Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced that there would be county-wide meetings held in July to gain input from the public on the new shared services initiative. Shared services is a state-led program that aims to consolidate public services for municipal governments in order to save money and promote efficiency.
“Sharing services is about collaboration with all levels of government so that we can identify ways to achieve long-term savings, streamline bureaucracy, and reduce the tax burden for our residents,” Bellone said. “I believe Suffolk County can be a statewide model on this important measure and I encourage all residents to attend a meeting in their community.”
As part of the statewide Shared Services Initiative that was signed into law earlier this year, county, town, and village officials are required to vote on a plan that would propose new collaborations and save taxpayers money through efficient and coordinated shared services.
The state law requires Suffolk County to submit a localized savings plan to the Suffolk County Legislature by August 1, 2017. Once recommendations are received and modifications are made, the Suffolk Shared Services Panel must vote on the plan no later than September 15. The Panel is comprised of the county executive, town supervisors and village mayors.
“While Suffolk County and local municipalities have been sharing services for decades, this new initiative provides us with the opportunity to expand these efforts in a comprehensive, organized and efficient manner in order to achieve real savings,” said Deputy County Executive Jon Kaiman, who is leading the effort for Suffolk County.
The Town of Smithtown secured it’s own grant recently that would allow them to take part in the shared services program.
“We’re saving taxpayers $30,000 a year, sharing Town dispatch services and fueling our vehicles through the Town fueling station which eliminates all tank maintenance costs. This latest grant will save substantial taxpayer dollars in startup cost and man hours weekly for each fire department, which includes Nesconset, St. James and Three Villages,” said Town Clerk Vinny Puleo, who was awarded the grant.
These are the upcoming community meetings on the initiative:
East Hampton
Monday, July 10 – 11 a.m.
East Hampton Town Hall
159 Pantigo Rd., East Hampton
Southampton
Monday, July 10 – 6 p.m.
Southampton Town Hall
116 Hampton Rd., Southampton
Babylon
Tuesday, July 11 – 1 p.m.
Babylon Town Hall
200 East Sunrise Hwy, Lindenhurst
Huntington
Tuesday, July 18 – 6 p.m.
Huntington Town Hall
100 Main St., Huntington