Village of Johnson City

Following up on a previous post:

JC DEBATE ADDRESSES DISSOLUTION OF VILLAGE:

Concerned about a cut in police and fire protection, some Johnson City residents balked at recent suggestions to dissolve the village into the Town of Union.

"I don't mind paying $10, $100 or $150 more a year (in taxes) to know the police will be here when I need them," said Johnson City resident Christina Haven during a packed village board meeting Tuesday evening. "Are you going to get rid of your protection for a couple bucks a year? To me, this just doesn't make sense."

After property taxes jumped 9 percent in the latest budget, many residents had asked the board during a June meeting to consider dissolving the village. The dissolution, some hope, would eliminate duplicated services between the town and the village and stem residents' ever-increasing tax bills.

Residents at the June meeting asked trustees to take a non-binding vote at Tuesday's meeting to see if they agreed on the dissolution.

At the suggestion of the village attorney, though, the trustees did not take the vote, but said they would continue to discuss the issue.
...
Jeers, bursts of sarcastic laughter and applause from the crowd followed comments from the handful of speakers in the packed meeting room. John Sullivan of Johnson City, who dominated the discussion in favor of dissolving the village, accused trustees of not acting on the dissolution.

"I don't have near the information I need to make a judgment," Trustee Donald Adams said. "I just don't. With all due respect to the people here, I do not have the information to say yes or no."
...

Some in the crowd stopped short of calling for the dissolution of Johnson City, but agreed the village government needed to act aggressively to reduce taxes.

"I don't know about dissolution," said Johnson City resident Liz Johnson. "But we have to consolidate services. This little village can't afford these high taxes."