Garbage, growth and taxes

Sullivan politicians compare notes

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — Ruby Smith, the mayor of the Village of Liberty, saved his village $71,000 in tipping fees last year by instituting a clear-bag law that mandates that residents use only clear bags to dispose of garbage collected by the village. The clear bags allow village workers to see if residents are recycling all the materials they should be.

It was not a popular law and, said Smith, it nearly cost him election in March, which he won by four votes. Nevertheless, he’s going to stick with the policy.

He thinks the clear bag idea should be adopted on a countywide basis. He broached the topic at the first-ever meeting of the Sullivan County Council of Governments (SCCG) meeting on April 20 at the government center.

He said that if the county, or all towns and villages, refused to allow private garbage haulers not to deposit garbage in black bags at the landfill, the rate of recycling would skyrocket.

Knowing that the proposal is politically risky, the other politicians in the room did not immediately jump on the clear plastic bag bandwagon. Still, it’s the sort of topic county chairman Chris Cunningham had in mind when he suggested forming the SCCG.

Based on a similar organization in Tompkins County, Cunningham envisions the council as an effort between county, town and village officials to find places where cooperation could lead to cost savings and less duplication of services.

At the first meeting, supervisors from 12 of the county’s 15 towns put in appearances, along with mayors from three of the counties’ five villages. Four legislators and the county manager were also on hand.

Garbage was just one of the topics discussed.

Cooperation in planning was another topic that received a lot of attention. Pat Pomeroy, supervisor of Rockland, said that there was already a great deal of cooperation between the county and the towns in the area of comprehensive plans. She said that the county planning department had been “invaluable” with helping to secure grants to help pay for the development of the plan.

The group also discussed ways in which cooperation among towns might be expanded, specifically regarding developments that would be located across town boundaries.

Another topic that came up for comment had to do with taxes. Pomeroy expressed a desire to explore a countywide property tax assessment plan that would bring some continuity to tax structures of the towns.

Fallsburg supervisor Steve Levine, however, immediately dismissed the idea because he said the town would lose a significant amount of revenue derived from interest income on tax payments that are held by the town.

The meeting ended after about an hour of discussion with an agreement that the group would meet again on May 18.