Citizen’s Committee votes to recommend pursuing cityhood
The Village of Manchester Citizen’s Advisory Committee investigating cityhood held its final meeting on June 25th, and voted to recommend the Village pursue city status. Those present voted unanimously and the two absent members of the committee submitted letters of support. The Committee chair, Jim Keller, summarized their final report at the Village Council meeting July 1st.
Village manager Jeff Wallace praised the citizen committee which had been investigating what city hood would mean for Manchester. He stated, “It was a pleasure being a liaison with this committee as they worked very hard and really put in the effort to get a good picture of where things were at and what would be in the best interests of their fellow residents.”
Their complete report is the Village of Manchester’s website located at https://vil-manchester.org. The following is the summary section:
“The Citizens Advisory Committees charge by the Village Council to explore the pros and cons of cityhood has proven to be insightful and educational. Over the course of four months, we have become familiar with the detailed process a municipality has to go through in order to achieve city status. We have researched other communities’ benefits and pitfalls during their attempts to incorporate as a city, asked ourselves is this what would best serve our community, and most importantly, tried to identify the impact on the Village of Manchester and Manchester Township.
Our discovery process revealed more benefits to incorporating as a city than drawbacks. While the obvious advantage of having more control over our tax dollars is evident, there are other compelling factors that brought us to this conclusion. The elimination of a duplicative government structure, the potential reduction of Village property taxes, modernization of our government structure and recognition by the state as a primary unit of government are other benefits.
This is perhaps one of the most important decisions that the Village will make. We understand that a decision to move forward will impact our community and the townships around us. However, in our research, neither the Villages that have incorporated as cities, nor have their surrounding communities, experienced major negative repercussions from their decision. We also recognize that with more autonomy comes the financial responsibility to cover those services, but we feel the Village is well suited to handle the additional work without negative financial impact.
When Manchester Township met with our committee, its leadership conveyed the thought that they would work with the Village regardless of being a city or not. Both communities would work together for the greater good of all its residents. Under a City and Township structure, both communities would be able to focus on matters most important for their respective residents and pursue their best interests. Additionally, even though Manchester Township did not directly address the financial impact of the separation, our research of public financial documents and contracts shows the financial impact on the Township to be manageable. The largest area of concern for Manchester and the surrounding townships is the fire department. We believe that fire service should not be impacted, although the structure of the fire department may be altered through negotiations.
For the average Village or Township resident, a change in municipal structure would be seamless. It is important to note, however, that Village residents will have opportunities to voice their opinion through the electoral process. While we understand the sentimental value of being a Village, the small-town feel would not change. The issue we sought to address was what form of government would best serve the taxpayers and residents of the Village.”
Keller stated to the Village Council, “It will take time, and it will also take a lot of people to get this done. He continued, “There will be resistance. Some of it will be due to misinformation, which always spreads faster than the facts of the matter. But in the end, the facts are on our side.”
Keller also recommended to the Village Council that they “Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!”
The Village Council will likely vote whether or not to pursue cityhood at their July 15th meeting.
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