KINGSTON – Ulster County
has met the Thursday deadline to file its proposal for municipal consolidation
and efficiency in hopes of winning a $20 million state grant to implement
the changes.
Ulster is one of six local governments in the state chosen to compete.
The Re-Imagine Ellenville proposal would see the village dissolved and
merged with the Town of Wawarsing. There would be no reduction in services
and the effective property tax rate for village residents would drop by
over 70 percent.
The Ulster County Firefighter, Investment, Recruitment, Service and Training
proposal (UC-FIRST) would see a unified fire training center in partnership
with SUNY Ulster including construction of a mezzanine level at the Law
Enforcement Center for consolidated services including police dispatch
and E-911.
The plan also includes a SUNY Ulster center at Marlboro for students in
the southern area of the county, a New Paltz Municipal Center to create
a shared facility for the town and village and a unified county transit
system removing duplicative, inefficient and costly service.
County Executive Michael Hein said the county is “uniquely situated
in this highly-competitive process because of its strong track record
of reform, willingness to embrace change, and its eight year history of
delivering unprecedented taxpayer relief and measurable government practices.”
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