VESTAL, NY (WSKG) — Hoping to keep their police department intact, some residents in the Village of Deposit have successfully submitted a petition postponing action.
The issue will now go before voters on January 7th.
“Everybody gets a choice to whether they want to keep their department at a cost or go with the alternative which is the Broome County Sheriff’s Department,” Deposit Mayor Bryan Moore said.
If dissolved, the Sheriffs Departments from Broome and Delaware counties will police the community. Those departments already offer services in Deposit because it does not employ full-time officers.
According to Moore, scheduling difficulties and lack of funds are the reasons behind the move to dissolve the department.
If voters decide to keep the police department, taxes will go up.
“In Broome County, it will be approximately 24 percent tax increase, and then the Delaware County side of Deposit—which is calculated different because we don’t receive sales tax—it’s going to be around 16-17 percent,” Moore explained.
The vote also includes dissolving the village justice court.