HomeMy WebLinkAboutIthaca Journal Article 12/17/1954W,
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Annexltliou
Editor, The Journal :.
As part of its communication
to the people of the Village of
Cayuga Veights concerning an-
nexation, the Village Board indi-
cated the difficulty in arriving at
reliable and exact cost estimates,
due to many intangible factors
involved. A desire has been ex-
pressed for a listing of some of
Sltese intangibles and the reasons
rwhy they cannot be resolved In
:terms of dollars,
This letter will be in lhe'naturc
oRan effort to discuss a few of
the ,intangibles on the basis of
my many years of close associa-
.tjon of the affairs of both city
and' village. ;
�; "Sewers and Sewage Disposal:
There is nothing intangible to an
Venafneer abbul estimating the
cost of the sewer mains or annual
1Q l40se thereof in the un-
- severed area of the, Village, once
!the outfall location has been de-
termined. However, the cost of a
•village disposal plant is a "horse
of another color." For example,
it is dependent upon an unknown
degree of treatment, to be de-
termined by the State Depart-
ment of Health, which up to the
present time has fixed no stand-
ard for the waters of Cayuga
Lake. An announcement has very
.recently been made that Cayuga
Lake is to be the subject of a
pollution study. The outcome of
such a study will control the
design and cost of a village plant
discharging into the lake. If it
were permitted to use a low de-
gree of purification such as that
now used by the City of Ithaca,
the cost of a village plant might
be around $200,000. The intan-
gible is that such a cost would be
doubled or more by Health De-
partment ruling. A cot•responding
intangible -is, that over a period
of years the Health Department'.
might force the City to improve'
its standard of treatment.
A few years ago the Town of
Ithaca financed to the tune of
several thousand dollars it study
,by a firm of outside engineering)
,experts on the cost of sewers and
sewage' disposal in this area,
which -is, now a part of the vil-
Inge.
Also several years of time and
Ill considerable expendil'ure were
involved in the study and.analy-
(sis of this same question by the
Greater Ithaca Fact Finding Com-
mittco. Naithor,.of these - efforts
have produced. -any Tellable fig-
ures to resolveAhe Intangibles in-
to. dollars:. The _generalized . state -.
to pumping costs, It is
ment that the water bill
(villagers will be doubled. Another
troublesome problem would i•e•
suit in that the Village would bt
taking its water from the somt
'.body of water Into which the Vil•
lage sewer outfall discilarges.
It is true that water and sewer
costs are not a part of taxes, be-
Ing handled by separate utility
charges, but Inevitably such costs
are a part of the total expense:
of living inithe Village.
Everyone knows what presenl
water rates amount -to, but the
contingent possibility of radical
Increases cannot be assayed by
arithmetical methods.
Fire Service: The village has
been paying the.city $0,000 per
annum for a fire contract and the
city has upped this figure to $15,-
000 for 1055, with no guaranty as
to future, years. The Village
Board has estimated that the Vil-
lage could provide its own fire
service at a cost of $11,000 per
year, on the basis of two paid
drivers and a volunteer company
Some city officials have staled
that It would cost, after annex-
ation, around $18,000 per annum
to construct and operate such r
fire service in the former Village
Quite a group Insists that It will
prove impossible in a residential
area like Cayuga Heights to oper-
ate with any kind of a volunteer
company; that all personnel
would have to be full -time paid
employes, resulting in a cost of
$30,000 pei• year. The latter fig-
ure would mean a $5 per $1,000
increase in taxes.
The intangible here Is the suc-
cess or fal]Nre of a volunteer
company, and this is the reason
why the Village Board has de-
clined to commit, itself to any
specified cost per year for fire
Taxes: The heaviest real estate
xes are the school and the state
id county levies, which add up
around $37 per $1,000 of assess -
ent, and will be substantially
raffecled Yy annexation. The
ir•d tax, namely that levied for
linge purposes, would upon an-
,xalion be increased at present
am,$7.50 to around $15. In other
ards, the total real estate tax
auld Increase from $44.50 to $53
.r $1,000, an Increase of rough-
- 20 per cent. The intangibles
re are that the city rate may
up or down, and that the
Ilage tax -will go up by -soma
unknown amount
police service and.a
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MA
ment nos oven muue, a,'u '. yu"r . General considerations: ' Here
generally accepted,' that; there one really becomes involved with
would not be much difference in
annual sefver and sewage expense specie cif Some in our most re-
annual
as between the separate Village specled citizens in the Village
iand'the enlarged city. Like most prefer the village way of life and
generalized statements It may are convinced that it is feasible,
prove out not to fit our'specific proper, and economical to con -
case, tinue as a separate community.
To estimate the cost of con- They. consider the perils of the
strycting and operating a'plant of status quo to be less than the
unknown,size and design is quite perils of annexation.
a task for the people and call. Other equally respected citizens
1mater: Jay great stress' on the socio-
Water Supply: Both as to its economic unit or one community
existing water supply and exten- Idea, and their conception of the
slung thereof, the Village is de- perils Involved is exactly the op.
pendent upon the City of Ithaca. pestle of that quoted above.
There is no guaranteed water sup- It would be unfair, and Indeed
ply in the Village. By law; the folly, for one to condemn either of
City must give priority to, its own the above groups as being in the
citizens. Due to the long period wrong. It all depends on the point
of years that water has been pur- of view and individual back.
chased from the City, the optimist ground and preferences,
will say that such privilege will What is the answer? It is Irri-
continue indefinitely, '.On the tating to the average person not
other hand, the pessimist will to be able to pin down the facts,
visualize such things as cutting and by arithmetic arrive at a
off the water supply or exor- proven conclusion. Some of the
bitant increase in rates. The in- best minds in this general com-
tangible is present. munity, men from all walks of
In case the pessimist proves to life, have studied this question of
be right, the Village can obtain annexation for years, setting
its own supply from the lake, but down the pros and cons, assem-
f Yd statSstics, estimating costs, tt
etc.!Nellher the govern a the have 3
ntir the village government have S
arrived at a unanimous decision, 'a
although most active and encr "I
getic efforts have been made to �'t
get at the correct facts,
I have been in touch with all of
this effort and have seen new con-,... -
ditions arise and new intangibles 1
enter the picture above as fast as
the computations are made, `
There are no annexation conctu• I.
slobs that can be proven by
arithmetic and we must take such
information as is available and
arrive at the answer by good ;
yutlgment.
A little thought will remind
amore that most complex public
questions are decided by judg-
mcnl. There Is no easy road to the
correct answer. 1
Each citizen of the village has ';�t
a, civic obligation to review the ..:j
available Information, to decide.;.;
What weght should be given to;' -3
each of the intangibles, to arrive r
at a deliberate judgment of the
question as a whole, and to vote
accordingly. L,
CARL CRANDALL
PM-7 I