About the study
The Village of Painted Post is located just west of Corning in NY’s Southern Tier region. Incorporated as a village in 1860, Painted Post has 1,809 residents and includes 1.3 square miles within the 39-square-mile area that comprises the Town of Erwin.
Since 1960, growth in the community has occurred primarily in the Town-outside-Village (TOV) while the Village has experienced a substantial decline in population over the period. Painted Post, in 1960, accounted for 44% of the Town’s 5,800 residents. Today, according to the 2010 Census , the Village accounts for 22% of the estimated 8,037 residents in the Town.
Like many other communities across New York, Painted Post faces significant budget challenges. The Village seeks to become informed about options to address them. With funding from Three Rivers Development, and with the full cooperation of the Town, the Village is conducting a study that is looking at:
- Shared service opportunities – where Painted Post and Erwin governments remain as separate units but personnel, equipment and/or facilities are shared in ways that reduce tax burdens and create operating efficiencies.
- Functional consolidation opportunities – where the two governments remain as separate units, but one or more functions are combined under one government or the other, yielding cost and/or service efficiencies.
- Government consolidation – where the two governments effectively merge.
Shared services and functional consolidations can be considered without fundamentally altering Village government. Consolidating the two governments would require a public referendum.
Study Process
The study, to be completed in fall 2011, will be built around three key phases, with each phase resulting in a written report and a public presentation to solicit feedback.
The What Exists report will describe how the Village and Town currently provide services; the Options Report will provide information on viable alternatives for reconfiguring government services; and the Final Report with Implementation Plan will include the Study Committee’s preferred alternative and an outline of the major steps needed to implement it. Ultimately any decision to implement the preferred alternative will rest with the Village and Town boards.
Study Committee
The Village and Town have appointed a nine-member study committee to conduct the study. A consulting firm, the Center for Governmental Research, has been engaged to assist with the study.
