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From: "Steven Knight" <>
Subject: Re: [NYALBANY] State subdivisions in New York. Was "NYALBANY-D Digest V03 #12"
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 08:03:13 -0500
References: <3E38A6B1.E83CCBF2@global2000.net> <003801c2c852$1c9fbfa0$a830c318@nycap.rr.com>


Another correction, if I may. Cities ARE sometimes located in towns. For
example the City of Little Falls in Herkimer County is located in the Town
of Little Falls. Large cities usually cover 5the whole area of a town but
small cities like Little Falls can be smaller than the town in area and
therefore be located within the town boundaries.

Steve

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Brizzell" <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 6:24 AM
Subject: Re: [NYALBANY] State subdivisions in New York. Was "NYALBANY-D
Digest V03 #12"


> Cliff - You're close. I offer a few clarifications as the subject relates
> to NYS. Other states are different. Cities in NYS are never in a town,
so
> it is safe to say that a County is made up of Towns and Cities. Villages
> and Hamlets are included within a Town.
>
> Some towns provide more services than others. Mine has a golf course,
some
> parks, a library, a senior citizen center, leaf and brush (but not trash)
> pickup, landfill, and provides other services as well besides road
> maintenance. But we're not a rural town. A town would not plow or salt a
> county road - the County does that. The Town maintains the Town roads,
the
> State maintains State roads, and so on. But sometimes State roads become
> city streets within cities - so the city gets stuck with the maintenance
> whereas in a town the state has the maintenance responsibility. This is a
> source of gripe from cities within NYS. Towns maintain vital records.
They
> are held by the Town Clerk. This service seems to be the same as with
> Cities and Villages.
>
> Water and sewer systems can work in a variety of ways. I'm an
environmental
> engineer who deals with wastewater, so I know more about this stuff than
any
> of you probably care. Saratoga and Albany Counties have their own sewer
> districts. The various cities, towns, and villages contract with the
county
> for the county to take their sewerage. Villages can buy water from a town
> or vice versa. Villages can tax, but village residents also pay town
taxes.
> The idea is that the villages taxes provide enough additional services to
> justify the cost.
>
> Hope I didn't confuse anyone.
> Bill Brizzell
> Hamlet of Latham
> Town of Colonie
> County of Albany
> State of New York
> United States of America
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Cliff Lamere" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 11:14 PM
> Subject: [NYALBANY] State subdivisions in New York. Was "NYALBANY-D Digest
> V03 #12"
>
>
> > New York State is divided into counties. Each county is divided into
many
> Towns plus one or more cities. The cities are not normally within any
Town
> (maybe they never are. About this I am not certain.). A Town is made up
of
> Villages, Hamlets, and a lot of rural land (farmland, hills, mountains,
> etc.) with occasional houses.
> >
> > The Town provides certain services like snow plowing and salting of
county
> roads, may maintain a landfill, provides a county court system, collects
> taxes, may maintain vital records, etc.
> >
> > Cities and Villages are incorporated. They provide services. They have
a
> mayor and other elected officials, probably have to plow city and village
> streets, they probably maintain vital records, may provide trash pickup
> service, etc. The city will collect taxes and maintain a water supply. I
> don't know about the village. They may get money from the county instead
of
> taxpayers. They may not supply water to the residents. Perhaps they get
it
> from the Town.
> >
> > A hamlet may be as large or larger than a village, or it may be very,
very
> small. It is a concentration of homes and usually businesses within a
town,
> but it has not been incorporated yet. Large hamlets may have one or more
> grocery stores, gas stations, beverage centers, and even shopping centers.
> It provides no services because they is no elected mayor or officers, it
> maintains no trucks or snowplows, it has no courts, and it collects no
> taxes.
> >
> > Beside the official entity called a Town (usually not capitalized unless
> it is in the name of a town), there is the general term used by a great
> number of people and which has a different meaning. This is leads to
> confusion concerning the term. If someone asks, "What town are you
from?",
> another person might answer by giving the name of a city, village or
hamlet
> or even a town(ship). For example, in Albany Co. there is no hamlet or
> village named Guilderland. There is a Town of Guilderland, however. If a
> person lives in that town, but outside a village or hamlet, they probably
> would say that they live in Guilderland.
> >
> > It is very difficult to know what a person means when they use the term
> town. It can mean a lot of things, or it can mean one specific thing.
When
> writing emails, I normally capitalize Town even though it technically
should
> not be capitalized unless it is part of a name. By doing this, people
will
> suspect there is something special about the word and at least if they are
> from New York, they will probably understand my meaning.
> >
> > When a city grows beyond its official borders, a suburban area develops.
> The city does not have to supply services to the suburban non-payers of
city
> tax. That area could be a very large hamlet unless it incorporates to
> become a village or another city. Its services would come mainly from the
> Town next to the city.
> >
> > When I don't know whether a place is a village or a hamlet, I find it
> safer to refer to it as a locality or some similar term.
> >
> > I hope this explanation helps some of you better understand the
> subdivisions of this state.
> >
> > Cliff
> >
> > ______________________________
>
>


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