Bramson Pitches Plan to Increase Shared Services Agreements
Democratic county executive candidate Noam Bramson outlined a plan on Friday to encourage municipalities and school districts to engage in more shared services agreements to help taxpayers save thousands of dollars.
Bramson said he would look to create a commissioner-level post whose office would develop intermunicipal agreements and become a portal for local governments and school systems hoping to find service sharing partners. If elected, the appointment would happen as soon as January with the office up and running in full by the end of his first year in office.
Having municipalities help each by forging road paving contracts and sharing information and data systems, planning and environmental services, sustainability guidance, energy and performance contracts, fleet maintenance and many other areas would save thousands on residents’ property tax bills, he said.
“Let’s be clear: we don’t have to eliminate villages or consolidate small school districts. We just have to make it easier for them to work together to achieve economies of scale and lower per unit costs and that takes county leadership,” said Bramson, who made his pitch at the gazebo on Pleasantville’s Memorial Plaza, not far from County Executive Rob Astorino’s Mount Pleasant home. “It’s not enough to hold a forum six weeks before an election when action on shared services is urgently needed every day of the year.”
Bramson slammed Astorino for failing to help county residents because his administration has only concerned itself with controlling county taxes, which accounts for about one-sixth of the average property tax bill. He charged that during his four-year term Westchester taxpayers have shelled out an additional $800 million as Astorino has neglected to find ways to assist local governments and schools contain costs.
One of the easiest ways to cut costs and taxes would be taking achievable and practical steps, he said.
“Unfortunately, like the Republicans in the House of Representatives, Rob Astorino refuses to take responsibility for his actions,” Bramson said. “His Tea Party-with-a-smile philosophy says to all of us ‘That’s not my problem, that’s your problem.’ And that’s not good enough.”
Joining Bramson was Village of Ossining Mayor William Hanauer and Pleasantville Village Trustee Brian Skarstad. Hanauer said his village has come to agreements to share services mainly with the Town of Ossining, but also other entities, including the county, since 1992. Among the areas where the town and village have saved money is by having one recreation department and one parks superintendent and sharing water filtration and sewer systems. Also, the village’s treasurer is the town’s comptroller.
He said if there was one office at the county level which could help local governments by having prototype IMAs and other resources available it would make it easier for everybody.
“But there’s a lot more, a lot more that needs to be done and can be done, particularly involving cooperation between the municipalities and the county,” Hanauer said. “Such cooperation will require leadership from the county executive.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/