Town of Wheatland New York

Government

 

Local Governments play an important role in New York State, including counties, cities, towns and villages. The Division of Local Government Services is a principal resource for New York’s local governments by providing training and technical assistance to local governments and community organizations throughout the state. Article IX of the New York State Constitution required the State Legislature to enact a “Statute of Local Governments” granting certain powers to local governments. Among the powers granted is the power to adopt ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations; the power to acquire real and personal property; the power to acquire, establish and maintain recreational facilities; the power to fix, levy and collect charges and fees.

 

Town Government Services and Functions

Every citizen in New York State that does not live in a city lives in both a town and a county. There are two general categories of operations for services provided and functions performed by town governments in New York State:

 

• Services provided and functions performed on a Town-Wide (TW) basis, including services to all villages located within the town (in the specific case of the Town of Wheatland, the Town-Wide category includes the Village of Scottsville). For the services and functions in this category the cost is imposed town-wide.

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• Services provided and functions performed to specific parts of the town, either to the entire area of the town outside of the town's villages, generally referred to as Town Outside of Village (TOV) or to a specific district or area of the TOV (in the specific case of the Town of Wheatland, the Town Outside of Village category excludes the Village of Scottsville). For the services and functions in this category, the costs are allocated to the areas of the town that receive the specific services and functions.

 

Towns are not permitted to provide fire services on a town-wide basis. For this function, like many other functions, towns create and administer special districts to levy an assessment on the residents in separate areas of the town to cover the specific cost of that service. These include fire services, which can be provided through a fire protection district or an independent fire district run by commissioners, water and wastewater services, drainage, lighting, sidewalks and other types of specialized services.