Seriously study town, city merger

May 21, 2008 07:05 am

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We agree that a potential merger of the city and town of Oneonta is not going to occur any time soon, despite a state study that singled out the municipalities as ripe for consolidation.

Local officials seem to concur that a merger is an idea ahead of its time.

The report was issued recently by the state Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, which hired the Center for Governmental Research to analyze three upstate New York cities for the feasibility of municipal consolidation.

The organization, which also studied Cortland and Norwich, also looked at the sharing or consolidation of individual services within the three cities.

No one in city government has been seriously considering a move toward the town merging into the city, Mayor John Nader said in response to the report.

"We have not had a sit-down discussion on consolidation," Nader said. "There would have to be a lot of spade work done to move in that direction."

Certainly there are many obstacles to consolidation, not the least of which has been political resistance in both municipalities.

Town Supervisor Robert Wood, however, seems more open than previous leaders.

"There are still a great many political barriers to merging the city and the town," he said recently. "I believe we have a rare opportunity to shape the future of our community together ... if we can break down this wall of protectionism and look at what is best for the area."

Such barriers surfaced a dozen years ago, when a local task force proposed the town and city merge, with a result of lower taxes and an increase in economic development.

The study by the Greater Oneonta Task Force looked into administration, water and sewer services, parks, codes enforcement, tax revenues and other factors.

It concluded that many resources could be shared at a savings, and that a consolidated municipality could benefit from millions more in sales tax money.

The latest study offered the options of merging the municipalities into a larger city or a larger town.

While the reaction of local leaders and residents may not be that much different than in the past, the study's analyses include comparisons of services and finances that easily could result in some money-saving sharing.

Nader acknowledged that the study was valuable because it lays out areas in which both municipalities can cooperate in an attempt to reduce the cost of local government.

And we'll reiterate what we suggested 12 years ago. It is all too easy to point out the obstacles to a merger and even a sharing of services. But leaders owe it to taxpayers to not let such opportunities for consolidation slip by without serious study.