12/05/07 - City and county discuss consolidation merger options

(As published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting)

The city is hoping that a short-term solution to its depleted finances could be found in the county’s initial willingness to discuss funding the Cortland Free Library for 2008.

The possibility was discussed when city and county officials sat down in the county Legislature’s chambers Tuesday afternoon to talk about ways to help the city’s finances.

The issue will be discussed again at the next joint meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday, as well as at the Legislature’s special session that evening.

The officials from both municipalities discussed long-term and short-term solutions, ranging from a hypothetical countywide library system or a combined countywide assessor’s office, to mergers of individual departments such as the Youth Bureau or parks system.

Despite the county’s recent decision not to reopen sales tax negotiations to give the city a requested boost, the participants in the meeting were congenial and the tone was hopeful.

Legislator John Daniels (D-Cortlandville) voiced a plan of action: start with one or two projects that everybody can get on board with, things that can be implemented quickly, before a much larger next step is taken. This would build the relationships and trust that large-scale intergovernmental projects require. “It becomes much easier to take the next step,” Daniels said.

The “next step” is important, according to city Director of Administration and Finance Andy Damiano. Any short-term financial help for next year would help stamp down either a 9.8 percent or a 7.8 percent tax increase (the lower figure was announced at a Tuesday night Common Council meeting), but would not rebuild the city’s soon-to-be depleted fund balance. “We need to think about how we can rebuild it in the long term,” Damiano said.

The city is considering a number of multimillion-dollar capital projects — including larger fire and police stations and much needed repairs to City Hall — and those would require bonding.

“I cannot recommend to the (Common) Council that we go out for a bond issue with our finances in the state they are in now,” Damiano said at Tuesday’s joint meeting.

Hence the county’s concern; as noted by Legislator Sandy Price (D-Harford and Virgil), “a healthy city equals a healthy county and a healthy county equals a healthy city.”

But when discussing any possible mergers, Damiano stressed that the merger has to result in either the same or improved level of services, as well as cost savings, or else consolidation does not work.