Reply With QuoteKudos to Pete McMahan for sticking to his guns and refusing to pay for a service we already pay for with our taxes.
Maybe now we'll get a cop to go with the police car we already own.
(June 8, 2006) - - The Towns of Elma and Grand Island say they don't plan to pick up the tab for the Sheriff's patrols. Other towns without their own police will face similar decisions by next year. News 4's Jodi Hovenden examines the price of public safety for towns down the road.
22 towns and villages currently use Erie County Sheriff's patrols as their primary source of police protection, but that could come to an end if the towns aren't willing to pay the price.
Jim Hartman, Erie County's director of management initiatives, said, "Why should I, as a county taxpayer, be paying for county policing for 22 other towns that don't want to have their own municipal police force?"
The county calculated the estimated annual cost of each town by the number of calls made to the Sheriff's Department.
The full cost will be phased in over three years.
Grand Island had the second-highest bill after Clarence.
Grand Island Town Supervisor Peter McMahon said, "They sent us a request for payment of $301,000 in fiscal year 2007; double that, or $602,000, in fiscal year 2008; and triple that, $903,000, in fiscal year 2009."
McMahon is among those who isn't planning on paying the county for police protection.
He says it's the primary service residents receive for their taxes.
McMahon said, "We don't get the benefit of many of the other services that the county offers elsewhere. For example, we don't have a county park. But we pay park taxes, or taxes to support the parks, just like everybody else."
Hovenden: Will you pay the money the county is asking for?Hartmans aid, "What we've said [is], 'if you're not [paying], we will withdraw road patrol service from those towns."
McMahon: No. No. I do not believe we will.
If it comes to that, McMahon says Grand Island will have police protection in place for residents, and he believes they could fund their own full-time department for less than what the county wants to charge.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp...0&nav=menu41_1
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.
Kudos to Pete McMahan for sticking to his guns and refusing to pay for a service we already pay for with our taxes.
Maybe now we'll get a cop to go with the police car we already own.
Im wondering if the town trys to play hardball and not pay the bill will the county in turn just deduct it from the their tax money
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.
Ha! fat chance that'll ever happen! Not after divying up that 8th penny to the city
Ummm I was posting a serious question and was hoping someone with a little legal knowledge would address it.
Not that I would discount advice from the nimby lawyer or anything
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.
I was simply saying that the county will not reimburse the town any tax money due to cuts in service without a fight
I wasn't trying to be a meanie.
Consider this though. I and a lot of people like me get absolutely nothing for my county taxes.
I don't get sheriffs patrols, No beach, No Park, I hate malls so I don't even drive on county roads, No plowing.... nothing that I can think of for the hundreds (thousands probably when u factor in sales tax) dollars I send the county every year.
The scariest thing though is they probably want to start charging towns for this service and want more taxes 3 yrs from now.
When are we going to get smart and realize a drastic overhaul is what's needed not more Band-Aids ?
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable.
Can anyone answer steven's question here?Originally Posted by steven
my guess is that it will be in the courts way before that happens.
I believe that the only legally required duties of the Sheriff's department is to staff the County Holding Center and supply Officers for Supreme and County courts.
The path is clear
Though no eyes can see
The course laid down long before.
And so with gods and men
The sheep remain inside their pen,
Though many times they've seen the way to leave.
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