Eve Smith is right and Walter Greenspan largely right, but Walter is wrong
about hamlets following old school district lines. A few may, but most don't. A
hamlet is just a settlement, a group of homes and maybe a store (or several)
that acquired a place name and probably a post office. There is no local
government excepting what's provided by the town. Villages, on the other hand,
arose when hamlets got big enough that residents wanted to raise a tax for a
special service, often a fire department, sometimes water and/or sewer.

Since hamlets are not incorporated, they have no defined boundary. The phrase
"incorporated village" is a redundancy. A hamlet has to incorporate to become a
village. Nearly all villages are also part of one or more towns but there is, I
believe, at least one "co-terminous" town-village in NYS; that is, the elected
village-town government serves both functions.

I learned much of this 30 years ago when the (then and now separate) town and
village of Catskill considered merging and had a consultant study the economic
differences. (Different state aid, etc.) The study showed several options:
dissolve the village and have the town provide its services through "special
districts"; expand the village to encompass the whole town and have each
government perform different functions; merge the two into a co-terminous
town-village; or keep both governments and contract various services to each
other, as towns often contract with a village fire department.

Special districts deserve a word of mention. A town can provide a service to a
small group of residents and tax them for it. The district must be defined
(mapped). Example: Hamlet of Central Bridge in Schoharie County (towns of
Esperance and Schoharie) has a water district, also a fire district, also a
street light district, all with different defined boundaries. It should be a
village. The two town boards sit jointly once a month as the water district
board; the fire district elects its own officers who levy a tax that the towns
cannot veto; and I'm not sure who pays the street light bill.

Another thing to note: Village residents usually pay town highway taxes as well
as village taxes to support their streets, but that's not required. The town of
Schoharie, years ago, dropped nearly all the road tax for village residents. We
in the village pay a very small town road tax which helps pay the salary of the
superintendent (a town-wide officer) and a few other things, but the labor and
equipment costs are taxed only to town outside-of-village residents.

It's a real taxing mess! Visit your local county real property tax office to
learn what local "special districts" exist and have the power to tax.

One more thing: towns cannot have cities in them. A city is basicallty the same
thing as a co-terminous town-village.


carol kammen wrote:

>         I know that New York has Towns, and that Towns can have in them
> cities and villages.  My question concerns hamlets.  Are some designated
> incorporated and other unincorporated?  And how does the designation come
> about?
>         I am sure Philip Lord can straighten this out and I will appreciate
> him doing so.
>         thanks,   carol kammen