Molinaro: “… the goal is to get everyone on consensus”
WAPPINGER – Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro detailed a county-wide shared services property tax savings plan on Wednesday night.
Speaking to dozens of county residents during a public hearing held in Wappinger Town Hall, Molinaro addressed a plan designed to reduce the overall cost of government by combining services provided by the county government. If the plan goes into effect, taxpayers are expected to be saved more than $27 million in two years through 37 shared services projects.
The plan is part of the state’s Shared Services Initiative, which requires that counties and their local municipalities come together to improve the efficacy of local government, thereby reducing the property tax rate. Municipality leaders, school district officials and county government held five meetings starting in April to discuss the county’s plan.
“What we’ve developed is a goal of reducing the total cost of government,” said Molinaro. “If nothing else, this creates the infrastructure and really grows partnerships to helps reduce the cost of government, create greater efficiencies, and ultimately, we hope, reduce the burden on property taxpayers.”
Highlights of the plan include shared law enforcement agencies, a workers’ compensation insurance pool, and a county-wide Drug Task Force.
“We certainly don’t start on the same place on every issue, but the goal is to get everyone on consensus,” he said.
Questions on the plan ranged from whether citizens would be able to vote on the merged services to the possibility of counties coming together to share services. A few attendees posed questions on job growth and economic development in Dutchess County, particularly regarding Global Foundries’ ongoing sale of half of its property that was once owned by IBM, and the comeback of manufacturing jobs to the area.
This public hearing is one of two being held this week. The second hearing was held Wednesday morning in the Dutchess County Legislature Chambers in Poughkeepsie. Ultimately, the county is expected to submit their final plan to the state by September 15.
