Tax Base Analysis

• Town of Bethlehem
• City of Glens Falls
• Village of New Albany, OH
• Town of Hamilton

Shared Services, Consolidation and Dissolution

• Village of Port Henry
• Village of Corinth

The cost of local government can weigh heavily on a community’Äôs competitive position in retaining and attracting businesses and private investment. With state and county-level intermunicipal assistance declining, local leaders have been forced to take a closer look at their own operating budgets as well as plan for changes to their long term revenue and expenditure streams. Working in coordination with local municipalities, Camoin Associates has developed a high level of understanding of the day to day fiscal burden of running local government. To better educate local decision makers and constituents of the impact of land use decisions, Camoin Associates has developed a simplified fiscal model to clearly highlight the impact of current fiscal trends and various land use decisions on the local tax levy required. This tool has assisted municipalities during their planning process to quantify the impact of land use decisions on their local budget and understand how those decisions can help or hinder long term local development goals. In addition to analyzing the tax base of a particular municipality, Camoin Associates partners with the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) in helping communities realize the cost savings associated with shared services, consolidation and municipal dissolution/mergers.

Town of Bethlehem - Tax Base Analysis for the Town's "2020" community plan to address an increasing property tax burden on residential property owners. The findings highlighted the need for the community to build a more balanced tax base and to consider a wider range of tax base diversification options.

City of Glens Falls - Tax Base and Fiscal Analysis to understand how the City could approach cost-sharing agreements with nearby municipalities and how the City could plan for its fiscal future. This included the proposition of a regional authority to administer programs and facilities with a regional benefit.

Village of New Albany, Ohio - The Village of New Albany was concerned about a very rapid expansion of its population, particularly with respect to its long-term fiscal health. Camoin Associates created a fiscal impact model that helped the Village understand and plan for those fiscal implications. Our findings gave Village leaders the tools with which they could direct the public discourse on future growth.

Town of Hamilton - The Town of Hamilton is home to the prestigious Colgate University. Like many host communities of higher education, the Town benefits from having a stable source of long term, high wage employment as well as all the benefits of a student population that requires little in government services. On the downside, a significant portion of the property in the Town (and especially the Village of Hamilton) is exempt from taxation. We helped model the trends affecting the tax base for the Town and Village and gave them strategies on how to deal with this situation. We also identified other influences on the tax base that the Town could control for its future fiscal health.

Village of Port Henry ’Äì As a sub-contractor to the Center for Governmental Research (CGR), Camoin Associates modeled the fiscal implications of the dissolution of the Village of Port Henry and the assumption of the Village’Äôs services by the Town of Moriah. Key to the discussion was how costs might shift from a Village resident of the Town to a non-Village resident, and how those shifts could be minimized. Perhaps more importantly, the model demonstrated how cost savings might be realized by dissolution and how that would reduce the Town’Äôs tax levy on its residents. We also provided insight on how, absent complete dissolution, the Town and Village might jointly provide services in a more cost effective manner and whether a full functional consolidation (ie. Merging the Village’Äôs street crew into the Town’Äôs highway department) might also provide for efficiencies. Once the study is complete, a full Dissolution Plan will be put before the voters via referendum. If voter decline dissolution, the Village and Town will be able to use the study to increase effectiveness.

Village of Corinth ’Äì For at least three decades, the residents of the Town and Village of Corinth have been debating the relative merits of the dissolution of the Village into the Town. The advocates on both sides of the debate have not been able to achieve consensus on the topic despite at least three reports having been produced and disseminated over the years and countless hours of committee work. To provide insight and a definitive answer to the question, the Village hired CGR and Camoin Associates to provide a thorough and objective ’ÄúDissolution Feasibility Study’Äù. The study will be a comprehensive look at how both the Town and Village deliver municipal services, where overlap may be occurring, legal and operational obstacles to dissolution and the fiscal impact of dissolution. The study will provide the Village Board the information necessary to determine if a Dissolution Plan should be put to voters via referendum or, if dissolution is not desirable, how the Village and Town might better serve their residents.