Village board members last week voted to redistribute the financial burden of an ongoing legal battle with the county, mainly targeted at requiring utility customers outside the village to pay their share.
The case involves municipalities - including the villages of Ilion and Herkimer and town of Frankfort – trying to determine what damages, if any, they will be required to pay in relation to several years of their involvement in a county administered self-insurance plan.
Ilion officials said the village has already paid over $70,000 from March 2005 to date, being split between over $56,000 to a firm representing all of the municipalities and close to $14,000 to the village attorney.
Mayor Mark Cushman said village taxpayers alone have incurred the cost of these legal fees, but the issue involves services provided to residents outside the village receiving municipal utilities.
The workers’ compensation plan involved employees of the municipal water and electric departments as well as the village government. To address the lack of the utilities, and thus their customers, contributing to the legal costs, the village board decided to require their budgets to compensate the village.
Based on a pro-rated share, the utilities’ budgets will pay the village over $22,000 – nearly $9,000 for electric and over $13,000 for water – and the Ilion Free Public Library will also contribute close to $2,500 for its share, officials said.
Department heads with the utility departments said their respective budgets have sufficient funds to absorb the payment in full. They did not disclose the impact of the payment on their overall operational budget.
The money collected for the legal costs will be re-budgeted to the legal general fund of the village budget, officials said.
In other action:
The village board authorized James Trevett, codes officer and fire chief, to begin presenting village code violation tickets in the German Flatts Town Court. Village officials said they feel there will be an increase in the number of tickets processed by using the town court instead of village court.
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Village board members last week voted to redistribute the financial burden of an ongoing legal battle with the county, mainly targeted at requiring utility customers outside the village to pay their share.
The case involves municipalities - including the villages of Ilion and Herkimer and town of Frankfort – trying to determine what damages, if any, they will be required to pay in relation to several years of their involvement in a county administered self-insurance plan.
Ilion officials said the village has already paid over $70,000 from March 2005 to date, being split between over $56,000 to a firm representing all of the municipalities and close to $14,000 to the village attorney.
Mayor Mark Cushman said village taxpayers alone have incurred the cost of these legal fees, but the issue involves services provided to residents outside the village receiving municipal utilities.
The workers’ compensation plan involved employees of the municipal water and electric departments as well as the village government. To address the lack of the utilities, and thus their customers, contributing to the legal costs, the village board decided to require their budgets to compensate the village.
Based on a pro-rated share, the utilities’ budgets will pay the village over $22,000 – nearly $9,000 for electric and over $13,000 for water – and the Ilion Free Public Library will also contribute close to $2,500 for its share, officials said.
Department heads with the utility departments said their respective budgets have sufficient funds to absorb the payment in full. They did not disclose the impact of the payment on their overall operational budget.
The money collected for the legal costs will be re-budgeted to the legal general fund of the village budget, officials said.
In other action:
The village board authorized James Trevett, codes officer and fire chief, to begin presenting village code violation tickets in the German Flatts Town Court. Village officials said they feel there will be an increase in the number of tickets processed by using the town court instead of village court.
