 mcintyrej, Thu, May 1st, 2008 Ok someone in government is brilliant. Not because we now know we can save taxpayer money by combining services, consolidating taxing districts or just plain eliminating entire local governments altogether, but rather the fact that someone in government said it. Gov. Patterson says it will save a billion or two by having less than 10,000 governmental bodies we have in this state. DUH. Brief History Moment: Subject - New York In the New England states, local governmental entities are controlled by town form of government. No separate School taxes. No Villages. No Counties (except for sheriff for serving warrants). Water systems, Sewer, and Libraries are all part of the Town. The States fund education. Annual Town meetings allow the residents to vote on what going. In all the other States (but New York), local governmental entities are controlled by the Counties. Towns are lines on maps. Schools, Water, Sewer, etc. are run by the County. Throughout U.S. history, New York never could make up its mind. We use both systems here. Counties, Towns, Villages we keep it all. Making a choice on what level to govern is a challenge for us. The result is more governments and more cost. Ok Moment Done. The real question is who is going to stand up and change things. Year after year we identify the problem, but no one will stand up and do something about it. Can't we get serious about this? This is really the Big DUH. CATEGORY: Government
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