Officials from the villages of Colonie and Menands and the Town of Colonie have begun a series of meetings, the first two of which were unannounced, to discuss services for which the villages say they are being overcharged.
The task force, made up of Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan, Village of Colonie Mayor Frank Leak, Village of Menands Mayor Tom Coates, Town Attorney Michael Magguilli, Town Comptroller Craig Blair, Director of Town Operations Peter Gannon, Albany County Comptroller Michael Conners, Village of Colonie Trustee Tom Tobin and Village of Menands Clerk William Smith, is meeting to determine whether there is an inequity and, if there is, how to repay village residents.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, the group gathered at the Village of Menands Firehouse at what Mahan called the first formal meeting.
According to Mahan, the previous meeting, which was held a couple of weeks earlier, was mostly a `meet-and-greet.` The second meeting, held Sept. 11, was to discuss several topics, including specific town services village residents pay taxes for but do not use.
Village of Menands Mayor Thomas Coates said one of those services is use of the Colonie Police Department.
`In the Village of Menands, we have our own police department and we also pay for the Town of Colonie Police Department,` Coates said. `Our interpretation of the laws around this are that we shouldn’t have to pay [for the Colonie Police Department.]`
In addition, Coates said there are smaller, less expensive things he thinks village residents should not have to be accountable for.
`Most of them are things like building inspections ` small dollars, small amounts,` Coates said.
The task force has not yet arrived at an amount that the villages could have been overcharged, but the group is looking at each item to decide what the villages should not be responsible for.
Village of Colonie Mayor Frank Leak said, `There’s really no answers. It was just a matter of discussion. Putting everything out on the table.`
Mahan said one of the reasons the town tax rate village residents are paying is possibly higher than the rate town residents are paying is because of a highway tax rate added by the previous administration in 2006.
But according to Conners, `Why this has happened is something that nobody can explain easily.`
He said the suspected inequity was discovered by Mayor Coates when he took office in April 2007.
One possible remedy is to pay village residents back the excess money they believe they have been paying since 2006. Another is to reduce the amount they pay when town officials create the 2009 budget.
Conners said, given the financial situation of the town, with its $18 million deficit, village residents will most likely not receive a check in the mail any time soon, but that the 2009 budget could reflect the subtraction of several of these services that the villages do not feel that they should have to pay for.
When asked if she projects that 2009 taxes will be lower than previous years for village residents, Mahan said, `There’s no way to know right now. We’re short on time at this point.`
Conners said town officials will put together the budget in October and November and discussions between the villages and the town will continue.
`What we’ve decided is to meet periodically,` Mahan said. `We really opened up the dialogue.`
Mayor Leak said all of the officials are working together to achieve the same objective.
`We’re just concerned that the villages be treated fairly,` he said.
Conners said he is confident the officials will be able to come to an agreement on the matter.
`I’m fairly certain that this will be worked out, the numbers at least, over the next six weeks or sooner,` he said.“
