SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- All together, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and dozens of town supervisors and village mayors will have two months to form and submit a shared-services plan to the county legislature.

"The one thing that I think has been great is we've really come together as a group," Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson said.

At a meeting Thursday, the group heard Mahoney tout the state-mandated plan as an opportunity. The mandate doesn't come with a financial penalty if the group doesn't pass a plan. The state, though, is offering to match savings from the plan.

"And so I don't know why we would do anything except roll up our sleeves and give it our best shot right now," Mahoney said.

There are a variety of concerns. Some leaders would like more time to come up with a plan, which must be submitted to the legislature by August 1, and finalized in mid-September. Others expressed a desire for the state to match funds for shared services already in place.

"We do it every single day in lots of different ways, whether it's selling asphalt, selling salt, doing things with information technology," Miner said.

Miner also criticized Albany for not doing its part to address unfunded mandates and questioned whether the state will recognize savings that aren't directly transferred to a property tax bill.

"What I will not do is stand up and tell my constituents that by engaging in this process, we're going to cut their property taxes next year," Miner said.

It's likely that state funds would not come until the 2018 fiscal year, but leaders hope to find savings well before that time.

"Now we can go forward; we can find new ways to work with other towns and villages in the county," Olson said.

That discussion will pick up in the coming weeks. The public will get a chance to weigh in on a shared services plan before it's sent to the state. It's likely that there will be a public hearing on the plan after it is submitted to the legislature, and again once it's back with the shared services panel that met Thursday.