Intermunicipal Agreements

Because municipal governments hold land use power in New York State, intermunicipal planning and intermunicipal agreements can be effective ways for communities to preserve and enhance joint resources. Through intermunicipal agreements, towns, villages, and cities can work with one another to pool resources to save money, reduce duplication of effort, and provide better services. By sharing financial, technical, and administrative resources, municipalities can ensure that there is more cooperation and consistency in planning decisions across adjacent communities.

Intermunicipal agreements can be used in many areas, such as jointly developing land use or resource protection plans or ordinances, sharing municipal service delivery, collectively purchasing supplies and equipment, creating joint zoning and planning boards, or sharing tax revenues. For example, communities can work collaboratively to help preserve resources that cross municipal boundaries, such as prime agricultural lands or natural areas, by adopting complementary ordinances or forming joint planning, zoning or subdivision review boards.