REGION — There have been numerous media reports about officials in 15 or so towns in Broome, Delaware and Sullivan counties who might like to secede from New York State because of issues such as the state-wide ban on fracking and high taxes.

Almost all of the officials who have commented on the question have said they realize secession is not likely to become a reality, and they are right. The chance of any town leaving one state and joining another—in this case Pennsylvania—would seem to be extremely unlikely.

Let’s assume the Town of Fremont wanted to leave the Empire State and become part of the Keystone State. First, any towns that wanted to leave would have to convince officials in both states that the town should be allowed to leave, and it is likely officials in New York would not be willing to part with the income and sales tax the state receives from Fremont, even though it’s not very significant given the size of the overall state budget.

But as daunting as that might be, the officials in Fremont would have to convince the powers that be in Washington, DC that the U.S. Constitution should be amended to allow for the change, because as it exists now, the constitution does not seem allow municipalities to jump ship.

Article 4, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution says, “New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.”

One could quibble about whether this would actually apply, because Pennsylvania might not be seen as a new state. But with the addition of new townships on land not previously included within its borders, it could certainly be argued that it was a new state. If it were, a constitutional amendment would be needed.

This can be done a couple of different ways. One way is that at least two-thirds of the states—or 38—can decide to hold a constitutional convention and adopt an amendment if they can all agree on what it should say. Since the constitution was adopted by 11 states in 1788, it has been amended 27 times, and not once was the change achieved through a constitutional convention.

Therefore, any supporters of amending the U.S. Constitution to allow 10 or 15 towns in New York to join Pennsylvania would likely have to rely on convincing a large number of U.S. federal senators and representatives to do so. The amendment would need to be put forward as a joint resolution of the House and the Senate, and would need to be adopted by a majority of both bodies, including at least 60 senators, and the change would then need to be approved by at least 38 states.

The matters that have been the subject of constitutional amendments to this point have often been rather weighty matters, such as whether people should be able to own slaves or whether women should be allowed to vote. While the matter of energy production in this country has become a weighty matter, it seems very unlikely that the Congress would ever concern itself with the issue of whether a handful of towns would like to jump across the state line.

On the other hand, there is a bit of precedent way back in history. In 1776, the 13 colonies declared themselves independent of Britain. In 1777, Vermont declared itself independent from the State of New York. But that was while the 13 colonies were fighting the Revolutionary War, and had no time to deal with upstate Vermont. According to the Vermont Historical Society, the state was formed by farmers and speculators who had bought land from the New York Grant and the New Hampshire Grant, and were sometimes charged twice for the land because ownership was disputed. Ultimately, Vermont became the 14th state, but not before paying New York $30,000 for the privilege.

Then there is the question of whether local governments would accept this without a court fight. As part of Sullivan County, Fremont helps pay for the operation of county government by sending the county sales tax and property tax. It seems unlikely that county officials would go along with such a change without a fight.

Fremont residents also pay taxes to the Sullivan West School District, and again, the school district is likely to oppose the change.

There is also the question of whether the residents of the town would have a say in the matter. For significant changes in local government, a voter referendum is required, and changing states is about as significant as they come.

The Upstate New York Towns Association is investigating the question, but it’s more than likely that the towns will be staying as part of New York.