BY JENNIFER CROWLEY
At last month’s Board of Trustees meeting held on October 9th, the Scottsville Village Board, by a 3-0 vote (the other two board members were absent), passed a resolution approving the purchase of a vehicle for the collection of garbage and refuse at an estimated cost of $300,000. The purchase would be financed by the issuance of General Obligation Notes/Bond Anticipation Notes in the amount of $300,000 to cover the costs of the purchase and the issuance. As the resolution notes, the period of probable usefulness of the vehicle is 15 years.
Given such a lengthy period of probable usefulness of the truck, and expectation the bonds will mature over the same 15-year period, the resolution, in accordance with statewide Village Law Article 9, is subject to “permissive referendum.” So just what does this mean?
A permissive referendum is unique to New York State. It enables the electorate (voters) to petition for an authorized resolution to appear on a ballot. Once on the ballot, registered voters decide the fate of the resolution, support or overturn, by majority.
Now let’s take a look at the status of the garbage truck purchase in Scottsville and how the permissive referendum requirement applies in this situation. First however, some background.
Due to technology/connectivity issues plaguing the Village office in early October, the agenda for the monthly meeting on the 9th was not made public via posting to the village’s web site or social media channel in a timely manner (though the meeting date had been established months ago). It was this same date, the 9th, that the Village’s only refuse truck suffered malfunctions and pick-up was halted while the vehicle was serviced. The truck was fixed and functional on Friday the 12th.
During that three-day timeframe many village residents became aware that the truck may need to be replaced for the village Department of Public Works to reliably collect refuse on schedule (this was not the first time that trash collection was interrupted in 2018 due to service problems with the truck). It should be noted that currently, village residents pay for refuse collection as part of their village taxes, based on property assessment (and not actual weight/quantity of refuse being disposed).
For village residents unable to attend the regular October meeting, or perhaps were unaware that the meeting was still proceeding, a public notice (dated the 9th) reciting the bond authorization and permissive referendum requirement as carried by the Board was posted on the village’s web site shortly thereafter the meeting. It also appeared in this newspaper as a legal notice on October 18th. The language used was largely legalese in nature but in line with the tenets of the law requiring that the text of the bond resolution be published and posted within ten days of adoption (or it would be invalid).
Should a village resident(s) wish to file a petition to try and move the purchase to referendum (i.e., getting it onto a ballot), time is of the essence. Within 30 days of the date of resolution adoption (not the publication of the legal notice reciting the resolution), a petition must be legally filed. Statewide Village Law Article 9 dictates that the petition must have signatures from 20 percent of the electorate that participated in the last village general election. Assuming that to be the March 20th, 2018 election for Scottsville mayor in which 450 votes were cast, the petition would require 90 signatures. These would need to be submitted and validated by close of business on November 8th.
If no petition is submitted requesting a referendum, the resolution takes effect upon the expiration of the 30-day period. In this case should the 30-day period pass without petition, the resolution for the $300,000 truck purchase stands. As further context to this sizable purchase, during this same time period the village is considering another $314,000 of investment comprised of new radio equipment for the fire department ($254,000) and $60,000 to cap a manhole cover located in the Mill Race. The radio equipment was discussed and a bond resolution (with no permissive referendum) authorized at a village special meeting held this past Monday evening; the manhole cover is scheduled for public hearing at the regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 13th at 7:30 PM.
Village taxpayers are encouraged to attend all public meetings to both listen and make thoughtful contributions to the discourse surrounding approaches for improving Scottsville’s fiscal health.
