What is an incorporated village?

The New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM) defines a village as "a general purpose municipal government that is created by a vote of the residents of a community in order to provide an enhanced level of government services not otherwise provided by the surrounding town. "Currently, 556 communities in this state have created and retained the village form of government, serving 1.9 million of the State's nearly 19 million residents. Over the past 25 years, several villages have dissolved and new villages have incorporated, but the total number of villages has remained essentially the same. The number of villages within some of the State's most populous counties includes 64 villages in Nassau County, 31 villages in Suffolk County, 20 villages in Westchester County, and 16 villages in Erie County." Bellport, Pt. Jefferson, West Hampton Dunes, Patchogue and Islandia are only a few of our neighboring communities that are also villages.

The incorporated village can, if it chooses, provide a wide array of services to its residents. While these services could include many of the services currently provided by the state, county and town governments, the proposed Village of Mastic Beach, would concentrate primarily on service that will directly benefit the residents of Mastic Beach. The Village will establish a local Building Department with a Planning Board and Zoning Board. In addition, the village will assume authority over Code Enforcement with the creation of a local Municipal Court to adjudicate all code infractions at the local village level.

The governing body of a village is the elected Board of Trustees, composed of a Mayor and usually four Trustees. The mayor may vote on business before the board and may break a tie. The mayor generally does not possess veto power, unless provided by local law. The mayor is also the executive of the village.

A village must have a municipal building or village hall; however, the facility may be shared with another government entity and, initially, need not be impressive or expensive - even possibly a storefront.

*All NYCOM references are to its August 13, 2008, News Release