Over the past several years, drainage problems at the intersection of Pearl and Salina streets right on the edge of the village have repeatedly resulted in flooding the Young & Franklin employee parking lot.
More than a dozen properties outside the village boundary receive village services without paying villages taxes. Those properties are located in the town of Salina.
Overlaps such as these will be in focus at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, when the Salina Town Board hosts a rare joint meeting with the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees at the Town Hall on School Road in Galeville.
That joint meeting, which is open to the public, will follow the town board’s 6:30 p.m. monthly meeting at which Town Supervisor Mark Nicotra will unveil his tentative 2016 budget. The special meeting was proposed by Salina First Ward Councilor Colleen Gunnip, who represents the village.
“The [Pearl Street] drainage issue is a good example of areas where both governments can be working together to save tax dollars,” Gunnip said. “Mark will be presenting his budget that night, and I’ve asked our comptroller to review the different budget expenses which village residents must pay. I have also asked our assessor to talk about the assessment process.”
The town’s comptroller is Greg Maxwell, and its new assessor is Denise Trudell.
Nicotra said the meeting should increase communication between the two inter-related local governments. The mile-wide village is entirely located within the town of Salina.
“This is something we’ve been looking to do for some time,” Nicotra said. “The main goal is increased communications between us. We’re also looking to find ways in which we can potentially work together more.”
Liverpool Mayor Gary White said village property owners recently experienced a 19 percent increase when the cost of capping the town landfill was added to their town tax bills.
“It’s not a lot of money,” White said, “but when it comes to taxes, every little bit adds up.” Village taxpayers regularly kick in to the town for highway services including road salt, courts and tax assessment, White said. “But we didn’t know we’d have to help pay for covering over the landfill, so that’s just one of several things we’d like to talk about.”
Liverpool’s newest trustee, Christina Fadden Fitch, said it’s all about communication.
“We want to get the discussion started with the town,” she said, “and the best way is through a joint meeting, so we are all there as well as the public hearing the same things at the same time. I’m optimistic this will be a good step forward.”
Nicotra thinks there may be a chance to increase shared services between the town and village, and White agrees. He wants to foster “the spirit of cooperation,” he said.
Gunnip, who was first elected to the town board in 2008, remembers a similar meeting seven years ago. “We had a joint meeting back when I was first on the board,” she said, “and with member changes, I think this is a good time for another meeting.”
