Village of Herkimer putting tough demands on county taxpayers Fortunately county legislature has options, ability to keep new jail on track at reasonable cost

by Patrick Russell Herkimer Cnty. Legislator, District 15

Discussion is still going on as to what constitutes a fair price for the county to hook up to the village sewer lines at the former P&C property in Herkimer.

Herkimer County legislators, wanting to build a new jail facility at the location on Route 28 had originally offered the village $800,000 ($400,000 up front, $20,000 per year for twenty years).

This money was intended to help with the $1.6 million infrastructure cost the municipality would incur in upgrading their sewer services.

It was also intended to help offset any loss in property taxes.

Although I didn’t support the measure, the proffer back in July 2010 was certainly fair-especially since it also included the hook-ups needed to bring the sewer lines to the site.

However the village of Herkimer refused the offer.

Instead, they countered, wanting an upfront payment of $800,000 and a $58,000 per year “host community benefit” for the life of the jail.

I understand the village’s concern. They have a lot of exempt property and the county’s taking of the land would decrease their annual taxes collected by $4,544.

But $800,000 would have gone a long way in reducing those lost revenues and circumventing possible debt.

The village also would have had the benefit of the yearly revenue generated by the county using the sewer system. (Our current facility spends about $1,600 per quarter. With more inmates coming back to a new jail, the usage would only go up-probably doubling once the correctional facility retained all its visitors.)

Instead of agreeing to the unreasonableness of the counteroffer, legislators authorized county architects to prepare plans for a septic system on the property.

The cost of a septic system was estimated to be $520,000, and quite a bit cheaper than the sewer payments being demanded by the village.

Keep in mind, no other exempt property has to pay a ransom to get sewer service.

If agreements aren’t made soon, this will probably end up in court.

A few of us believe that the village can’t deny the hook-up, since other properties around it have sewer service just as the P&C property had.

In as much as 53% of village property is tax exempt, as has been stated, those are not all county properties. Many pieces are not for profits such as Herkimer Area Resource Center buildings.

As Lenny Hendrix, chairman of the Public Safety committee points out, “Herkimer is the county seat, and without it and the college, there wouldn’t be a Walmart, Kmart or a McDonalds within the village paying property taxes,” referring to the numbers of people employed at the county and college, and the economic impact both have within the community.

So, in an effort to be amicable, Chairman Raymond Smith sent Mayor Ainsworth a letter.

On behalf of the county, Smith offered to pay the village the cost of the septic system, plus the cost of any hook-ups needed. (I didn’t support this either).

The Mayor came back with a letter that reads in part:

“…a yearly maintenance fee associated with additional costs would need to be discussed, as well as the initial payment.”

It’s a Merry-Go-Round.

Nothing in the letter tells us what the “yearly maintenance fee” (that no other sewer district user pays, by the way) would be, or the additional costs.

The mayor said in a note to WKTV during a recent interview with Hendrix:

“There needs to be more discussion and they (the county) must be realistic. They (the county) must be willing to negotiate and be fair. We must be open too, but it all must be fair.”

Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Paying for half the cost of a sewer system upgrade isn’t realistic or fair?

Paying for the piping and construction isn’t fair either?

The only party “negotiating” has been the county. The only party being “reasonable” is the county! What’s the harm for the village to put a practical offer in writing! Maybe because it’s not fair?

In the meantime, the building process continues and time for negotiations will soon run out.

-Legislator Russell lives in Old Forge and serves Herkimer County’s 15th District (the towns of Ohio, Webb and parts of Russia). He is chairman of the Ways and Means committee, and Majority Leader. He can be reached at 315-369-3594 or perussell@adelphia.net.

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