Yorktown Supervisor Grace: DPW Will Not Save Money

Following a highly debated issue whether to stop electing the town's highway superintendent at a , supervisor Michael Grace is stating his position that it would be "imprudent" to place a referendum on the November ballot.

"I will not support local legislation eliminating the highway superintendent as an elected position to be made subject to mandatory referendum this November 2012," he said in a statement sent to the media. (The entire press release is attached to this article as a pdf file.)

He said he believes replacing the highway superintendent position with an appointed department of public works (DPW) commissioner would cost the town "several hundreds of thousands of dollars upon its implementation" and result in the creation of additional positions.

Two of those positions would be the commissioner and a deputy commissioner, whose "salary liabilities will be significantly higher than the current salaried positions of department heads," Grace said. 

If a DPW position is created, the minimum base salary would be $140,000 per year, making that position the highest salaried position in town government, Grace said.

The current highway superintendent’s salary is $125,000 per year; the town supervisor's is $112,095; town comptroller is paid $110,668 per year. Other department heads’ salaries include: $85,000 for water, $77,425 – sewer, $91,000 – parks, $75,688 – Department of Environmental Conservation.

"Under the formulation of a DPW, the town would have significant additional salary obligations over and above the town’s current managerial framework," Grace said. 

In addition, Grace said the creation of the position would not reduce the current number of upper-level management positions and it was "unrealistically optimistic to assume" a DPW would allow for the elimination of current managerial staffing. Rather, Grace said, a DPW will not function without a deputy commissioner and the current upper-level staffing of the existing departments.

The grassroots organization proposing the change, , has in turn argued its proposed structural change could save hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. Under the plan, town services would be centralized under a streamlined department of public works headed by an appointed DPW chief.

The citizens group has pressed a reluctant town board to schedule a public hearing on the issue and has asserted that the efficiencies of a central DPW could realize taxpayer savings of $200,000 to $300,000.

Grace and the current highway superintendent Eric DiBartolo have both deemed those numbers as incorrect.

"There can be no other conclusion to be reached other than a DPW as proposed will not allow for greater efficiency in providing current services and will, in the long run, be significantly more expensive," Grace said.

The citizen group rallying for the change has quoted a 1995 government efficiency study, prepared by the Westchester Management Consortium at the request of the town board at the time, that a DPW position could save the town at least $300,000 in salaries alone, plus additional savings. 

Grace said the study has concluded the disadvantage of a DPW would be that putting all operational function under a DPW has the risk of adversely affecting all services, not just some services, if the commissioner is ineffective.

In addition, the town's managerial structure in 1995 was different from what it is today, Grace said. In 1995, the town had on staff an engineer and a deputy engineer – positions that no longer exist and much of the work previously performed by the engineering department has been subsumed by the highway department.

"The purported financial savings argued by Citizens for DPW, in as much as they rely on the 1995 study, are not valid today," he said. 

Opponents of an appointed DPW commissioner, reporting like the other department heads to the town board, have said the proposed change would deny voters a voice in directly choosing, and holding accountable, the official charged with keeping their roads safe and passable.

Grace said the elected highway superintendent has served the town well over the years.

"The exceptions to this general rule may be the [Susan] Siegel and [Aaron] Bock administrations," Grace said. "There is no secret about the friction between the current highway superintendent and the Siegel administration. However, what is not so clear is whether that dysfunction rested with the supervisor or the superintendent."

The citizens group, spearheaded by former supervisor Siegel, who lost the election to Grace last year, has said the issue has nothing to do with the current highway superintendent. DiBartolo has said he does not plan to run again when his four-year term expires at the end of next year.

"The DPW issue isn’t about personalities," Siegel "It’s about what’s the most cost effective way the town can deliver services. I’m on record as supporting a DPW as far back as 1976 when the current highway [superintendent] was still in school."

Yorktown residents have made their point that placing a referendum on the November ballot would let them vote and decide if they would like to see this structural change in town. 

The deadline to get the referendum question on the ballot is Sept. 1. But without the town board first holding a public hearing and enacting a local law, placing that referendum on the ballot is not possible.

"As a member of the duly elected town board, it remains my duty to be responsible and deliberate as to these issues regarding a public referendum," Grace said, adding it would be "irresponsible" and "imprudent" to let out for referendum based on the "heels of a campaign of unrelenting misinformation."

However, Grace said he was open to "new and innovative ways to more effectively and efficiently provide necessary services," including hiring a town engineer.

"Should the town commit in the future to the hiring of such additional professionals, the creation of a DPW may then make sense, where the professional engineer could oversee both the operational functions of town government and move forward on the visionary obligations of town government," Grace said.

He cited several measures the town has undertaken to reduce operating exenses and provide efficiency in services. 

The town recently procured a new fuel management system, which will be used to coordinate vehicle and equipment maintenance and repair to extend the life span of the town’s motor vehicles and equipment. The town is also looking into record management software to integrate record keeping to allow various departments to be connected virtually and improve communication among the town departments.

"In short, there is value in continuing the exploration of a DPW," Grace said. "However, at this time, it is my belief that the discussion is premature and ill-defined and, most unfortunately, fogged under the continuing misinformation campaign."

Click on the links below to read more on the DPW issue:

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