Red Hook WatchIndependent Community Resource

Village vs Town — per-capita comparison

Village/Finance/Cross-jurisdiction
What each resident directly funds for the same kind of service, side by side. Village residents and Town-outside-villages residents each fund their own separate version of streets, general government, and planning/zoning — this page makes the spending visible on a per-person basis. AFR actuals: Village FY99/00, Town FY99/99.

Comparison table

FunctionVillage totalVillage / residentTown-outside totalTown-outside / residentΔ / resident
Streets, DPW & lighting
$164K$83$543K$78+$5
General government
$262K$133$102K$15+$118
Planning, zoning & building
$14K$7$85K$12−$5

Population: Village of Red Hook 1,975 · Town outside villages 6,966 (Town total 9,953 minus Village RH and Tivoli). 2020 Decennial Census, via NYS Open Data.

Δ / resident is Village minus Town-outside. Positive (red) means Village residents pay more for the same function on a per-capita basis. Negative (green) means Town-outside residents pay more.

What each row covers

Streets, DPW & lighting

Road maintenance, snow removal, street lighting, brush & weeds, sidewalks. Village taxpayers fund their own Village streets; Town-outside taxpayers fund Town-outside roads (Town DB highway + Town B streetlights/sidewalks). The Town A + DA highway-wide costs are paid by everyone in the Town (Village included) proportional to assessed value — those are shown as a context row.

Village ($164K / 1,975 residents = $83/person)
  • A51101 Maint of Streets, Pers Serv$66K
  • A51104 Maint of Streets, Contr Expend$52K
  • A51824 Street Lighting, Contr Expend$36K
  • A51424 Snow Removal, Contr Expend$8K
  • A51421 Snow Removal, Pers Serv$1K
Town-outside ($543K / 6,966 residents = $78/person)
  • DB51122 Perm Improve Highway, Equip & Cap Outlay$126K
  • DB51101 Maint of Streets, Pers Serv$107K
  • DB51421 Snow Removal, Pers Serv$80K
  • DB51104 Maint of Streets, Contr Expend$79K
  • DB51424 Snow Removal, Contr Expend$62K
  • DB51304 Machinery, Contr Expend$39K
  • DB51401 Brush And Weeds, Pers Serv$35K
  • DB51301 Machinery, Pers Serv$11K
  • DB51404 Brush And Weeds, Contr Expend$4K
Town-wide context — paid by ALL Town residents including Village ($90K / 9,953 = $9/person)
  • A50101 Street Admin, Pers Serv$48K
  • A51324 Garage, Contr Expend$16K
  • A51322 Garage, Equip & Cap Outlay$14K
  • A51824 Street Lighting, Contr Expend$10K
  • A50104 Street Admin, Contr Expend$2K

General government

Clerk, treasurer, mayor/supervisor, board operations, legal, audit, insurance, IT. Village A is paid by Village residents; Town B is paid by Town-outside residents. The Town A general-government overhead is paid by everyone in the Town (Village included).

Village ($262K / 1,975 residents = $133/person)
  • A19894 Other General Govt Support, Contract Exp$72K
  • A10101 Legislative Board, Pers Serv$30K
  • A16204 Operation of Plant, Contr Expend$24K
  • A19104 Unallocated Insurance, Contr Expend$23K
  • A14204 Law, Contr Expend$23K
  • A11101 Municipal Court, Pers Serv$20K
  • A13251 Treasurer, Pers Serv$14K
  • A80101 Zoning, Pers Serv$9K
  • A14101 Clerk,pers Serv$9K
  • A16404 Central Garage Contr Expend$8K
  • A14104 Clerk,contr Expend$5K
  • A80104 Zoning, Contr Expend$5K
  • A13201 Auditor, Pers Serv$4K
  • A12101 Mayor, Pers Serv$4K
  • A16201 Operation of Plant, Pers Serv$3K
  • A16202 Operation of Plant, Equip & Cap Outlay$3K
  • A13254 Treasurer, Contr Expend$3K
  • A12104 Mayor, Contr Expend$2K
  • A11104 Municipal Court, Contr Expend$2K
  • A10104 Legislative Board, Contr Expend$1K
  • A14604 Records Mgmt, Contr Expend$100
Town-outside ($102K / 6,966 residents = $15/person)
  • B80204 Planning, Contr Expend$36K
  • B80104 Zoning, Contr Expend$19K
  • B80904 Environmental Control, Contr Expend$14K
  • B19104 Unallocated Insurance, Contr Expend$14K
  • B80101 Zoning, Pers Serv$13K
  • B80201 Planning, Pers Serv$4K
  • B80202 Planning, Equip & Cap Outlay$1K
  • B80901 Environmental Control, Pers Serv$651
  • B80102 Zoning, Equip & Cap Outlay$365
Town-wide context — paid by ALL Town residents including Village ($374K / 9,953 = $38/person)
  • A14101 Clerk,pers Serv$53K
  • A12201 Supervisor,pers Serv$49K
  • A13551 Assessment, Pers Serv$46K
  • A11101 Municipal Court, Pers Serv$44K
  • A16204 Operation of Plant, Contr Expend$23K
  • A19104 Unallocated Insurance, Contr Expend$15K
  • A10101 Legislative Board, Pers Serv$14K
  • A16804 Central Data Process, Contr Expend$12K

Planning, zoning & building

Zoning enforcement, planning board operations, building/safety inspection. The Town's planning/zoning work covers the unincorporated area (Fund B); the Village's covers properties inside Village limits (Fund A). Both jurisdictions run their own planning boards and ZBAs.

Village ($14K / 1,975 residents = $7/person)
  • A80101 Zoning, Pers Serv$9K
  • A80104 Zoning, Contr Expend$5K
Town-outside ($85K / 6,966 residents = $12/person)
  • B80204 Planning, Contr Expend$36K
  • B80104 Zoning, Contr Expend$19K
  • B80101 Zoning, Pers Serv$13K
  • B36201 Safety Inspection, Pers Serv$10K
  • B80201 Planning, Pers Serv$4K
  • B36204 Safety Inspection, Contr Expend$1K
  • B80202 Planning, Equip & Cap Outlay$1K
  • B80102 Zoning, Equip & Cap Outlay$365
  • B36202 Safety Inspection, Equip & Cap Outlay$305

Methodology

The cost-base split. The two jurisdictions divide responsibility for similar services across multiple funds. NYS OSC uses a letter-prefix convention on account codes:

  • Village A fund — paid by Village taxpayers only. Funds Village streets, Village government, Village planning/zoning.
  • Town A fund — paid by ALL Town residents, including those who live inside a village. Funds Town-wide services like the Supervisor's office, court operations, the Town highway garage.
  • Town B fund — paid by Town residents who live OUTSIDE a village. Funds services the Town provides only to that population: planning/zoning for unincorporated areas, sidewalk maintenance, streetlights outside Village limits.
  • Town DA / DB funds — Town highway. DA is Town-wide highway (paid by everyone), DB is highway services for Town-outside-villages only.

The per-capita denominator. Each fund is divided by the population that actually pays into it:

  • Village A → divided by Village population (1,975)
  • Town B + DB → divided by Town-outside population (6,966)
  • Town A + DA (context only, not in the comparison column) → divided by total Town population (9,953)

What this does NOT capture. Village residents pay the Town tax line on their bill too — that covers their share of Town A + DA, weighted by assessed value. The comparison column above shows what each set of residents uniquely funds; the Town-wide context row (where present) shows the spending paid by both, weighted evenly per resident for simplicity.

FY mismatch. Village fiscal year runs June–May; Town fiscal year is calendar year. The latest available AFR actuals for each were used — Village FY99/00, Town FY99/99 — but they don't cover identical periods.

Source rows are pulled from fiscal_lines; mapping logic is in site/src/lib/getCrossJurisdictionComparison.ts.