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Goodell, Young Against Annexation

Even though the state Legislature will play no role in the annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities Dow Street substation, both state Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean, and Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown, are against the proposal.

Young said she has helped to secure million of dollars in the past year for the city of Jamestown to help with economic development and drug abuse and domestic violence prevention.

”The state government does not play a role in annexation, other than through the courts, so I do not have a say in the matter,” she said in an email statement when asked by The Post-Journal for her opinion on the annexation. ”I have fought to help secure millions of dollars in the past year for Jamestown, including the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative, $1 million for the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative task force, $1 million for CHIPS and BRIDGE NY funding for roads and bridges, the Restore NY grant for $500,000 to redevelop the former Key Bank Building, $100,000 for Veteran’s Park and over $85,000 for the Jamestown Police Department for anti-drug efforts and domestic violence prevention.”

”Also, (Jamestown) Mayor (Sam) Teresi has said the governor (Andrew Cuomo) has promised more than $800,000 in state funds to address Jamestown’s budget shortfall. This annexation proposal is a tax shift that will cause hardship to the (Falconer Central) school district, Ellicott and Falconer, and it puts them in a difficult situation where they will have budget gaps and may have to cut services to make up for the shortfall. It also sounds like this annexation attempt could cost a lot of time and money in the courts,” she said.

Goodell said it is a tax shift from one jurisdiction to another and doesn’t help in lowering the overall cost of government.

”My focus is on trying to reduce the overall costs of government and the tax burden our residents face. The annexation would shift tax from one jurisdiction to the other. It doesn’t reduce the costs of running government,” he said when asked by The Post-Journal for his opinion on the annexation. ”I would encourage all local officials to work together to find ways to cut costs through shares services, therefore, reducing the tax burden to everyone.”

In January, the BPU approved a resolution asking Jamestown City Council to initiate the proceedings necessary to annex the Dow Street substation into the city. Last month, council asked city staff to prepare information on the steps necessary to annex the property into the city and to create a draft petition for a possible future vote by council to annex the Dow Street substation. The petition is expected to be completed during the next month.

In March, Patrick McLaughlin, Ellicott supervisor, told The Post-Journal that James Rensel, Falconer mayor; Stephen Penhollow, Falconer Central School District superintendent; and himself are all against the proposal to annex the BPU substation into the city.

David Leathers, BPU general manager, said in January they would like to pursue annexing the Dow Street substation for the cost savings on property taxes. The Dow Street substation property is assessed at $7,861,599. Currently, the BPU electric division pays approximately $322,090 a year in property taxes to the county, town of Ellicott, village of Falconer and Falconer Central School District. Of the $322,090, $153,852 goes to the school district; $68,789 goes to the village; $67,217 goes to the county; and $32,232 goes to the town.

Leathers said by annexing the property to inside city lines, the BPU would save around $162,000 a year. He added, if the property was annexed, the BPU would make new tax equivalency payments of $80,000 a year to both the city and Jamestown Public Schools.

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