=== EXECUTIVE BRIEF === • Village manager directed to revise the CGR court study proposal to broaden its focus beyond consolidation • Revised scope must include police department input, public defender and DA perspectives, and a public participation component • Study must exclude COVID-era financial data that could skew revenue and cost analysis • Manager asked to seek comparable case studies, including municipalities that consolidated courts and later experienced regret • Board requested the town of Cortland be asked to share study costs, though the mayor called it unlikely • No vote taken; revised proposal to come to a future regular meeting with public comment period The first sentence of the consultant's proposal said it all — and Trustee Stacey Nachtaler wasn't having it.
Village Manager Bryan Healy and Mayor Brian Pugh during discussion of the village court study proposal at the Board Of Trustees meeting.
Village Manager Bryan Healy and Mayor Brian Pugh during discussion of the village court study proposal at the Board Of Trustees meeting.
"I read this study, and the first sentence on page one is a request for a proposal to study the feasibility of dissolving the village justice court and shifting it to Cortland," Nachtaler told the Board of Trustees at their February 11 work session. "When I look at the actual study, I think there are opportunities here to make it more impartial. It's not impartial right now." 21:58▶ What followed was the most pointed debate of the evening, as several trustees pushed back against a $36,500 proposal from the Center for Governmental Research to study Croton's justice court — a proposal they felt was already steering toward a predetermined conclusion. The study has a tight timeline because state law only allows village courts to be considered for consolidation at the end of a justice's term. That window closes this year and won't reopen until 2030. If the board moved toward dissolution, a final decision would need to come by July to get a referendum on the November ballot. Trustee Nora Nicholson called that timeline "idiotically small," arguing it would force a consequential decision in the middle of summer when residents aren't paying attention. "People in Croton like the idea of having the court here," she said. "The residents really spoke very loudly about that." 13:51▶ Nachtaler, who noted she has 20 years of experience with consulting studies, also flagged that the proposal could include COVID-era financial data — a problem, she said, given that parking permit revenues plummeted to $152,000 during the pandemic but rebounded to $3 million in 2025. "That is going to skew the data, and it's going to skew the recommendations," she said. 22:38▶ She also suggested the town of Cortland should help pay for the study if it stands to benefit from absorbing the court. The mayor called that unlikely but said it was worth asking. The village manager acknowledged the concerns and agreed to revise the proposal before bringing it to a vote at a future meeting. Trustees also want the police department, public defender's office, and district attorney's office included in the review, along with some mechanism for genuine public input during the study itself — not just after. Ironically, nobody from the public showed up to comment on a discussion that could ultimately determine whether Croton keeps its own court. What to watch for: A revised study proposal will come to a future regular board meeting for a vote — that meeting will include a public comment period. If approved, CGR would deliver findings by June. The village justice seat is also up for election this November.
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