Rockland Unveils Shared Services Initiative Plan

NEW CITY, NY — County Executive Ed Day joined with Shared Services Panel Members from towns, villages, school districts and fire districts to unveil the draft Shared Services Initiative Plan. The current draft of the plan would save the panel members an estimated $9,161,430 in 2019 and $14,393,430 in 2020. These numbers are preliminary and subject to change depending on the possibility of more school districts and fire districts joining the panel.

Panel members may also decide to be added to specific projects that are listed within the plan, according to a spokesman.

“The purpose of this plan is to explore ways to improve and consolidate services to save our taxpayers money. It was written from the ground up with municipalities and organizations offering suggestions for inclusion, driven by their ideas and I am proud to have worked with them in developing those ideas,” Day said.

Last year the Rockland County Shared Services Report was filed with the Rockland County Legislature. That report highlighted areas of interest that were pursued for inclusion in this years Shared Services Plan including animal control, highway department equipment sharing, sewer district consolidation and health insurance cost savings (which four of the five towns and 10 villages were interested in exploring).

The process resumed in February of this year and involved weekly meetings with municipalities and districts covering a wide range of topics coordinated by Andy Stewart Senior, vice president for research and analysis for Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, the consultants retained by Rockland County to draft the plan, and Stephen J. Powers, the director of public policy and intergovernmental relations for County Executive Day.

Highlights of the preliminary plan include an estimated $4.5 million savings for pooled retiree health insurance for municipal employees. Another large savings is $1,433,840 for the sharing of equipment between highway departments such as a “street line paint truck” for all towns and villages and Rockland County providing municipal engineering services to town and villages for highway and drainage projects.

The Procurement Center for Excellence will be a county-wide purchasing cooperative and will save an estimated $1,008,450. The Sewer District Consolidation could save an estimated $1 million in 2019 and $5.4 million in 2020.

There are also smaller but still significant projects like Rockland BOCES possibly contracting with the villages of Haverstraw and West Haverstraw to provide educational experiences for youth participants of their summer recreational programming: a projected savings of $12,000 in 2019 and $15,000 in 2020. It's a small project but one that will mean a great deal to the youth who take part. It is hoped that more municipalities will join this project for the benefit of their young people and additional savings, counties officials said.

“That’s the true goal of the Shared Services Initiative, bringing together these different municipalities and organizations to improve services to their residents while saving money,” said Day. “We have heard the concerns of taxpayers loud and clear. As governments, school and fire districts, we must find efficiencies and cost savings whenever possible. These projects may also be eligible for matching funds from New York State.”

The draft Plan will be submitted to the Rockland County Legislature for review Friday, July 27. The next steps include holding three public hearings on the draft plan. One will be held during the day at 1 p.m Tuesday, Aug. 21 in the Town of Stony Point at its RHO Building.

The next will be held at Village Hall in Suffern at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5. The third meeting is awaiting confirmation of date and location.

Next will be the certifying and transmitting the approved plan to the state by Sep. 15, and publicly presenting the plan by Oct. 15.

The draft plan will be distributed as soon as it is finalized.

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