To: President Donald Trump, The New York State House, The New York State Senate, Governor Andrew Cuomo, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
TAXES IN NY - Ulster
My email to the BOE, sent a few moments ago:
Dear Members of the MarlboroCentralSD in NY Board of Education,
On February 23rd of this year, I sent an email to all of you. I received no response, not even a polite acknowledgement, from a single one of you. In light of that, I respectfully request that this letter be read aloud and made a part of the public record at the BOE meeting scheduled for tomorrow evening, April 11, 2014.
I must encourage all of you not to adopt the budget that was put forth to the community last Thursday, April 4th. “Adopt” is defined as “to vote to accept.” I don’t understand how you can accept this budget. Certainly, you must know that this community cannot and will not accept this budget. You might say, well, we don’t like this budget, but we have to accept it. And I would disagree with you. I would say that by accepting it, you are endorsing it, supporting it. Please don’t do that. How can you do that?
It would make much more sense for you to reach consensus on the fact that a 25% increase in the tax rate this year, in addition to the 37% increase we soaked up four years ago, plus anticipated tax rate increases of 7%, 5%, and 5% over the next three years places an intolerable burden on the taxpayers of this town. Then, if you truly believe you have done everything you can to both preserve residents’ income and defend the educational program, why not at least make an attempt to take back the power on the taxpayers’ behalf. Write to the governor and our other elected officials, the NYS Commissioner of Education, and the NYSSBA, and contact the media. Tell all of them that under the circumstances you cannot put forth a reasonable and acceptable budget to the Marlboro community. Tell them that the taxpayers in Marlboro feel powerless, and that you feel your hands are tied, that you’re unable to do better. Tell them that we are about to be mowed down by a speeding school budget locomotive, powered in large part by the legislative brick wall known as the Tri borough Amendment, a patently unfair law unique to only New York State. Tell them that the teachers of our district could have and might have been our heroes in our time of desperate need, if they had offered concessions and made a meaningful contribution to decreasing the immense tax burden increase, but that their union representatives stubbornly refused to even consider it. Tell them that you cannot in all good conscience push a budget that is unacceptable – and in the long run unsustainable – on the very people who elected you to work on their behalf and look out for their best interests.
Then, after you have written the letters and spoken to the media and made your case – our case – repeatedly, in plain English for all to hear and understand, only then tell us you’ve done the best you can do.
You represent the collective will of the people in this town. If you haven’t heard the people by now, then you simply haven’t been listening. I hope we can agree that it is your duty to represent the taxpayers; by extension, we should be able to agree that you should not adopt this budget.
Dear Members of the MarlboroCentralSD in NY Board of Education,
On February 23rd of this year, I sent an email to all of you. I received no response, not even a polite acknowledgement, from a single one of you. In light of that, I respectfully request that this letter be read aloud and made a part of the public record at the BOE meeting scheduled for tomorrow evening, April 11, 2014.
I must encourage all of you not to adopt the budget that was put forth to the community last Thursday, April 4th. “Adopt” is defined as “to vote to accept.” I don’t understand how you can accept this budget. Certainly, you must know that this community cannot and will not accept this budget. You might say, well, we don’t like this budget, but we have to accept it. And I would disagree with you. I would say that by accepting it, you are endorsing it, supporting it. Please don’t do that. How can you do that?
It would make much more sense for you to reach consensus on the fact that a 25% increase in the tax rate this year, in addition to the 37% increase we soaked up four years ago, plus anticipated tax rate increases of 7%, 5%, and 5% over the next three years places an intolerable burden on the taxpayers of this town. Then, if you truly believe you have done everything you can to both preserve residents’ income and defend the educational program, why not at least make an attempt to take back the power on the taxpayers’ behalf. Write to the governor and our other elected officials, the NYS Commissioner of Education, and the NYSSBA, and contact the media. Tell all of them that under the circumstances you cannot put forth a reasonable and acceptable budget to the Marlboro community. Tell them that the taxpayers in Marlboro feel powerless, and that you feel your hands are tied, that you’re unable to do better. Tell them that we are about to be mowed down by a speeding school budget locomotive, powered in large part by the legislative brick wall known as the Tri borough Amendment, a patently unfair law unique to only New York State. Tell them that the teachers of our district could have and might have been our heroes in our time of desperate need, if they had offered concessions and made a meaningful contribution to decreasing the immense tax burden increase, but that their union representatives stubbornly refused to even consider it. Tell them that you cannot in all good conscience push a budget that is unacceptable – and in the long run unsustainable – on the very people who elected you to work on their behalf and look out for their best interests.
Then, after you have written the letters and spoken to the media and made your case – our case – repeatedly, in plain English for all to hear and understand, only then tell us you’ve done the best you can do.
You represent the collective will of the people in this town. If you haven’t heard the people by now, then you simply haven’t been listening. I hope we can agree that it is your duty to represent the taxpayers; by extension, we should be able to agree that you should not adopt this budget.
Why is this important?
Out of control tax cost and rising (School & Property, including fire, & water) I must INCLUDE ALL SURROUNDING COUNTIES.