Shared services committee in Carroll, Kiantone is encouraging
Shared services committee in Carroll, Kiantone is encouraging
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We are encouraged by the news that Carroll and Kiantone are creating a committee to examine additional shared services between the towns.
It's early, and we don't know where these discussions will go in the future, but for now the fact that the towns are brainstorming more ways to collaborate is a positive development. Something Tim Burkett, Carroll town supervisor, said during the August Carroll Town Board meeting is worth examining as we look for more ways to provide better services and save taxpayers money.
Burkett said it makes sense for the two towns to share services since many Kiantone residents have children who attend Frewsburg Central School and play sports in Frewsburg.
It's so simple. It's also, in our view, so true.
Shared sports teams have been bridging gaps between the individual silos of school districts for more than a decade – including in Clymer, Sherman and Panama, which are undergoing a serious community discussion about consolidating schools. It makes some sense that towns would look to neighbors within a school district to find new partnerships. Some of this is already happening, of course. We see a lot of shared code enforcement officers, assessors, courts, animal control officers and partnerships on highway department projects.
We hope the Carroll/Kiantone committee leads to something different. Many rural towns are already running pretty lean when it comes to paid management staff. But perhaps we could see Carroll and Kiantone consider sharing a clerk’s position or a highway superintendent at some point in the future. Or, perhaps are joint programs that Burkett and the board members from both towns have in mind that could make things easier for residents of Carroll and Kiantone.
We don't know for sure where these talks will lead. But we think more towns that share school districts should follow Burkett's lead.