This is a Board-Initiated Dissolution process. The Village Board of Trustees voted to explore the option of dissolution of the Village government, which would result in the absorption of governance and services by the Towns of Clarkstown and Ramapo. The development of a Village Dissolution Plan will provide information regarding the probable impact of a potential dissolution on issues ranging from continuity of governance, to tax rates, to service delivery. Once the Draft Plan has been completed, it will be available for both the Board and Village residents to consider.

Should the Board decide to accept the Plan, thereby advancing the dissolution process, Village residents will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not to dissolve the Village in a referendum.

In accordance with New York General Municipal Law (GML) Article 17-A §774, the Board of Trustees of the Village is required to prepare a Dissolution Plan under a Board initiated process. As mandated by Article 17-A, the Plan will include the following information:

1. The name of the local government entity to be dissolved.
2. The territorial boundaries of the entity.
3. The type and/or class of the entity.
4. A fiscal estimate of the cost of dissolution.
5. The entity’s assets, including but not limited to real and personal property, and the fair value thereof in current money of the United States.
6. Any plan for the transfer or elimination of public employees.
7. The entity’s liabilities and indebtedness, bonded and otherwise, and the fair value thereof in current money of the United States.
8. Any agreements entered into with the Town in which the entity is situated in order to carry out the dissolution.
9. The manner and means by which the residents of the entity will continue to be furnished municipal services following the entity’s dissolution.
10. Terms for the disposition of the entity’s assets and the disposition of its liabilities and indebtedness, including the levy and collection of the necessary taxes and assessments therefore.
11. Findings as to whether any local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations of the entity shall remain in effect after the effective date of the dissolution or shall remain in effect for a period of time other than as provided by GML Article 17-A §789.
12. The effective date of the dissolution.
13. The time and place or places for a public hearing or hearings on the proposed dissolution plan.
14. Any other matter desirable or necessary to carry out the dissolution.

The Village Dissolution Plan will also provide information regarding the probable impact of a potential dissolution on issues ranging from continuity of governance, to tax rates, to service delivery.

Upon completion of a Board Initiated Dissolution Plan, the Village Board has to endorse (not adopt or accept) the Plan and set a date for a public hearing. After the public hearing, the Village Board has the ability to amend the Plan and move it towards a public referendum, or stop the dissolution process.

Please refer to the following chart as provided by the NYS Department of State.

General Municipal Law (GML) Article 17-A lays out the legal process for a Board initiated dissolution. In accordance with Article 17-A, the Village Board must accept by resolution the Village Dissolution Plan in order to further the dissolution process. To learn about the full process of a Board initiated dissolution, click HERE.

The Towns of Clarkstown and Ramapo will have no vote in the Village’s dissolution process. This is considered a local government decision. Only Village residents that are legally registered to vote in the Village of Spring Valley are eligible participate in the referendum and vote.

Check this website periodically for updates. Information should also be available on the Village’s website.

Yes. Please use THIS LINK, then select “Villages Dissolved Since 1900” to access the New York State Department of State’s list of dissolved villages.

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

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

Dissolution does not affect school or county taxes.

We are unaware of the existence of any statewide historical research on the post dissolution impact on taxes for village and town residents. However, each Village that has dissolved is required to have developed a dissolution plan that details the projected impact on Village and Town tax rates as well as identifies the anticipated Citizen’s Empowerment Tax Credit. Please feel free to peruse two samples at:

Village of South Nyack Dissolution Plan 

Village of Mastic Beach Dissolution Plan 

The Rockefeller Institute of Government has prepared a basic comparative look at the Village Dissolution in Ohio and New York which can be found HERE.

No, all Village debt and obligations would remain the responsibility of the former Village residents for repayment.

The Village has initiated a Board-Initiated Dissolution process under Article 17-A of the New York General Municipal Law. As a result, the Village is preparing a Dissolution Plan in accordance with the statute. Consolidation is not currently being pursued, although it remains a separate legal option that the Village and the Towns could consider in the future if they choose.

Dissolution would eliminate the Village as a separate municipal government. If dissolution were approved by Village voters, the Village would no longer exist as a legal entity, and governance and municipal services would be provided by the Towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown. Under a dissolution process, only eligible Village voters vote on whether the Village should dissolve.

Consolidation is different. Consolidation involves combining two or more local governments into a new or continuing governmental structure through a Joint Consolidation Agreement. That agreement is developed by the participating municipalities and typically requires approval by the affected governing boards and voters. Unlike dissolution, consolidation is a joint process involving all participating municipalities.

Please see our answer under FAQ 10 for links to two of our other Village dissolution plans.

A direct benchmarking comparison between Spring Valley and nearby villages is not a primary element of the Dissolution Plan. Each municipality has its own service structure, tax base, staffing model, facilities, local laws, and community priorities, so comparisons to other villages may not accurately reflect the potential impacts of dissolution in Spring Valley.

The Plan may, however, discuss how the Towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown currently provide services within other village areas where that information helps explain how services could be delivered if dissolution were approved.

The Village has retained Laberge Group to prepare a Board-Initiated Dissolution Plan under Article 17-A of the New York General Municipal Law. The purpose of the Plan is to evaluate the potential impacts of dissolution, including governance, service delivery, fiscal impacts, assets, liabilities, employees, and the transition of municipal responsibilities. The scope does not include preparing a separate staffing, facilities, or operating budget for an expanded or enhanced Village government.

Once a dissolution petition, or any other petition, is received by the Village Clerk, a process of validation is undertaken by the Village Clerk and Attorney.  In the case of the dissolution petition received by the Clerk in July 2025, it was determined that the petition lacked the required number of valid signatories to initiate the process of a referendum on the question of Village Dissolution. 

In New York State, school districts generally operate independently from villages and towns. Dissolution of the Village would not change East Ramapo Central School District operations, school district boundaries, school taxes, or school transportation responsibilities. The only school-related impacts that may need to be evaluated involve municipal services that support school safety or traffic conditions, such as school resource officers, crossing guards, traffic control, or pedestrian safety measures. Those issues will be reviewed as part of the Dissolution Plan where applicable.

The level, staffing model, and deployment of police-related services after dissolution would be determined by the Towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown, consistent with applicable law and the service-delivery approach identified through the dissolution planning process. The Dissolution Plan is intended to evaluate how services such as police coverage, school arrival and dismissal coverage, traffic enforcement, and pedestrian safety could be provided if dissolution were approved. More specific information will be available as the Plan is developed.

Emergency response impacts cannot be determined until the service-delivery analysis is completed. The Dissolution Plan will evaluate how public safety services could be organized if dissolution were approved, including whether changes in staffing, jurisdiction, deployment, dispatch, or service responsibility could affect response times.

Crossing guards, traffic enforcement, and pedestrian safety are municipal service issues that will be reviewed as part of the Dissolution Plan. If dissolution were approved, responsibility for these functions would need to be assigned to the appropriate Town or other responsible entity, and the service model may differ from the Village’s current approach.

Business licensing, permitting, and operating requirements are governed by a combination of State law and local laws, regulations, procedures, and fee schedules. If the Village were dissolved, permits or licenses currently administered by the Village would likely transition to the appropriate Town or other responsible agency, depending on the type of permit and the location of the business. The Dissolution Plan will identify relevant transition issues and provide additional detail as that analysis is completed.

Yes. If dissolution were approved, Village property taxes would no longer be levied in the same manner because the Village would no longer exist as a separate taxing entity. Businesses may also be affected by changes in local permit fees, license fees, or other municipal charges, depending on how the Towns administer those functions after dissolution. The amount and nature of any tax or fee impacts will be evaluated in the Dissolution Plan.

At some point, permits or licenses currently obtained through the Village may need to be obtained from the appropriate Town or another responsible agency. The timing and process would depend on the type of permit, the location of the business, the effective date of dissolution, and the transition approach adopted by the Towns. The Dissolution Plan will address these issues in greater detail as the analysis is completed.

Article 17-A provides that Village local laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations may remain in effect for up to two years after dissolution unless they are repealed or amended by the appropriate Town Board. This may provide a transition period for certain local requirements, but the specific treatment of permits, licenses, and operating requirements will depend on the decisions made by the Towns and the effective date of dissolution identified in the Dissolution Plan.

Article 17-A allows Village local laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations to remain in effect for up to two years after dissolution unless they are repealed or amended by the appropriate Town Board. During or after that transition period, the Towns may administer traffic enforcement, parking regulations, and local road-related functions differently than the Village currently does. These issues will be addressed in the Dissolution Plan as more information becomes available.

At this stage, the specific first-year impacts cannot be fully determined until the Dissolution Plan is completed. However, the three broad areas most likely to change are taxation, municipal service delivery, and local governance. Village taxes would be affected because the Village would no longer operate as a separate taxing entity. Services currently provided or administered by the Village would transition to the Towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown or to other responsible entities. Village residents would also no longer elect a Village Board or Mayor to govern the former Village area. The Dissolution Plan will evaluate these impacts in greater detail as the process moves forward.

A village allows residents within a defined area of a town to have a separate local government with authority over certain services, local laws, land-use decisions, programs, and community priorities. Depending on the village, this may include local policing, code enforcement, zoning and land-use controls, recreation programming, snow removal, road maintenance, or other municipal services. The central question in a dissolution process is whether the benefits of maintaining a separate Village government outweigh the costs and whether services could be provided effectively through the Towns or other responsible entities.

Article 17‑A contains a number of specific procedural requirements and statutory timelines (please refer to the flow chart HERE for a summary of the process).

Once the Dissolution Plan has been completed, it is submitted to the Village Board for consideration. As outlined in the flow chart, the Village Board may choose to endorse the plan (which is not the same as formally approving it) and authorize its presentation to the public through a public hearing.

Following the public hearing, the Village Board has the option to adopt the Dissolution Plan and proceed with a referendum, allowing village residents to vote on the proposed dissolution. Alternatively, the Village Board may determine not to move forward with the process at that stage, in which case no referendum would be held.

If a referendum is not authorized by the Village Board, residents may still pursue dissolution through the citizen-initiated petition process established under Article 17‑A of the New York State General Municipal Law, subject to the applicable statutory requirements and signature thresholds.