|
Offshore Putnam County
Dear Editor:
When the Putnam County Executive, a Republican no less, proposes a 40% hike in our taxes, I take this as more evidence that a certain weirdness has descended on political life in our country. Our County Legislature, more Republicans, just reduced this proposal to an unholy 23.43%, which is only slightly less mind-boggling. Whatever happened to the traditional Republicans we used to know and love, or at least respect, who equated tax increases with bubonic plague?
Say what you want about the Bush Administration, but they did reduce taxes. My gripe is that they lowered taxes for the wrong people. Our anointed wealthy class needs more tax breaks like my front lawn needs more weeds. However, it is the 7-year shift from surplus to deficit that would have made Robert Taft and Dwight Eisenhower check their party registration, if they still were alive.
Our County Legislator, Vincent Tamagna, a very nice man, disappointed me with his vote in favor of the 23% tax increase, and his explanation that this was to prevent Mr. Bondi's 40% hike rings hollow. A Republican with his radar intact would have voted "No" and shouted "a pox on both your tax hikes".
How Putnam County can turn a 23% increase into a more reasonable, say, 3% increase, and then repeat that number for 5 or 10 years, may require more smarts than I have, but not more nerve. If this means our civil servants need to share staplers, or Carmel needs to be offshored to India, or something in between, please figure it out. Think like worried accountants and not glad-handing salesmen. Defend the bottom line by saying "No" to whoever is demanding a "Yes". There's a nice phrase for this attitude in the Venetian dialect, but its translation, alas, can not be printed in a family newspaper.
If the cost of government is too expensive, perhaps it is time for Putnam County to seek consolidation with Dutchess or Westchester and reap the benefits of economies of scale. This will never happen in my lifetime, but the next time some group seeks to secede from the state, county, town, village, or neighborhood, remember to ask if it will cost more than it does now.
We all know that taxes are a necessity and not inherently evil. Whether Democrat, Republican, or a fence sitter like myself, we know taxes benefit the community. If somehow you disagree, the next time you need a cop, handle it yourself or hire Blackwater. I just want tax increases to follow the cost of living index and not anticipate it by 20 years. This can only be arranged if we insist.
Joseph Barbaro
Cold Spring
| Click ads below
for larger version
System and Method for Display
Ads have a Patent Pending.
Click Here for More Information
|
