution for the high taxes.

“We need to really sit down and say let’s do it for the community,” McGrane said.

Officials from Ridgeway, Shelby offer ways to reduce taxes

MEDINA – If the village of Medina dissolves, the two towns expected to pick up villages services don’t plan to continue the Medina Police Department.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Department and State Police could assume the police work, town officials said Friday while meeting with some reporters.

The Medina Dissolution Committee recommended police protection be provided in a town-wide force that would cover Ridgeway and Shelby. Ridgeway would manage the police and contract with Shelby for the service, according to the Dissolution Plan.

The police department budget is about $1 million a year. Brian Napoli, the Ridgeway town supervisor, told The Daily News of Batavia he doesn’t support a town-wide force. The Sheriff’s Department and State Police could handle police calls in the community, he said.

“There’s a ripple effect if the village dissolves into the two towns, and people don’t see a need for another level of police protection,” he told The Daily News. “They’re happy with Sheriff’s Department and State Police. They don’t see a need to expand it, especially when they see a 46 percent tax increase.”

Napoli and Skip Draper, the Shelby town supervisor, held a press conference on Friday to discuss alternatives to dissolving the village. (Orleans Hub wasn’t invited to the press conference and is the target of a mailer from the two towns about “biased reporting.”)

The Daily News of Batavia reported on the press conference. For more, visit thedailynewsonline.org and search for “Medina dissolution: Supervisors say more options exist for services.”

The Medina Dissolution Committee last week approved a plan to be presented to the public and Village Board. The plan retains existing services and staff. The two towns would assume many of the services currently provided in the village. The Dissolution Committee also suggested creating a debt district for village debt, a fire district, and local development corporations or authorities for water and sewer.

The committee and its consultant, the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester, calculated a $277,000 savings in reduced operational costs. That isn’t much of a savings when spread over the budgets for the two towns and village, about $11 million total, the town supervisors told The Daily News.

That is less than a 3 percent savings.

“If we assume the $277,000 is correct, we’re on a pretty narrow margin, and we’re gambling on a pretty narrow margin that we’re going to save anything,” Draper told The Daily News.

The state provides incentives for dissolution or government consolidations. The Dissolution Committee and CGR say the state would give $540,000 in incentives annually, money that the state says can be counted on for years to come.

Napoli said told The Daily News he supports some shared services, such as code enforcement and merged water billing. Those services could be shared without a dissolution, he said.

The Committee’s report said village property owners could see their tax rates fall from $5 to $7 per $1,000 of assessed property, while outside village residents in Shelby would see an 81 cent increase in their tax rate and Ridgeway residents would have their rate go up $3.12.

Ridgeway’s rate would increase 46 percent. That is partly because the town portion outside the village currently has the lowest rate of the three governments: $6.71 per $1,000 of assessed property. That would go to $9.83 with the dissolution.

Village residents in Ridgeway would see their rate drop by $5.20 or 27 percent from $19.49 per $1,000 of assessed property to $14.30. In Shelby, village residents currently pay a $19.80 rate for village and town taxes. That would drop 34 percent to $13.10 or by $6.70 if the dissolution plan takes effect.

Shelby residents would see a 10 percent increase in their tax rate, according to the dissolution plan. Outside-village residents would see their rate go from $8.36 per $1,000 of assessed property to $9.17.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier and the “One Medina” group ultimately would like to see the village dissolve and the two towns merge into one entity. That would provide more cost savings with government efficiency and attract more state incentives for consolidation.

Meier believes those gains in savings and state aid would likely offset the tax increases for outside-village residents with the dissolution.

Editorial

MEDINA – They say they are the source for facts on proposed dissolution of the Village of Medina because Medina Mayor Andrew Meier and his hand-picked committee have skewered the details in a Dissolution Plan.

The Town Boards of Ridgeway and Shelby say they offer the “facts” on the dissolution, yet they don’t say how the details are being “skewered.” They allege impropriety from Meier and a Dissolution Committee, but don’t offer any “facts” to back up the claims.

The two Towns Boards have stepped up their efforts to undermine Meier, accusing him of mismanaging the finances of the village. There is nothing to back up this claim. No report from the comptroller’s office. No audit. They have nothing specific, but the two Town Boards have started a smear campaign, questioning Meier’s integrity and competence.

I don’t think anyone expected officials from the two towns to readily embrace the dissolution of the village. For nearly 200 years the village has paid the lion’s share of the bills and provided the bulk of the services in the Medina community. Village residents have a much bigger tax bill than their neighbors outside the village boundaries. Many of the village services – fire, ambulance and police – often go outside village boundaries for services on the village’s dime.

The village tax base has shrunk in recent years. The houses are falling in value while the assessments grow outside the village in the two towns. Moving outside the village can save a homeowner about $1,000 in taxes each year. That is quite an incentive to leave.

Meier is 34 years old. He doesn’t see how the village can prosper long-term with such a disparity between the village tax rate and the rate for those outside the village, especially when the latter enjoy many of the village services without paying towards them.

Village residents not only pay village taxes but they also get taxed by the town. It’s a tough deal for the village residents. A fair-minded person would question the disparity in taxes and should want to do something about it.

Meier has pushed the issue. Other communities have done consolidation and shared services studies, but they seldom go anywhere. It’s a lot of work coming up with a plan. You’re going to anger constituencies. You, unfortunately, will pay a price. That, sadly, is a fact and the two Town Boards are making sure of that in Medina.

They have hired a PR consultant and a press release that went out Sunday felt like an attack on Meier. He was the only one singled out by name despite several people working on the dissolution plan.

None of Town Board members will speak to the media, including the two town supervisors, Skip Draper in Shelby and Brian Napoli of Ridgeway.

You can submit them questions through a hotline or Facebook page. Those questions won’t be seen by the public and the “Towns” will respond on Facebook or they will issue a press release to selected media members. I was told Orleans Hub is on the list, but our repeated requests for a press release went nowhere. Another reporter forwarded it to me on Monday.

I had no idea the Orleans County press corps struck such fear in the hearts of the two Town Boards. Jim Krencik from The Daily News in Batavia, Howie Balaban from The Journal-Register in Medina, and I have the two Town Boards taking what may be an unprecedented step in the history of our democracy. They will not talk to reporters.

Everything must be funneled through a PR consultant. They will take residents’ questions through a Facebook message or you can leave a message on a hotline.

I have been a reporter in Orleans County for 18 years. Not everyone likes me, but I think everyone tolerates me, even when they don’t like questions. Draper and Napoli are both veterans in their positions and they should know answering an occasional phone call from a reporter is part of the territory.

President Barack Obama will take reporters’ questions, and he’ll do it live in front of the cameras. Even Vladimir Putin talks to reporters in Russia.

But the Town Boards in Shelby and Ridgeway desperately want to control the message, even if it means spreading innuendo.

The two towns have a “Dissolution Facts” Facebook page that is run by an anonymous “Towns.” No name of a town official is credited with any of the comments that have pointed criticism of the dissolution plan approved by a committee last Thursday.

I have covered some scandals and everyone who had a fall from grace at least stood before the cameras and public and answered some painful and embarrassing questions. They didn’t shrink and hide. I give them credit for “facing the music” in a difficult situation.

I really don’t understand the Ridgeway and Shelby stance. Why hide behind an anonymous Facebook page or a PR consultant?

These are hardly embarrassing questions: What do you think of the dissolution plan? How might it be improved? The village residents are also town residents – how will you serve them?

The increase in taxes for outside-village residents can likely be offset if the two towns merge. Will you work towards a merger or cost savings with Ridgeway/Shelby? If no, then why not?

Town officials decline to speak directly to the media

MEDINA – The towns of Shelby and Ridgeway have hired a public relations professional to connect with the media and release information from the towns’ perspective about a possible dissolution of the village of Medina.

Shelby and Ridgeway hired Andina Barone, owner of Mindful Medina Group. She also works with the Orleans Economic Development Agency to write press releases and contact members of the media.

She said officials from the two towns won’t be taking interview requests from the media right now, but will be releasing information in the upcoming weeks.

The Town Boards from Ridgeway and Shelby issued a joint statement, questioning why no one from one of their boards was on the Dissolution Committee. They also alleged poor fiscal management from village officials have led to the push to dissolve.

“Accurate data and detailed information on the potential tax impact to residents and efficient delivery of municipal services has not been forthcoming from Medina Mayor Andrew Meier’s office,” according to the press release. “Town officials believe the dissolution process is flawed. It is their position, and that of the respective board members, that the Mayor of Medina should first address his own lack of fiscal management in relation to the Village of Medina, before attempting to dissolve it.”

Meier and the Dissolution Committee see dissolving the village as a way to bring down a tax rate for village property owners that is the highest in the Finger Lakes region. That tax rate includes the village, town, county and school.

Dissolution would shave about $5 to $7 off the overall village rate that is about $54 per $1,000 of assessed property. The town leaders previously told the media they weren’t inclined to follow the dissolution plan. They haven’t said how they would provide services to village residents if the village dissolved. Village residents also live in either the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway and pay taxes to those municipalities.

The Dissolution Committee includes Meier, Village Trustee Mark Irwin, retired Arc of Orleans Director Don Colquhoun, Medina Business Association President and downtown business owner Cindy Robinson, Charlie Slack of Slack Insurance and Thurston Dale, a retired veterinarian.

“It is a travesty that Ridgeway and Shelby town board members were not included in a dissolution plan or public announcements that might greatly impact both towns,” according to the press release from the two Town Boards.

“Town board members and residents of Shelby and Ridgeway have become increasingly frustrated by the lack of information available to the public and the manner in which the mayor chooses to conduct meetings.

“Dissolution Committee meetings are held at 8 a.m. in City Hall (600 Main Street) in the upper level of the old court room, which is not handicapped accessible. There are no questions allowed. Both town supervisors are of the opinion the mayor’s choice of time, location and format was strategic, so as to limit the number of residents able to observe the proceedings and gather information.

“Both supervisors and all town board members of Ridgeway and Shelby will remain steadfast in their efforts to communicate the facts about dissolution to the community and serve residents in a manner worthy of their trust and confidence.”

The two towns have a Facebook page about “Dissolution Facts” and also have launched a web site: 2towns4ThePeople.com.

Meier and local attorney Nathan Pace on Thursday announced a push for “One Medina” that would dissolve the village and merge the two towns into one municipality: The Town of Medina.