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YORKTOWN, N.Y. - A citizens group has determined the Town of Yorktown could save more than $400,000 by eliminating the elected highway superintendent and switching to a Department of Public Works.
A preliminary estimate from Yorktown Citizens for a DPW calculates a net savings of $251,000 but with attrition, that amount would increase to $406,000.
"It is simple arithmetic based on trade-offs. You can't save money for taxpayers and at the same time keep job positions that are no longer needed," said Jane Daniels, a spokesperson for Yorktown Citizens for a DPW. "We've identified several other areas for additional savings, some from staff attrition, others from combining administrations and other streamlining of operations."
Daniels and other group members met with the Town Board last week in an effort to set a public hearing in July. The group is striving to have a referendum in November but the Town Board was reluctant to move the proposal further without additional study and information.
Yorktown Citizens for a DPW is working on an organizational chart based on interviews with the town's department heads to present to the Town Board this week.
"The Town Board has to be willing to make difficult choices," Daniels said. "That's their job and they can't please everyone."
Comments (1)
What a surprise! [The group is striving to have a referendum in November but the Town Board was reluctant to move the proposal further without additional study and information.] They did NOT follow congress's lead on a vote on a health care bill they did not read. How can anyone waste money to put a referendum on the ballot without ALL the facts and figures. My thanks to those on the town council that voted this down. My question is why did it come up now and NOT during Susan Siegel's term? Did I miss that?