From left Lakewood Village Trustee Ben Troche, and Mayor Randy Holcomb discuss village business. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD – Trustees discussed Monday a communication from the Busti Town Board asking if village officials want to explore opportunities for more shared services.

Lakewood already shares its police department with the town.

At its October meeting, the Busti Town Board backed the $500,000 Government Efficiency Fund to support local municipalities that pursue mergers, consolidations, and shared services.

The fund was announced in September during the Chautauqua County Legislature meeting when County Executive PJ Wendel presented his county budget proposal.

Wendel said then the fund was unlike existing programs that reimburse costs after the fact, and that the fund would provide upfront financing to help municipalities reduce redundancies, streamline operations, and ultimately lower long-term property taxes.

“The town board is reaching out to all of the Busti neighboring municipalities within Chautauqua County, inviting them to consider whether it could be a mutual interest in exploring opportunities for shared services, consolidations, mergers or dissolutions,” Lakewood Mayor Randy Holcomb said during the board’s work session.

Village Trustee Nancy Jones said she doesn’t want shared services costing the village more money.

“We carried Busti for years, the police department, and I’m afraid that if we go into that on other shared services, somehow we’ll end up in the same boat. And that’s my attitude about it,” Jones said.

Holcomb added that the village and town have a long history of shared services.

Trustee Ben Troche echoed both Holcomb’s and Trustee Ellen Barnes’ ideas in that there are good mutual aid plans with neighboring governments, and higher government including New York State and Chautauqua County.

“My largest concern is we need to keep the level of services to our residents, and our taxpayers. If it saves money, it’s a win, but it can’t cost more,” Troche said.

Ted McCague, village historic preservation committee chairman, said he agrees with sharing services, but hasn’t made a decision about the funding.

“It’s hard to support because you don’t really know what it is you’re supporting,” McCague said to trustees. “It’s not clear.”

The board took no action on the communication, and will discuss the matter further at a future board meeting.