CICERO -- It's an idea that's gaining momentum across Central New York: consolidation and sharing services. Now, the Town of Cicero is one step closer to sharing an assessor with the Town of Salina. "We need this in government. We need to be able to work together as a team," said Chet Dudzinski, Cicero Town Supervisor.
At a special town board meeting Thursday morning, the board voted to allow the two town supervisors to start a series of discussions aimed at streamlining services, specifically when it comes to sharing an assessor. "We've had the opportunity to possibly work with the town of Salina and go forward to possibly save money, to provide better service and to possibly consolidate in the future," Dudzinski said.
"I think it will be extremely valuable. In these economic times, we need to find a way to do government better and sharing services," said Mark Nicotra, Salina Town Supervisor.
But one Cicero town councilor says talk of consolidation is premature. "There is an opportunity to do sharing, but after we clean up our mess and there is a mess," said councilor Charlotte Tarwacki.
That mess happened last year when then-Cicero assessor Anita Barnello reappraised about a third of the town's properties. But when neighbors cried foul, the town board decided to roll back the numbers to assessments from the year before. Barnello eventually resigned.
Now, the town hopes to reassess every property in Cicero. Today, they also voted to seek bids for reassessing properties to make sure everyone is paying their fair share in taxes. As for sharing services, Cicero's town supervisor says he doesn't want to drag this out, but doesn't want to rush into it either.
There is not yet any word on when this proposal could come to a vote.
