LEGAL NOTICE
VILLAGE OF TANNERSVILLE VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
REFERENDUM ON THE DISSOLUTION OF THE VILLAGE OF TANNERSVILLE
“Shall the Village of Tannersville, New York be dissolved? Yes No ___”
The Dissolution Plan and the Village of Tannersville Board of Trustee’s resolution adopting the Dissolution Plan and calling for the referendum are available on the Village of Tannersville website at www.tannersvilleny.org and on the project website at https://labergegroup.com/tannersville/ and copies are available for the public to view at the Tannersville Village Clerk’s Office located at 1 Park Lane (5974 Main St) Please take notice that the Village of Tannersville Village Board of Trustees has adopted a final Plan of Dissolution and called for a referendum on the issue of dissolution of the Village of Tannersville, New York at the November 12, 2024 Special Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees. The referendum will be open to registered voters of the Village of Tannersville on the proposition of dissolution of the Village of Tannersville. The referendum will be held on January 14, 2025 at the Tannersville Village Hall, located at 1 Park Lane (5974 Main Street), Tannersville, NY 12485 and the polls will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The proposition on dissolution shall read as follows on the official ballot:
“Shall the Village of Tannersville be dissolved? Yes ____ or No ____”
The Village of Tannersville is located wholly within the Town of Hunter in southern Greene County, New York. Tannersville is located in the central northern part of the Town of Hunter. It is situated at an elevation of 1,900 feet in the northern section of the Catskill Mountains along State Route 23A and located at the junction of Route 23A and Route 23C. The Village has a total area of 1.14 square miles, of which 1.1 square miles is land and 0.04 square miles is water. A full description of the territory containing the Village of Tannersville and map is available via the following link: https://tannersvilleny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Village-of-Tannersville-Territory-Descriptor-and-Map.pdf
The Dissolution Plan outlines possible impacts of dissolution should the Village voters elect to dissolve the Village and be governed by the Town of Hunter. The following is a summary of the Proposed Dissolution Plan:
- The proposed date of dissolution is December 31, 2025.
- Dissolution would result in the elimination of existing Village governance structures, including the Village Mayor and the Board of Trustees and all departments.
- The Plan includes that the Town would assume the Village public works and water department functions and the Town would employ the Village public works/water department staff to maintain and operate the former Village highways, sidewalks, water assets and service and parks and recreation assets and services.
- The Plan assumes the Town of Hunter would create a Tannersville Water District with boundaries the same as the current Village and the Village would transfer its water system assets to the Town for the benefit of the Water District. The Town would eliminate the differential in rates between Village users and outside Village users over a five year period; resulting in an estimated increase to a typical Village single family user of $75/year.
- Correspondence from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection indicated that dissolution would not impact the continued provision of sewer services at no charge to the former Village users of the system should the Village dissolve.
- The Plan assumes that the Town would create a Tannersville Lighting District with boundaries the same as the Village in order to continue street lighting in the former Village and to levy property taxes on former Village property taxes.
- The existing Town Justices would assume the Village Justice Court caseload and the Town would increase court clerk hours needed to address the increase in workload.
- The Plan assumes that the Town would continue Village zoning and would establish a Zoning Board of Appeals. The Town would create a part-time code enforcement position equivalent to the Village’s to handle increased NYS Uniform Code, Zoning and other municipal code enforcement responsibilities.
- The Plan includes the creation of a full-time administrative position by the Town to address the increase in administrative responsibilities including grants management, water service administrative and coordination services and special events. Additional hours are anticipated for Town fiscal and Town Clerk operations.
- The Town would assume all Village easements, right of ways and corresponding agreements and commitments including those related to water services, sewer services, the NYCDEP buyouts, etc.
- The proposed Plan transfers all Village parks, public spaces, equipment and assets to the Town. The Town Highway Department would maintain all the parks and public spaces. Village DEP buyout properties would transfer to the Town of Hunter with the current conservation easements and maintenance obligations.
- The plans assumes that the Village public works garage would be a part of the DEP property buy-out program and the Village Hall/Fire House would be sold; however, the timing of the sale would provide a period for the Town and Fire District to address their space needs. All Village equipment except for water service and parks and recreation equipment will be sold. The net proceeds of the sales of the real property and equipment would be used to offset Village liabilities. It is projected that assets would be sufficient to offset Village short term liabilities, the water tower and snow plow debt and partial offset of the Water Treatment Plant debt; the balance of which would continue to be paid through water service fees. Should there be any post dissolution outstanding liabilities greater than the net assets, these liabilities would be a charge upon the former Village property taxpayers.
- New York State would provide the Town a Citizen Empowerment Tax Credit (CETC) equivalent to 15% of the combined Village and Town levies in the year prior to dissolution estimated to be $480,425. A minimum of 70% must be applied for property tax reduction.
- It is projected that Village property tax payers would see a reduction in their combined Village and Town property taxes. The 23/24 combined Village and property tax rate for property owners is $12.12 per $1,000 of assessed value. Post dissolution, the estimated Town tax rate to be paid by former Village taxpayers is $8.68 before application of the CETC. With application of 70% of CETC, the rate is projected to be $7.83 and with 100% CETC application the rate is estimated to be $7.47. The project impact on property taxes and the water service fees for a typical single-family home (taxable assessed value = $81,000) would be savings of $302 with 100% of CETC, savings of $272 with 70% CETC and savings of $203 with no CETC.
By order of the Village of Tannersville Board of Trustees
Robin Dumont, Village Clerk