Dyson Foundation, United Way of Dutchess County, and the Community Foundation serving NY’s Dutchess, Ulster and Putnam counties commission CGR to create a multi-faceted community indicators website. The project is a five-year initiative.

Op-ed article in the Buffalo News by Joseph Stefko, Director of Public Finance

CIO blog notes Kent Gardner, CGR President's comment, "We have to be careful that we stick with policies that promote fair trade and not give into the temptation to be protectionist."

CGR and the League of Women Voters held a forum last night for both sides to discuss Brockport dissolution vote.

A community alliance makes investment in knowledge. Community partnerships have the power to create change with it.
http://www.communityprofiles.org/herkimeroneida

Syracuse University radio program, Thursday Morning Roundtable, interviews 2 people who were involved in the Seneca Falls dissolution study and plan process.

Brockport will be one of the first NY villages to hold a dissolution vote under a new state law. CGR is providing assistance prior to the June 15 vote with funding provided by the Bea Bibby Endowment Fund of the League of Women Voters, Metropolitan Rochester Area.

A community can do a lot when it's prosperous, but "when the tide goes out, the expectations are still there and yet the tax base is not," notes CGR President Kent Gardner.

CGR, with extensive experience in nursing home studies, was chosen from among 8 applicants to evaluate options.

CGR study that reviewed health insurance costs for 24,000 Monroe County NY government and school employees and 94 union contracts is cited by newspaper editorial board.

Informing voters by providing a fair and balanced presentation of the facts and options, and then empowering them to vote, is democracy at its best, says CGR’s Charles Zettek Jr.

Port Henry NY voters reject dissolving their village, but elected leaders say the study process could bring a new era of cooperation between  village and town

Next week, voters in Port Henry in the Champlain Valley will decide whether to dissolve their village.

Elected officials in Chester Borough and Township are studying consolidating services, and CGR is the study consultant.

PBS’ “New York NOW” broadcast Gov. Paterson’s budget address live statewide. CGR’s David Liebschutz and Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute comment.

Kent Gardner, Ph.D. expresses concern about competition from China and America’s growing debt to the Asian nation – and drives home his message in song.

Study the merits of fire service consolidation on a case-by-case basis, recommends Charles Zettek, CGR’s Director of Government Management Services

Fulton County supervisors are evaluating whether to sell the county nursing home and certified home health agency. CGR drafted the Request for Proposal.

CGR is collecting and analyzing key data for the counties, and developing a website. Community leaders want to use the data and findings to take needed action.

What can be done in NYS to slow down a relentless growth in costs without compromising the quality of our fire services?  Charles Zettek says citizens have the power to change the system.

Legislature engages CGR to develop a community-wide advisory council, which will work to improve child protective services in the NY county.

In a public meeting facilitated by CGR’s Scott Sittig, residents of the Town and Village of Seneca Falls debated four options for police services if the village dissolves.

ACT Rochester – an extensive web-based community profile, will be used to help identify and respond to the most critical issues in a 7-county region

A City and Town of Batavia NY Consolidation Study Committee offers options to the community on how to create a single government. Consolidating a city and town would be a first in the state.

As Attorney General of the state with the nation’s highest local taxes, New York State’s Andrew Cuomo has unveiled legislation that would grant communities more control over their local government costs. CGR’s Director of Government Management Services Charles Zettek estimates that $1.4 billion in government expenditures could be saved if certain town and village consolidations are pursued.

St. John Fisher College has engaged CGR to conduct a market study for a proposed new law school.

The Town of Whitestown NY and its four villages have applied for a state grant to further research the consolidation of the communities’ five police departments, a merger described by a 2008 CGR study as potentially the most complex of its kind in state history.

CGR’s Scott Sittig told Orleans County NY legislators that a county-run system would likely employ many of the current town assessors, and the biggest change for many residents would be calling a county office instead of a town office for a question about exemptions or property valuations.

In Whitestown, five police departments serve fewer than 20,000 residents. CGR determined that combining them would be the most complex action of its kind in NYS history, but could lower costs significantly.

Weakness in the markets is a harbinger of recovery, but it will take a long time to set the nation fully back on track, CGR Chief Economist Kent Gardner told the Dutchess County NY Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Village officials in Cobleskill NY agreed to formally explore dissolving the village and merging with the Town of Cobbleskill.

The City and Town of Batavia will find themselves in the national spotlight if they consolidate, says Charles Zettek, Jr., who is heading up a consolidation study for the two municipalities.