Proponents of downsizing are once again hoping to slash the size of local governments this November. Wednesday downsizing advocate Kevin Gaughan delivered petitions to three Western New York villages to urge residents to dissolve their governments. YNN's Kevin Jolly tells us which villages Gaughan is targeting and why.

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Downsizing advocate Kevin Gaughan delivered petitions to the three Western New York villages Wednesday in an effort to urge residents to dissolve their local governments.

The Village of Sloan was one of them.

With a population of 3,800 people, its own fire department, VFW post and community center most services are provided by the village, with the exception of the police department. But now, some residents are trying to change the way things in Sloan are run.

Linda Gossett presented a petition with 400 signatures to the village to look into possibly dissolving the village government:

"I want a voice in where my tax dollars are going and how they're being spent and if that means dissolving or downsizing the village government then I think I have a right to say so because I'm paying their salaries".

Resident Robert Gike agreed, “It's up to the community. The community is the village not the government. We believe we have a right to make a vote to see if we want to keep this government going."

The man behind this latest effort to dissolve another local government, Kevin Gaughan, cited property taxes as the reason behind the petitions, “The fact of the matter is the average citizen here in Western New York is tired of paying the fifth highest local property taxes in America."

So far Gaughan’s downsizing campaign has been successful in at least seven different municipalities. He believes it’s because his message of smaller government is striking the right chord with many residents.

"Today the will of hundreds of residents of the Village of Sloan the Village of Williamsville and the Village of Farnham were expressed in a citizen petition,” said Gaughan “to bring a vote not politicians but so the people can decide if they want to change a system that's clearly broken."

But village Mayor Leonard Symanski believes residents who signed the petition don't really understand what they stand to lose if the village is dissolved.

"The stuff that we really have accomplished here in the village, you know, if we lose it we don’t know what's going to happen here with the fire department, our senior citizens and the whole amount of things that we've done here."

84-year-old resident Bill Schroeder agrees. His family has lived in Sloan for more than 100 years. He thinks residents should leave the village just the way it is.

"This village is fine the way it is we got good service here 99 percent of the people are happy."

Gaughan says he isn’t going away anytime soon, however, he says his whole point is to allow the people to decide on how much government is too much.

"So, we're going to have a great debate and a great discussion on how we can do something about that. And you know what that is? It's American. That's exciting and I think it’s healthy.”