Consolidating a village and town's financial functions: a success story from Ossining, New York.

• Author: D'Imperio, Pasqualino
• Position: Ossining, New York

Consolidation, becoming more widely used by leaders in government, is nothing new in corporate America--many companies have merged or consolidated their operations in an attempt to reduce operating costs. Neither is the concept new to governments, as many governmental entities have discussed consolidation for years. It was not until recently, however, that a spate of meaningful consolidations have been attempted on the public side.

Why are consolidations being attempted now? The answer is quite simple: economics. It makes sense economically to consolidate similar functions in order to eliminate duplicate efforts. Most governmental entities provide the same types of services, such as police protection, sanitation, public works and tax collection. By consolidating similar services, one can expect savings through economies of scale. It was this type of thinking that led officials in the Town of and Village of Ossining, New York, to undertake consolidation of their financial departments.

Background: The Town and the Village

The Town of Ossining encompasses three municipalities: the unincorporated area of the Town of Ossining (called "Town Outside"), the Village of Ossining and the Village of Briarcliff Manor. In total, approximately 34,728 people live in the three municipalities. The Town of Ossining is governed by an elected supervisor and four council members, who comprise the town board. The town government administers state and federal elections; collects town, county and school taxes; and appoints advisory boards.

The Village of Ossining is a chartered village and is administered under the manager form of government. The board of trustees is an elected body and consists of a mayor and four trustees. It adopts laws, establishes policies and makes various appointments.

The Village of Briarcliff Manor was incorporated in 1902 and is governed by a mayor and four trustees. It also uses the manager form of government. Its functions are the same as that of Village of Ossining board. Because the Village of Briarcliff Manor lies in two different municipalities, officials chose not to be part of consolidation at this time.

What made the undertaking of consolidation in Ossining slightly unusual is that towns normally are much larger entities than villages and usually are dominant. In this case, however, the Village of Ossining was the larger entity and was better suited to assume the financial responsibilities of both municipalities.

The Village of...