Only registered voters in the Village can vote in the referendum.

Should the residents of the Village vote to dissolve the Village, there will no longer be a Village government. As such, all services and governance will be provided by the Towns of Butler and Wolcott.

If the Village does not vote to dissolve, governance and service delivery remain the same as it is today.

All residents that are legally registered to vote at a residence in the Village of Wolcott are eligible to vote.

Should the Village dissolve, the Village-specific veteran exemption would no longer apply. Residents would have to coordinate with either the Town of Wolcott or the Town of Butler to apply for a veteran exemption if applicable and available.

It is too early in the process to be able to provide the tax impact or a review of the pros/cons of Village Dissolution. Please check back toward the end of the study timeline for more information as it becomes available. If you would like to be notified when updated responses and information are posted to this website, CLICK HERE to subscribe to notifications.

Should the residents vote to dissolve the Village at the referendum, the Village of Wolcott will be required to develop a Final Dissolution Plan per Article 17-A of the General Municipal Law. Part of the Final Dissolution Plan is a detailed discussion of the disposition of assets.  Prior to the date of dissolution, a Village can choose to sell assets to pay down Village debt or transfer them to the Town (in this case one of the Towns). Assets not sold or transferred prior to the date of dissolution automatically become the property of the surviving municipality.

Should the residents vote to dissolve the Village at the referendum, the Village of Wolcott will be required to develop a Final Dissolution Plan per Article 17-A of the General Municipal Law. Part of the Final Dissolution Plan is a detailed discussion of the disposition of assets.  Prior to the date of dissolution, a Village can choose to sell assets to pay down Village debt or transfer them to the Town (in this case one of the Towns). Assets not sold or transferred prior to the date of dissolution automatically become the property of the surviving municipality.

The former Village residents are required to pay for debt incurred prior to dissolution. Upon Village dissolution, the Towns of Wolcott and Butler would create legacy districts to cover the area of the former Village that is within their boundaries. An annual tax levy would be placed upon the former properties until the debts were paid off.

Should the residents vote to dissolve the Village at the referendum, the Village of Wolcott would  be required to develop a Final Dissolution Plan per Article 17-A of the General Municipal Law. Part of the Final Dissolution Plan is a detailed discussion of the disposition of assets.  Prior to the date of dissolution, a Village can choose to sell assets to pay down Village debt or transfer them to the Town (in this case one of the Towns). Assets not sold or transferred prior to the date of dissolution automatically become the property of the surviving municipality.

The former Village residents would be required to pay for debt incurred prior to dissolution. Upon Village dissolution, the Towns of Wolcott and Butler would create legacy districts to cover the area of the former Village that is within their boundaries. An annual tax levy would be placed upon the former properties until the debts were paid off.

Should the residents vote to dissolve the Village at the referendum, the Towns of Wolcott and Butler would need to decide how to provide fire protection to the former Village. Unlike Villages and Cities, Towns are not authorized by Town or General Municipal Law to operate fire departments.  Fire services in all Towns in New York State are provided services through one of three means:

• Fire District that is a separate government entity, with its own elected board, that sets its own budget and has the authority to levy taxes and incur debt; or
• Fire Protection District, which is established by a Town. This is an entity of the Town for the purpose of raising revenues from the users in the protection district for the provision of fire services in the fire protection district; or
• Joint Fire District, which can include the Town with other Towns and/or Villages.

Should the residents vote to dissolve the Village at the referendum, the Towns of Wolcott and Butler would need to decide how to provide water and wastewater services to the former Village. Each Town would need to create a water district and a sewer district for the area of the former Village within their municipal boundary, and then decide on how to provide the services. They could   either contract with the Wayne County Water and Sewer Authority; operate and maintain their own systems; or “functionally consolidate” with one another to provide the service.

It is too early in the process to be able to provide a potential rate analysis. Please check back toward the end of the process for more details as they become available. If you would like to be notified when updated responses and information are posted to this website, CLICK HERE to subscribe to notifications.

We are currently developing a review of the assets and outstanding liabilities for inclusion in the Interim Dissolution Study. The draft report, which will include that analysis, should be available in late-February. Should the residents vote to dissolve the Village at the referendum, the Village of Wolcott would be required to develop a Final Dissolution Plan per Article 17-A of the General Municipal Law. Part of the Final Dissolution Plan would be a discussion of the disposition of assets as well as a listing of the either the current land/property value as provided by the Assessor, or the current insured value of each asset. We do not provide asset valuation as part of our scope of services.

For the Interim Dissolution Study, and if needed, the Final Dissolution Plan, the consultant team will utilize any provided appraisals, assessed values, and/or insured values to estimate the amount of assets a community has available. Should the residents choose to dissolve the village, a determination will need to be made by the Village of Wolcott regarding what items, equipment, vehicles and/or property will be transferred to the Towns of Butler or Wolcott and what will be auctioned/sold to reduce the final debt.

By law, only registered Village residents can sign a petition to begin the process.

Should the residents vote to dissolve, the Village of Wolcott will be required to complete a Final Dissolution Plan that will include a date for dissolution. Normally this is either December 31^st, March 31^st or May 30^th of a given year, however it is up to the Village to select a date for inclusion in the final plan.  Please keep in mind that there is a timeline for dissolution (CLICK HERE to see the timeline) that includes the development of the final plan, public hearing, and an opportunity to petition to force a second referendum. As this timeline can take the Village through the late fall, we believe that any dissolution, should the process continue, would occur in 2025.

The Interim Dissolution Study will examine the potential change of governance and the resulting impact on taxpayers in the Village and both Towns. Please check back later as the consultant team is still in the data gathering process.

The Interim Dissolution Study will include a description of the outstanding liabilities of the Village. Municipalities finance long term capital costs with issuance of a BAN/Bond or low interest loan. The term “Village debt” is often attributed to low interest loans and/or municipal bonds associated with infrastructure improvements (i.e. water, sewer, stormwater). However, municipalities can also use low interest loans, BANs or Municipal Bonds to finance capital costs for the purchase of equipment, vehicles, and/or property associated with municipal operations. Most often these costs are associated with DPW, Code Enforcement, Police, Fire, Emergency Services, and/or Parks and Recreation, in addition to infrastructure as noted earlier.             

Municipalities finance long term capital costs with issuance of a BAN/Bond or low interest loan. The term “Village debt” is often attributed to low interest loans and/or municipal bonds associated with infrastructure improvements (i.e. water, sewer, stormwater). However, municipalities can also use low interest loans, BANs or Municipal Bonds to finance capital costs for the purchase of equipment, vehicles, and/or property associated with municipal operations. Most often these costs are associated with DPW, Code Enforcement, Police, Fire, Emergency Services, and/or Parks and Recreation, in addition to infrastructure as noted earlier.    

We are currently developing a review of the assets and outstanding liabilities for inclusion in the Interim Dissolution Study. The draft report, which will include that analysis, should be available in mid to late-February. Should the residents vote to dissolve the Village at the referendum, the Village of Wolcott would be required to develop a Final Dissolution Plan per Article 17-A of the General Municipal Law. Part of the Final Dissolution Plan would be a discussion of the disposition of assets as well as a listing of the either the current land/property value as provided by the Assessor, or the current insured value of each asset. We do not provide asset valuation as part of our scope of services.

Congratulations on making Wolcott your home and place of business. Unfortunately we cannot answer your question. Please note that we do not make a decision as to dissolve or not dissolve – that is up to the voters. Should the residents of the Village vote to dissolve the Village, there will no longer be a Village government. As such, all services and governance will be provided by the Towns of Wolcott and Butler.

If the Village does not vote to dissolve, governance and service delivery remain the same as it is today.

If the residents were to vote to dissolve, then the Village would be on the path to dissolution. The Village is mandated by Article 17-A of the GML to create a Final Dissolution Plan, present it to the public, and adopt it. However, the Towns do not have to follow the Plan. Nothing in the Plan is binding except for the date of dissolution.

Pursuant to GML Article 17-A, §789, all Village local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations in effect on the date of dissolution shall remain effective for a period of up to two years following dissolution or until such time as the Town Board(s) shall adopt, repeal or integrate such laws into the Town Code(s). Such local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations shall be enforced by the Town(s) within the limits of the dissolved Village as if they had been duly adopted by the Town Board(s). If the Village dissolves, enforcement falls to the Town (and by default the county/stat law enforcement for criminal and V&T). the Town code enforcement would have to enforce local ordinances, and the Town Board or Planning Board would oversee planning and zoning if there isn’t a planning or zoning board.

The Public Information Meeting will be held in person on January 9, 2022 from 6:00 -7:00 p.m. at the firehouse. The Village does not have an IT department to live stream the meeting from the firehouse, however residents are welcome to livestream on Facebook or another medium if they wish to.

The current citizen petition has been deemed to be valid. Should there be a judicial order that invalidates the petition, the process would end and can only be restarted via another citizen petition or through a Village Board Initiated process. Please direct legal questions to the Village Attorney.

Pursuant to GML Article 17-A, §789, all Village local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations in effect on the date of dissolution shall remain effective for a period of up to two years following dissolution or until such time as the Town Board(s) shall adopt, repeal or integrate such laws into the Town Code(s). Such local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations shall be enforced by the Town(s) within the limits of the dissolved Village as if they had been duly adopted by the Town Board(s).

“Shall the Village of Wolcott be dissolved”   Yes­                    No                        

The Village of Wolcott referendum is a straight “up or down” vote on that day. If more residents vote in the referendum to dissolve, then dissolution will be approved and the Village will have to prepare a Final Dissolution Plan per Article 17-A of the GML. If more residents vote no, then dissolution fails, and cannot be brought up again for 4 years.

The Interim Dissolution Study will examine the potential change of governance and the resulting impact on taxpayers in the Village and both Towns. Procedurally, both Towns will have the option to absorb the costs into their Town budget or to create special districts. Often the CETC tax credit is used to cover these additional costs. Please check back later as the consultant team is still in the data gathering process.

All Village Board of Trustees are required to be residents of the Village. The Village employees’ residential breakdown is as follows:
3 Town of Butler
3 Town of Wolcott
2 Village of Wolcott
3 Wayne County
1 Monroe County

Legal fees are not envisioned to be incurred for the development of an Interim Dissolution Study. Should the Village residents vote to dissolve the Village, there will be legal fees associated with the development of a Dissolution Plan, as well as legal fees incurred by the Town of Butler and the Town of Wolcott to create new special districts for water, sewer, fire, and lighting. Additional legal fees will be incurred by both Towns in relation to the development of Inter-municipal agreements for the provision of services during the transition, and for the inclusion (or abolishment) of Village laws and land use into Town ordinances post-dissolution.

The public information meeting will be held in person on January 9^th from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Firehouse. We will not be holding the meeting online as a zoom. However, if you would like to set up a camera or phone and broadcast it live on Facebook or another platform of your choice, you are welcome to.

We will be posting the PowerPoint slides on the website the following morning. If there are questions that we can answer, we will update the Q&A page as well.

Per the Department of State, since 2010 there have been 50 referendums held for dissolution under Article 17-A and 1 referendum held on consolidation. The data was not separated into categories based on whether the process was “Citizen Initiated” or “Board Initiated.”

Through these referendums, 19 communities voted to dissolve. 

No, the petitioners will not be charged with extra taxes for trying to dissolve the Village.

All questions regarding voter eligibility should be directed to the Village Clerk.

Congratulations on your purchase.  Village residents have to vote for or against the dissolution of the Village of Wolcott due to the submission of a valid petition under Article 17-A of the GML.

The CETC is equal to 15% of the tax levy for the Village of Wolcott in the year prior to dissolution plus 15% of the average levy in the Towns of Wolcott and Town of Butler, in the year prior to year of dissolution.  The total CETC is then split between the Towns based on population from the 2020 census.  The amount is set based on the fiscal year prior to the year of dissolution, and does not change.

Per NYS State Finance (STF) CHAPTER 56, ARTICLE 4-A:
“In instances of the dissolution of a village located in more than one town, such additional aid shall equal the sum of fifteen percent of the real property taxes levied by such village in the village fiscal year prior to the village fiscal year in which such dissolution took effect plus fifteen percent of the average amount of real property taxes levied by the towns in which the village was located in the town fiscal year prior to the town fiscal year in which such dissolution took effect, and shall be divided among such towns based on the percentage of such village’s population that resided in each such town as of the most recent federal decennial census. In no case shall the additional annual aid pursuant to this paragraph exceed one million dollars.”

Please contact the Village Clerk for an Absentee Ballot and for the requirements for mailing or returning the ballot.

Should the Village vote to dissolve, the Village, or soon to be hamlet, will not have individualized police protection. Law enforcement will be provided by the County Sheriff and the NYS Troopers.

As of right now, there has not been any expression of interest on behalf of either Town to create a Town-wide police force, and there is no ability to create a special police district under NYS Town Law.

We have no knowledge of the current Village’s interest in increasing police staffing to cover additional hours, and recommend that you contact the Village Mayor and Board of Trustees with that question.

Often when residents make broad statements like “we need to protect our investments” they refer to the fact that village residents have paid for the acquisition or construction of property, equipment or infrastructure and upon dissolution, they lose direct ownership of that asset as it is either sold or transferred to another municipal entity.  Should the residents vote to dissolve, the Village of Wolcott will need to develop a plan for the transfer and/or disposition of assets. Any funds remaining in the Village reserve accounts will be used to pay off municipal liabilities, and equipment, vehicles and real property will be transferred or sold according to the Final Dissolution Plan.  

Traditionally, upon dissolution, open grants transfer to the surviving municipality to complete. However, there are too many open variables for us to be able to provide a concrete answer at this time. 1) should the voters choose to dissolve the Village of Wolcott, ownership and debt allocation of the water treatment plant will need to be negotiated after the referendum and prior to dissolution; and 2) the new owners will need to determine whether or not the treatment plant should be updated and kept as part of the drinking water system. The NYS WIIA grant is only available for municipally owned public water systems, and as such, the final ownership of the system will play a role in whether or not the grant will be available.

Laberge Group has not investigated the manner in which the Town assesses properties within the Town and Village. Tax rates are assigned based upon the amount or tax levy necessary to balance the revenues and expenditures contained within annual adopted budgets.