Final dissolution committee meeting held in Keeseville

Tim Weidemann of Rondout Consulting led the final Keeseville dissolution meeting.

Tim Weidemann of Rondout Consulting led the final Keeseville dissolution meeting. Photo by Shaun Kittle.


As always, Rondout Consulting founder Tim Weidemann led the meeting, outlining the findings of the study committee and answering questions from the public.

Weidemann has been involved in all aspects of the dissolution study, including conducting a fiscal analysis of dissolution options.

Before getting into details, Weidemann made clear that the dissolution study report does not recommend that dissolution will or should occur, it only outlines the expected impact of three options for dissolution.

Of those three options, option three has widely been viewed as the best choice if dissolution were to occur, and was the focus of the latest meeting.

As was the case with previous public meetings, several village residents voiced their concerns over property taxes and how dissolution would affect municipal services now provided by the village, specifically water, sewer and garbage.

“If you’re a resident in the village, the short answer is that property taxes will decrease if the village dissolves,” Weidemann said.

Average taxable assessed value of property in Keeseville is about $70,000.

Weidemann explained that the cost of municipal services would likely increase under dissolution, though.

For properties around the average assessment value, the savings on property taxes would likely be greater than the increase in municipal services, resulting in a decrease in total cost.

Properties with lower taxable assessed values with a high usage of municipal services could see property tax go down a little but also see municipal fees go up a lot, resulting in an increased overall cost.

If dissolution were to occur, sewer and water would be divided, with Au Sable taking over sewer and Chester taking over the water.

The study also shows that, after dissolution, tax rates could decrease for residents in Chesterfield and Au Sable Forks.

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