By Evelyn Bartin, November 2009
On Thursday, November 5th, a public hearing was held regarding the town’s proposed 2010 budget. If it goes through as it now stands, the final budget will result in a nearly 13% tax increase for Milan’s property owners.
Every resident of Milan was mailed a letter from Ross Williams and Diane May to this effect—a letter paid for out of their own pockets. This letter was also posted prominently on this website. And, as required by law, notice of the hearing was additionally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal and posted at Town Hall.
And yet, only SIX people were in attendance to voice their opinions!
Many of us believe this significant tax increase could have been ameliorated by following a couple of easy steps: READ MORE
- Bond the highway work vs. paying-as-we go. This step would have allowed more road work to be done for less money. And since highway department spending is roughly two-thirds of the town’s budget, this action would have had significant impact.
- Hold the salaries of elected officials at their current rates. At a time when people are struggling with lost jobs and diminished savings, raising salaries seems out of synch and insensitive. And at a time when cost of living has gone down it, more importantly, seems inappropriate.
Not only would the above steps have been intelligent, prudent and financially responsible, the cost savings they would have generated would have enabled the town—without passing on any additional tax burden to its residents—to place ample funds in the legal budget. This is important not only to continue the fight against Red Wing, but also to be prepared for any planned legal needs of the town as well as any unforeseen legal events that might come down the pike. As it stands now, that budget line is virtually stripped.
But as I said, only SIX people were in attendance to voice their opinions!
If you wish to have your voice heard after-the-fact, please write or email the Town Board. All addresses are available on this website. Unfortunately, your requests will not be considered “official hearing record.” However, the final budget is not submitted until November 18th, and one can only hope the Board will do the right thing regardless of attendance at the hearing.
And, of course, please do plan to regularly attend Town Board meetings (on the second Monday of each month) to ensure, among other things, that financial accuracy and fiduciary responsibility are being upheld by the Board—including its newest members who will be sworn in in January.
