• Will forming a Village prevent annexation?
  
  NO
  
  
• Will forming a Village prevent another Village within the same boundaries?
  
  YES
  
  
• Will forming a Village add to my taxes?
  
  POSSIBLY. Every Town/Village setup is different. Any services that are duplicated can have an effect on taxes.
  
  

What is a Town? What is a Village? Also, what is an unincorporated area or a Hamlet? How do school districts fit into all this?

All land in New York States is part of either a town or a city. Towns and cities provide certain services (these may include such things as police, fire, water and sewer) and have certain governmental powers (such as the power to make zoning laws, parking laws, raise taxes, etc).

Every village in NYS exists within one or more towns. It may be one part of a town. It may cover exactly the same area as a town. It may have portions within two different towns. One town may contain more than one village. A village takes over most of the powers and services which normally be assigned to the town if there were no village.

A village has a slightly different form of government than a town. A village has a mayor and trustees. While a Town has a supervisor and a town council. In a village, the village clerk runs the elections while in a town the county runs the elections.

Some villages contract for services, such as police or sanitation, from the town or county in which they are located or from the state itself. Others arrange to provide such services themselves. This is part of the reason that you can't say for certain whether a proposed village will cause an increase in taxes until you know exactly what services it will perform and what the town will be responsible for.

A school district is a separate entity in charge of schools within the district and is not controlled by the towns or villages in which it is located. It raises its own taxes and is responsible for its own budget. In the Monroe-Woodbury School District, for example, two thirds of property taxes paid by residents each year go the school district and would not be effected by the formation of a village.

A hamlet is merely the name of neighborhood. It has no governmental authority.

Unincorporated areas are those parts of a town that are not part of a village.

How is a village created?

You need at least 500 inhabitants. The area must be no larger than 5 square (unless it shares the same boundaries as an existing school district, fire district or other district or the town itself). However, a village may not be created out of any part of any city or village. This means that once a village is formed no other village can be formed which includes any part of the first village.

The first step in forming a village is the filing of a petition for incorporation, which must include information required under the statute (the proposed boundaries, name, etc.) and must be signed by at least 20% of the residents of the proposed village who are qualified to vote, or the owners of more than 50% , in assessed valuation, of the property in the proposed village. After the petition is filed with the town supervisor, there is a hearing. Then the supervisor decides whether the petition is legally sufficient - that is to say that the petition's form meets the legal requirements. The supervisor's decision, either way, can then be challenged in court, but only as to whether it's form meets the requirements of the statute - not whether or not it's a good idea.

Once a petition has been found to be legally sufficient there is an election among the voters of the proposed village. If a majority of those voters choose to form the village, it will be created.

For two years after the creation of a village all local law, ordinances, rules and regulations of the town will apply to the village unless the village replaces them with its own. The village must create its own laws, etc before the two years are up. However, it may adopt all or some of the town's laws, etc. as its own.

In addition, the town will continue to provide services to the new village for at least six months.

Service districts (fire, etc.) completely within the new village will be dissolved after that time period. The village may choose to keep, replace or recreate them. If only part of a service district is within a village, the district is unaffected and the village must pay its share for that service.

One village may annex land out of another. This may be challenged on the basis of whether it serves the public.


To be continued...