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The Village of Lansing will pay the Town of Lansing about $58,000 for snow removal this year, nearly twice what the Village paid last year.  But Town officials say that the price adjustment is long overdue.   A long standing agreement between the Town and Village was based on a fixed base charge that has never been adjusted for rising costs.  The two municipalities are close to agreeing on a price that will reflect the actual cost of plowing the Village.

"We ended up basically paying half in a period of ten years," Mayor Donald Hartill explained in Monday's Village Trustee meeting.  "If we were to press it I think the Town would say, OK fine, we would like to get out of that contract.'  For us to provide that same service would be significantly more expensive than what they are asking us to pay.  In view of that history I am prepared to say OK."

Hartill met with Town Supervisor Scott Pinney last week to negotiate the price.  The Village contract uses the same formula as one the Town holds with Tompkins County for snow removal on county roads within town borders.  But there is one key difference.  Both contracts start with a base amount that is adjusted up or down according to how severe the previous winter was.  In the county contract the base charge is adjusted from the previous year's amount.  In this way the charge roughly escalates (or decreases) based on real costs incurred plowing the roads.  But the village contract has used a fixed base cost of $25,000 with annual charges going up or down from that amount.

As a result the county paid $138,062 for snow removal on 38.32 miles of roads last year.  The Village of Lansing paid $30,000 for its 17.32 miles.  When you adjust for mileage the Village would have paid about $61,492 last year if they paid a rate equal to that of the county.

"I don't think any of us were trying to take advantage of the services the Town provides," said Village Deputy Mayor Larry Fresinski.  "I've always felt that it was a double-dipping of sorts.  The contract they signed off on was the contract.  Sometimes you win on those things, sometimes you lose.  We happened to win, but now it's coming to an end and they would like a fair shake on what it costs them."

The double-dipping piece was a sticking point for some Trustees.  Village property owners pay a town tax as well as their village tax.  The tax rate for both Village and Town taxpayers is the same.  But Pinney says that Town services that do not apply to Village residents are paid for with a combination of non-tax revenues and sales tax.

Hartill says that he is satisfied that the Village should be paying more to reflect the actual cost of clearing snow from Village roads.  But he said Monday that he wants to comb the Town budget to make sure that the Village isn't paying twice for maintenance and improvements for town roads.

"We have to provide taxes for town-wide maintenance, but not capital construction," he said Monday.  "If they repave a road, that's a capital expense.  So I think there may be some opportunities to get some of these monies back."

But Pinney says Village property owners are not being charged twice.  "They shouldn't be paying for road maintenance and improvements," he says.  "They're actually not paying for it because that money all comes out of sales tax.  That's completely separate.  Road maintenance and improvements are not paid for by Village taxpayers.  And it's not payed for by Town property tax."

Pinney noted that the Village also gets its own sales tax revenue separate from the Town's.  Since 1997 the Village has paid the Town as much as $63,250 and as little as $15,395.  While the regular fleet of town plows handle county-owned roads that are interspersed with town-owned ones, a separate truck and crew are needed to service the Village.

Town Highway Superintendent Jack French says that about half the town gets a 3/1 sand/salt mix, while the southern part is treated with 100% salt.  About five years ago the Village also switched to all-salt to prevent its storm drains from being clogged by sand.  No price adjustment was made.

French says that salt currently costs $36.50 per ton, while sand is only $5.25.  He notes that each time he sends a truck to plow the Village it carries $657 worth of salt.  Because of a new contract with the State of Pennsylvania the salt supply from Lansing's Cargill mine has become scarce, bringing the price higher because of the higher demand.

The salt/sand mix is about a third of the cost of pure salt.  Over the more than 13 years the Village has contracted with the Town, other materials, labor and diesel  have also risen dramatically.

The price adjustment will mean some temporary juggling with the Village budget.  "We already have our budget set," said Village Clerk/Treasurer Jodi Dake.  "We have $30,000 budgeted.  If it ends up being $60,000 we would pay the other $30,000 after June 1st.  So in next year's budget your snow plow line could be $100,000."

Hartill said he will research carefully to make sure the Village isn't being charged for road maintenance, but he is not willing to push the issue to the point where it may endanger the cooperative relationship that it has taken years to develop between the Town and Village.  "I'm willing to play some hardball, but not to the point where they walk away from the table," he said.  "Because it would cost us more than 100 grand (to contract with someone else).

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