By Anthony LaValle
Village Court Justice
The first step to abolish the village of Liverpool has been taken.
On April 14, the village of Liverpool mayor and trustees passed a resolution to abolish the village court. This was done at a “special” and not “regular” meeting of the village board of trustees. No notice to the public was given that a “resolution” was being made to abolish our village court, and very few people knew about the “special” meeting. The meeting agenda only read “further discussion on future of court.” No proposed “resolution” for abolishing the village court was on the agenda. (See April 14 meeting agenda at village of Liverpool website.) Although the mayor and board said it was purely a cost issue, no facts and figures were provided to the public and arrangements had already been made for the town of Salina to take over.
The lone dissenting vote against abolishing the village court was Trustee Christine Fadden Fitch. Fitch argued that this was a decision for the village residents to decide, not the board. Fitch argued that the decision to abolish any village service, be it the court, the police department or the DPW, should be placed before the village residents and not taken away hurriedly by the board. She requested the board place this matter in the voters’ hands by referendum in the upcoming election. The board flatly refused without reason.
What can we, the village of Liverpool residents, do?
A petition is being circulated to force the village board to place the decision to have or not have a village court before the village voters at the June general election, as a permissive referendum. We need 20 percent of the village voters to sign this petition. If you are willing to sign this petition to force the board to place this decision before the people, then please contact Anthony LaValle at 436-8403 or 457-2350. We will bring the petition to your door to sign. If the signatures are not obtained, then you won’t have a say and the town of Salina takes over.
Here are the facts:
Our village exists to provide services to its residents. Those services, the court, the police, the DPW and code enforcement, are provided at a cost to the taxpayer. Services do not operate at a profit or a loss; they operate at a cost which comprises the village budget. The village court is unique, because only the court can offset its cost through revenues generated by fines and surcharges.
Here are the revenues:
Last year the Village of Liverpool Court ranked number one of all village courts in Onondaga County, generating approximately $200,000 in revenues from fines and surcharges. Of the $196,290.43 our village court generated:
- The state of New York took $115,900.25 (59 percent);
- The county of Onondaga took $9,525.31 (5 percent); and
- Our village retained $70,864.87 (36 percent).
If the village board succeeds in abolishing our court, then this money goes to the town of Salina. Our village will only receive monies from dog control (which has generated zero dollars) and local law violations such as parking tickets (for which revenue is nominal).
Here are the costs:
The Village of Liverpool Court operated at a cost to village taxpayers of $35,931.94 last year. This equates to 1 percent of the total village budget of $2,593,894.27. It is the cheapest and most cost-effective service provided to the village taxpayer, again, because the cost of our village court is reduced by the revenues it generates.
If the village abolishes our court, how much will our taxes go down?
The answer is zero, and in fact, our taxes will probably go up! It takes more money to abolish a court, because revenues are lost to the town of Salina and the village incurs additional costs for “mothballing” and maintaining closed files as per state law.
At the “special” meeting of the village board, our Salina Town Councilperson Colleen Gunnip warned the mayor and trustees:
- The town of Salina has the busiest court in Onondaga County;
- The Salina Town Court does not pay for itself ($277,745.00 cost in budget as per Town Comptroller);
- If the town assumes responsibility for the village court, your town taxes will most likely go up and/or there may be a special assessment on your tax bill.
Here’s the bottom line:
Village courts, like any other village department, are not profit-motivated. Their sole purpose is to provide the village residents with a service, and in the court’s case, that service is “fair and impartial local justice.” If a court were profit-motivated, then everyone would be found guilty and the highest fines allowable by law would be imposed.
I call upon the village mayor and trustees to withdraw their resolution to abolish our village court or to simply place this matter before the village voters as a referendum. I urge village residents to contact the mayor and trustees to that end. If they do not hear from you, then they have no incentive to act.
And to make sure this type of conduct by our mayor and board doesn’t happen again, I call upon them to propose a local law for the upcoming election, prohibiting the board from abolishing a village service, be it the court, the police department or the DPW, without a mandatory referendum of the village voters.
Let’s stop this first step towards the abolishment of our village. Support your court!
