Johnson City (WBNG Binghamton) Money is hard to come by for the Village of Johnson City. The board met Saturday morning to discuss how it can get by with what it has, and if dropping "village" from its name could help.
Mayor Dennis Hannon says the police arbitration ruling with 7% raises and anticipated pensions leaves the village without the money to pay its bills.
Mayor Hannon says that with New York's new property tax cap, police wages are difficult to pay without additional money coming in from homeowners.
Hannon placed a freeze on all hiring and raises throughout the village in an effort to cut cost, and cancelled more than $400,000 in anticipated purchases.
Those changes still weren't enough with the added $850, 000 the village owes to the Joint Sewage Treatment Facility.
The village board decided to leave parks open for the last 3 weeks.
They decided it would disappoint the community and wouldn't save much money.
The Mayor's ultimate proposal to improve the village's financial situation is to dissolve the village, something he once voted against as a taxpayer.
He says now, it's necessary.
"I'm convinced, really the only thing that will save the people of the village will be if we do dissolve," says Village of Johnson City Mayor Dennis Hannon.
The Mayor says while layoffs are on the table, it's not on the top of his list.
Hannon says that the majority of the board understand that this is the only option.
He adds that if the village is forced to pay police wage increases, it will not have the money.
But as one angry citizen said, dissolution would be putting an end to the village of Johnson City.
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