About the study
The City and Town of Batavia completed a consolidation study in 2009. The recommendation of the study committee at that time was to pursue a full consolidation of the town and city into one new city by developing a new city charter. For a variety of reasons, the issue to pursue a new charter was tabled upon review in mid-2009. However, in August 2010, the City and Town jointly applied for and received another Local Government Efficiency Grant that would be used to pay for the process to craft a new city charter.
The Batavia Consolidated Charter Task Force was appointed by the City Council of the City of Batavia and the Town Board of the Town of Batavia in April of 2011. The City Council and Town Board initiated the process with a goal of providing citizens in both communities the opportunity to vote on whether or not to consolidate the two governmental units into one government. The Task Force was charged with developing a new city charter that would encompass the current city and town. In order to bring the charter to the citizens the City Council and Town Board will need to get permission from New York State to conduct a referendum.
The Task Force initiated their work in May of 2011, hired the Center for Governmental Research, Inc. (CGR) to facilitate the process on October 11, 2011, and met with the consultant for their first working session on October 18, 2011. The Task Force in conjunction with the City Council and Town Board have set an end goal of November 2012 to put the referendum on the ballot during the regular general election. The public is encouraged to be engaged throughout the process and the Task Force will provide information as it becomes available.
