To The Editor:
I am a candidate for the Newburgh Town Board and as Election Day is closing in, I feel voter respect has been compromised. Half-truths, withholding vital information and refusing to speak to the voters seems to be a strategy for re-election.
This administration has bestowed upon us a 134.8% town tax rate increase during a 10-year period. This historically unprecedented increase from $3.30 to $7.42 was a product of multiple lost lawsuits and a very poor spending record. Somehow, our incumbents’ biggest pitch to the voters for re-election is two years of tax stability. No wonder the voters have been ousting incumbents of both parties in record numbers in recent years.
I researched and discovered in 1971 our tax rate was $3.00 per assessed thousand. Then, during the Carter administration of double-digit inflation & interest rates of nearly 20%, the tax rate increased by .50 cents to $3.50 over a difficult 5 year period. By virtue of fiscal responsibility the rate declined to $3.30 by 2001. That means in the 30 years prior to this administration our tax rate went from $3.00 to $3.30, which is an average of 3/10th of 1 percent annually. Shame on this board for trying to tell us they have held down taxes. This is by far the worst increase in our history. Now, in an attempt to once again mislead the voters, comparisons to surrounding communities’ tax rates are being made while failing to mention these townships offer regular garbage pickup and town wide water and sewer that Newburgh does not offer.
The town website has become a political good news tool. On the same day Chadwick Lake Reservoir tested positive for coliforms (bacteria) the public was only notified only that the Delaware Aqueduct water supply does not need boiling with no mention of Chadwick’s potentially hazardous potential.
Finally, our incumbents seem to be avoiding the voters by their inability to work out a meet the candidate’s public forum date in order to interact with the voters. Maybe their record of taxation, no-bid contracts, storming out of public meetings and telling the people only half the story has create a need to explain to the electorate the real truth.
Respectfully submitted,
Gary MacEntee Sr
Independence and Working Families Candidate
Town of Newburgh
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