By Judy Tassone
4th District
Onondaga County Legislature
The villages in Onondaga County are some of the oldest areas with the richest history. The village of Liverpool is the heart of the legislative district in which I serve.
The Onondaga County Legislature recognizes the importance of these villages to the greater community. One legislator referred to them as “15 little heartbeats” — I couldn’t agree more. Regardless of what area of Onondaga County you reside in, you are never too far from one of our picturesque villages.
That is why I fought so hard in 2010, and again this year, to ensure that the Village Improvement Program remained intact through 2030. In addition to maintaining the program, we increased the total amount available to the 15 villages.
Starting in 2020, the appropriation to the Village Improvement Program will increase from the current $4.5 million as follows:
- 2020: $5.2 million
- 2023: $5.5 million
- 2026: $5.75 million
- 2029: $6 million.
The village of Liverpool’s piece of this program equates to a little over 7 percent. In real dollars, that is $365,560 in each of the first three years; $386,650 in the next three years; $404,225 for years 2026 through 2028; and, finally, $421,800 in the last two years of the program. In total, Onondaga County is committing to give the village of Liverpool $4,312,905 over the next 10 years — a consistent source of revenue that can be used any way the village chooses.
I know this revenue is so important to villages that have older infrastructure that need to make improvements to keep attracting new businesses, residents and visitors.
Over the past several years, the county has created a few different funding sources for projects in towns and villages. In addition, we share mortgage recording taxes with each municipality based on new sales and refinancing. We allocate Community Development Block Grant funding and other federal funding sources to localities.
Since 2012, we have shared an additional $250,000 with the village of Liverpool for various projects. This funding was used for the awning over the “Liverpool is the Place” stage at Johnson Park for the summer concert series, tree plantings, critical drainage projects and repairs to aging assets.
To date, one of the greatest accomplishments in the village of Liverpool is the CSX Railroad project. The railroad tracks near Heid’s were in complete disrepair. CSX was a challenging entity to get to the table to discuss the necessary work that needed to be done to improve the approach to the tracks. I was relentless; we held several meetings with the county, state and CSX, and we finally got the job done to the residents’ and visitors’ satisfaction.
In the end, my approach to representing our district has never wavered. We are in this together. Every level of government serves an important purpose. When we work toward a common goal of sharing services and funding projects, the residents and visitors benefit. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your representative in county government.
Judy Tassone represents the 4th district which includes the Town of Salina, the Village of Liverpool and portions of the Town of Geddes. Judy welcomes constituent feedback; she can be reached by email at, [email protected] or at home, 315-457-5458.
