East Fishkill Democratic Committee

February 8, 2009    

Dear Editor,

   I would like to respond to Legislator James Miccio’s recent letter to this paper regarding the recent Dutchess County budget process.  I’m glad he got to “the truth of the matter” (his words) because I was getting ready to blame the Republicans for the “flaws in the county budget.”

  He states that the “majority caucus passed a budget that raised property taxes by 11%.”  Ouch!  If that were “the truth” it would certainly hurt.  But I just received my tax bill for 2009 and my bottom-line property taxes actually decreased by $32!  So where is this 11% increase?  Every homeowner I’ve spoken to has either seen a property tax decrease or a very slight increase (3% is the highest I heard).  If you personally know someone whose property taxes went up 11% could it not be because their assessed valuation went up?  Please let all us know how many homeowners you personally know of who have seen an 11%  increase in their property taxes if you would really like to expose “the truth of the matter”.

  Legislator Miccio also complains of how the budget was discussed in the Legislature.  I agree, from the outside it certainly didn’t sound so pretty.  But you know what?  Being a new legislator, you may be unaware that for the 30 years preceding your joining the Legislature, the Republican caucus had a stranglehold on the Legislature and the budget process was just as ugly, with the minority Democrats never being allowed any input into the budget.

  Maybe if the county executive had not submitted such a ridiculous budget in the first place all of this contention would not have happened.  As a longtime resident of Dutchess County, I find it hard to swallow that yourself and the other Republican legislators did not know what was in Steinhaus’ budget before it was sent to the Legislature on October 31^st.

  One final question:  If you had been in charge of the Legislature during this budget period, how would you have handled things differently?  Please be truthful.

Sincerely,

Al Marotta
14 Zerner Blvd.
Hopewell Junction, N.Y. 12533

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