Consolidation

Joel at Small Town Lawyer has recently posted a number of interesting stories on the issue of municipal consolidation. NY's 932 towns and 1100+ villages are leftovers of an archaic system that was probably necessary pre-mass transit and communications. Shifts in society (ie, suburbs) and technology should require a ground-up rethinking of how we deliver services on the local level. Consolidating towns and/or villages is one way to reduce overhead and expenses through an established legal procedure.