Village, town, incorporated, confused...

[987ABC]

Originally Posted by Dockside

I've been living here awhile and still get them confused. I was driving into Larchmont on Weaver St recently when I spotted downed power lines sparking on the sidewalk. I called the Larchmont police and was told they don't handle that part of Larchmont, I had to call the Mamaroneck police instead. I asked it they could call for me and they said no and hung up. Freaking bureaucrats.

The problem is that people are still obsessed with mailing addresses, and using that to determine where someone lives, or in your example, where something is located. The Larchmont police, as far as I know, "handle" the entire Village of Larchmont. The location of the downed power lines was apparently not within the Village of Larchmont. Instead it was within the Town of Mamaroneck. The officer should have said "that location is not in Larchmont. Its in Mamaroneck. Please call that department." But when he instead says "we don't handle that part of Larchmont", he just adds to everyone's confusion.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by dr.strangelove

There is not a single answer for all towns and villages but I can try to help.*******

A town or city is the largest political subdivision under a county. Within any town, there may or may not be villages or hamlets. These may be formal separate governing bodies, or just a historic location. If it is formal, it is an incorporated villiage or hamlet. If it is not a formal separate body, but just a location known by its historical name, then it is often still called a village or hamlet.

All of New York State is in a town or city. Some towns have villages, not all. Hamlets are not formal political entities; villages are. Chappaqua is an example of a hamlet, inside the Town of New Castle. I live in Rye Brook, which is a village inside the Town of Rye. Port Chester is also a village inside the Town of Rye. Parts of the Town of Rye, known as Rye Neck, are located in the Village of Mamaroneck.

The Town of Mamaroneck has a large unincorporated area, some of which is served by Scarsdale schools (I forget the name of the district but I grew up there). The area of the Town of Mamaroneck served by Scarsdale schools is known as the Mamaroneck Strip. They can use the Scarsdale Pool but when the call 911 the Town of Mamaroneck Police come.

Edited to add that I did not read the post which I excerpted below before posting:

Originally Posted by 987ABC

Its actually quite easy. Every lot of land in Westchester County will be in either a City or Town, but can not be in more than one of these.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by 987ABC

Many people believe this to be true, but its often not true in practice. Its closest to being true with regard to police, but many people want to pay a bit more to have a more locally responsive department, and fear the lack of police presence that may occur when a larger, more geographically diverse Town is in charge.**********

I tend to agree with 987ABC. I live in Rye Brook. When we were served by Port Chester's police department before 1982 (we were never actually inside Port Chester) there was concern that the Port Chester Police Department was concentrating on their largely urban problems. We wanted and still want a local police department.

Originally Posted by 987ABC

The single greatest factor contributing to high property taxes in the suburbs are the salaries (and benefits) paid to cops and teachers. The second greatest contributor are the services we receive, and frankly have come to expect, which are largely a function of climate (snow removal, pot holes, leaf removal), and again, larger salaries paid to employees who do this work. Having less layers of government does not change this dynamic. (Keep in mind I don't necessarily disagree with the salaries that cops and teachers make as a matter of principal).

We are in total agreement. And salaries in turn reflect living costs.