BERNE — Residents responded last week to the town’s 20-percent property tax increase for next year by asking the town board for more information, open forums with county officials, and a referendum regarding the proposed merger of the town’s highway department with the county.

Supervisor Kevin Crosier wasn’t at the meeting. He had pushed for the merger along with Highway Superintendent Ray Storm and county officials. None of the four town council members supported the plan after town highway workers launched a campaign against the merger.

Crosier told The Enterprise this week that he isn’t giving up on it.

The plan to combine the two departments was developed after the first Inter-municipal Cooperation Forum held by County Executive Michael Breslin in April. In July, The Enterprise met with Breslin, Crosier, Storm, Deputy County Executive Joseph Pennisi, and Public Works Commissioner Michael Franchini and outlined the proposal in a page-one story.

The plan outlined a one-shot savings for not having to build a salt shed ($300,000) or a fuel-storage facility ($44,000). It estimated annual savings for utilities for buildings ($6,600), fuel ($14,100), equipment ($40,000), and road materials ($12,050). Savings for personnel would total $90,000 now and $220,000 in the future, Crosier and county officials estimated. The county would save because it wouldn’t have to replace its field office, estimated at $50,000, officials have said.

Crosier promised no one would lose their jobs.

In late August, County officials, the town board, and highway workers met at the East Berne firehouse to discuss the merger, and workers raised many questions and objections. In October, Crosier made a motion to apply for grants to be used in the merger, and did not get a second from the Democratic board. Crosier ran twice on the Republican ticket.
At last Wednesday’s meeting, some residents said they weren’t aware of the merger. One, who said she works with kids, said she hadn’t known what the "no merger" signs in town meant, and added she didn’t have time to read The Altamont Enterprise.
Berne resident Richard Ronconi recommended the board "make a vote on the merger." Ronconi also said the town should have meetings. "People are upset with the tax increase," Ronconi said.

Residents speculated about a circulating petition, relative to the merger.
"I think people thought it was a good idea, and it was just going to happen," Crosier told The Enterprise of the merger and last week’s public response.

He doesn’t think a petition is being circulated.
"Nobody’s called me. I don’t believe that’s actually happening," he said.
Susan Larrabe, a town resident, told the board Wednesday that a 20-percent tax increase is "quite a lot of money." Residents will pay $4.71 per $1,000 of assessed value in town taxes next year.
Larrabe said many Berne residents don’t get annual salary increases, and that, if the tax increases continue, the town will lose community support. She said she would like to know more about the merger. Residents, she said, cannot support the tax increases "over the long-term."
Crosier agrees, saying the tax increase could force many families out of town. "Berne, as we know it today, won’t exist," he said.

Larrabe said only a small percentage of the town’s population was represented at the Oct. 11 meeting; only 28 people attended, she said, a small percent of the town’s population.

At that meeting, Crosier made a motion for the town to apply for grant money totaling $575,500 that could have been used with the county. Crosier said that the board could turn down the grant if it decided against consolidation.
"What’s the worst-case scenario" You get it and you turn it down," Crosier said.

No board member seconded the motion, and the room erupted with applause.

Councilman Joseph Golden told The Enterprise in October, during the budget process, that he thought everyone proposing the merger to be well-intentioned, but said that he thought the whole idea of the merger to be premature.
"We wouldn’t have any idea, fiscally, where we would be," he said. He also said he thought the economics of the merger were unclear.
Both Golden and Councilman James Hamilton have called the merger "a takeover" by Albany County. Both have written letters to The Enterprise editor; Golden said changes in government take time, and Hamilton said inter-municipal sharing of roadwork already takes place.

Hamilton favors sharing services with neighboring towns rather than merging the two departments.

None of the seven current Berne highway workers favor consolidation.
In November, the town board held a budget workshop and reduced the tax increase from 28 percent down to 20 percent, and adopted the budget, with all four Democratic board members’ approval. Crosier voted against it, saying, "I cannot support this budget."

Councilman Hamilton said Wednesday that the board didn’t refuse the merger by not seconding the motion, but that the board refused the grants because they didn’t have enough information.

The two letters

At the beginning of October, the town’s newsletter, The Berne Courier, was sent out to residents with a letter from Supervisor Kevin Crosier and Highway Superintendent Ray Storm.
It said: "In the potential merger, the Town of Berne employees who maintain the roads in Berne would still maintain those roads. The same conscientious Town and County employees that serve you now, will serve you after consolidation. No town or county employee will lose their job, pay, or benefits because of consolidation. This is about ‘smarter’ government. One unified public works department is more efficient than two separate ones serving the same geographical area."
Following public discussion last week, residents voiced concerns about the newsletter, saying the newsletter only showed "one side of the issue."
Patricia Favreau, the town’s clerk, who puts the newsletter together, said she suggested Crosier write an "informative" letter about the proposed merger, and added that the merger was "important for everyone to know about."
"I thought he did a good job," said Favreau, a Democrat.
Hamilton said the board should look at the newsletter before publication to be assured that "articles are fact, not opinion."
Joe Welsh, a highway worker, said the issue is "controversial," and information in the newsletter "only showed one side of the issue."
"I, as a taxpayer, don’t feel it should have happened," Welsh said. Welsh asked the board to run a letter written by the highway workers on the first page of the next issue, which will be distributed in February.
The highway workers’ letter says: "Every employee of the Berne highway department is opposed to the merger"To date, no documentation has been presented to the employees or the town board. We consider some of the proclaimed savings as exaggerated and speculative, and also feel that real savings can be achieved through shared services contracts, which do not require the merger."

The highway workers also say the merger would result in poorer services.
"Currently, the county plows state roads under contract. During real emergencies, there are some county roads that get lower priority because county trucks are plowing state roads. If town roads get added to the county list, they will have even lower priority in serious emergencies," they say.

Other business

In other business, the town board:

— Set its end-of-the-year meeting to pay bills for Dec. 30 at 9 a.m.; and

— Set its re-organizational meeting for Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m.