Local governments in rural areas of New York State, as in many other states, are struggling to keep up with the demands of a changing society and an increasing rural population. Relative poverty, increasing costs of essential community services, frequent turnover of elected and appointed officials, insufficient training, geographic isolation, and lack of timely information and legal advice are all problems for rural local governments. One answer is intermunicipal agreements that allow participating governments to provide services through joint funding and administration. This document reports on results of a survey conducted by the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources of over 1,000 municipalities in New York State on the subject of intermunicipal cooperation. Responses were received from 100 towns, 57 villages, 12 cities, 5 counties and 2 unknown places (municipal names were missing). The report also discusses the legality of intermunicipal agreements in New York State. Such agreements may include not only municipal services, but also recreational and health services to youth and the elderly, including drug abuse education. This report contains a synopsis of the survey results including detailed comments from government officials about factors that hinder participation in such agreements and ways in which the state could encourage the sharing of services. A table of responses shows areas in which municipalities presently share services. Appendices contain a checklist for successful intermunicipal projects; a directory of offices with information about intermunicipal agreements; sample agreements; notes of restrictive decisions (addenda to the New York State law on municipal cooperation); and a copy of the survey questionnaire. (DHP)