Government in the Buffalo Region is based on New York state's many and varied layers of government.
NY divides first into counties then into cities or towns. In addition, villages may be incorporated and overlap with one or more towns. Thus a NY resident will be a legal resident of a county and either a city or town. Some may also be legal residents of a village. Some areas within a town may be designated as a hamlet, but it has no legal government status within NY.
You may start with Erie County, which contains the City of Buffalo, and work up to state and federal or down to City, Town and Village. For surrounding counties, see Erie County in NYS Map for your starting point.
Government Services
- Federal: Online Portal - residents represented by two Senators and their Representative for one of several Congressional Districts.
- NY State: Online Portal - some state functions, such as the DMV, may be administered by the resident's county. Resident represented by a state Senator and a member of the Assembly
- County - served by Erie County or a surrounding county -see Erie County in NYS Map
- Department of Motor Vehicles - learner's permits, driver's licenses, motorcycle licenses, vehicle registration, passports
- Local:
- City of Buffalo - garbage collection, policing, fire protection, zoning permits, alarm monitoring permits, pet registration, code enforcement, water, sanitation, sidewalks, road repair, passports
Notes and References
- See FOIL for Freedom of Information Law (and Act) access to government records.
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