Signals the advent of spring. In keeping therein, we are attempting to come up with fresh ideas to perpetuate the truth and oppose untruths and the actions of those who think nothing of betraying a trust. One of the greatest compliments we have been paid is for a recent caller to tell us – "you paint what many others are thinking". We thank you for those kind words.

I want you! Interested persons are desperately needed to work, without compensation, as a service catalyst to assure economic accountability, district-wide cooperation, and student/teacher performance excellence. Local school districts, including BOCES, with perennial memberships as trustees, need fresh new blood.

It has been too long since electors have chosen free spirited, management oriented, and student caring individuals to serve on their school boards. Is it time for a change? The answer is yes! Voters should concern themselves with the oft implemented several year plan adopted by school boards to capture academic excellence. Has your school been cited as one of "excellence"? Can you cite major changes that occur as a result of input from public Budget Review Advisory Committees, which often endorse the "system’s" proposals in toto?

Please be advised that should you answer this calling and are endorsed by the voters, an awesome challenge will result. For at least one year or more, you will be in the minority on the board as you seek to implement change. However, with time, patience and well thought out proposals, positive action will result. Graduates within the past two decades could make excellent candidates based upon their personal experiences at EGCS.

The time honored slogan "a penny saved is a penny earned" is no longer practiced by much of the American public. For several years, the annual savings rate in the USA has been close to zero.

Penny economics is a practice which leads to dollar savings. Do you bargain shop, avoid impulse purchasing, purchase necessities only, borrow judiciously, purchase staples before they are needed, and have a budget which includes a savings plan? Some concerns have been voiced about a recession and its impact on those involved.

Earlier recessions which occurred during the 20^th Century contained a built-in safety valve. When the country was an agrarian nation, many city dwellers went back to the farms where food was available to eat and sell as a cash crop. The industrialized period, with the emphasis on saving, was a time when persons planted gardens and drew out some of their savings.

Now with the savings rate so low, those who have will be called upon to provide food for those who have not. It’s already happening as the local food pantries are making urgent appeals for donations as their cupboards are bare, and they are having difficulty in addressing this pressing need. Rensselaer County’s "Four Doors" will appreciate your help greatly. Just call (518) 674-4048 and ask how to get your food to them.

The federal government now takes in more in taxes than it spends. This is a budget surplus. There is controversy in Washington on what to do about it.

Some want to increase spending on new and existing programs with a small tax cut targeted to those deemed most needy of more money.

To us it is simple. Take less money from the taxpayers. Budget in an orderly pay down of the national debt, factor out the Social Security surplus, and then cut taxes across the board, to eliminate any remaining surplus. It is only fair that if there is too much money then those that pay should pay less.

The federal budget is about 1.8 trillion dollars per year. This is more than enough for all government spending programs. If more is required, take it out of existing programs by making them more efficient. If taxes are not cut, the legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, will find ways to spend it.

Books have been the gateway to knowledge for centuries. Libraries have been temples of learning and indispensable sources of recorded information. Suddenly the internet! Books have lost some of their importance.

Would you go to the library to find data for that term paper you have to write? Of course not! You’d crank up the computer and find answers to your questions without leaving home. I hope books do not go out of style but it seems that as they become less important the libraries get bigger. Did you look at your Town and County tax bill this year? In East Greenbush it nicely lists 11 categories for which your taxes are levied followed by the % change from prior year. The East Greenbush Public Library levy went up 20.5%. This taxpayer’s contribution for 2001 was $138 for something I never use and probably never will. Seems only yesterday that the tax was zero. It’s the old story. Once an item gets on the tax roll it grows and grows uncontrolled. Check you library’s activities – why are they in the entertainment business? Please librarians, hold the line.

The local school boards are now working on their new budgets. They are juggling a list of mandated spending, needed spending, and wishlist spending, the totality of which will not fit within the revenues available to them.

The school boards will give many reasons why spending increases and tax increases are required, most of which have to do with state mandates; the need to attract good teachers; the mainstreaming of disabled students; the relative wealth of the school district; and the lack of high taxpaying commercial growth in the community. They’ll also throw in the argument that the STAR program has reduced your actual taxes.

Do not fall for these arguments. The budget process is stacked against you because the education establishment will always desire new spending and higher taxes. Look to your own household budget. If your income has not kept pace with your spending, you must cut spending. If the proposed school property tax increase is greater than you can afford, then vote against the budget. Do not attempt to argue its merits. The only reason needed is that you cannot afford it.

Yes, it is true that if the budget fails, then the school board will implement a contingency budget and raise your taxes anyway. However, school boards do not like to do this. They do not like having the community against them. The administrators do not like the work involved in reworking the budget. Voted down budgets will impose prior restraint on the school boards and will send a strong message throughout the education establishment that property taxes are too high.

Neophyte Sen. Hillary Clinton is now expressing a sudden interest in upstate New York. We wonder why? The target this time is the smaller towns that are heavily conservative. She now shows a concern for smaller businesses, workers who have lost their jobs and those who might leave the state. The new Senator has a scheme to promise federal aid via a Senate bill she may introduce to grant a tax credit of up to $3,000 for every employee hired. Isn’t that just dandy? With this federal aid (if passed) would come more rules and regulations and another strangle hold on our citizens. This new agency would find scores of reasons why most small businesses would not qualify. This is typical. These liberal politicians never mention the source of the funds necessary to make up for the shortfall for dispensing "tax credits". It’s future votes, no other reason.

It has been said, "follow the money trail". Sure enough, bear in mind that every bill proposed by Congress costs the public a ton of money whether it becomes law or not. This is one of the expenses our pols rarely mention.

Even if this proposal were a sensible or reasonable assumption, economic development and/or aid is better handled on a local or statewide basis where there is some opportunity to keep graft and corruption to a minimum.

Would it not be far better for our thinking public to support our new president’s tax cuts in order to allow the people to keep more of their earnings and let them enjoy the freedom to invest their own money in their businesses, farms and the families of our working people? Most average citizens simply want government off their backs. If Hillary doesn’t believe this, she doesn’t represent very many people.

New York State is looking to increase fees for sportsman’s licenses again. In a recent TU article a Conservation Fund Advisory Board spokesman is quoted as saying "we absolutely need it" and the increase will be "slight". It goes on to state that a slight increase is no more than $4 to $5 increase on a $14 yearly fishing license fee. Wow! This is a 28% to 35% increase. Not slight in my book.

New York State, in 1999, raised about $33 million through license sales. This goes into a fund to pay for fish, wildlife, and conservation programs. Hunting and fishing license sales have been decreasing steadily over the last decades. Perhaps the reason sales are decreasing is that the price for them is too high. Many sportsmen have simply stopped buying them. Some opting to now fish or hunt illegally, some opting to forgo the sport entirely.

New York should rethink its sportsman’s programs. License fees should only be used for expenses absolutely needed to enforce reasonable hunting and fishing laws. Conservation expenses that benefit the general public should be funded out of general revenue sources. Fish stocking programs should be widely cut back and we should rely more on native growth. Casual fishing and hunting for enjoyment should not be prohibitively expensive. Perhaps if the fees were cut, more people would participate and the revenue raised would actually increase.

Add up how much tax you pay. It is truly a lot.

Assume a two-person family with husband and wife with combined income of $60,000 per year living in a house in Schodack with assessed value of $40,000.00. These are the taxes they paid in 2000.

Social Security $3,720.00
Medicare 870.00
Federal Income Tax 7,467.00
State Income Tax 2,427.00
School Tax 1,668.24
County/Town Property Tax 1,115.94
Sales Tax (on $5000 purchases) 400.00
Gasoline Tax (on 1000 gallons) 400.00
Other Hidden taxes 800.00

Total $18,868.18

This is fully 31.4% of money earned and this is too much. Disposable income is much less because car, clothes, and other expenses incurred to earn the $60,000 must be deducted. Housing costs also have to be factored in. Some consider this family well off. This is a myth. Most two wage earner couples can earn $60,000 between the two of them.

Add up your own income and how much tax you pay. Taxes are too high and need to be reduced. People need to keep more of their earnings.

In an article in the TU, Feb 20, by Michael Gromley, AP, it says, "taxpayers have been paying every day for better roads and highways through gasoline taxes, a portion of vehicle registration fees and other charges. These revenues go to what’s called the state’s Dedicated Highway and Bridge Fund, which has collected billions since it was created more than a decade ago.

In the 1989-90 fiscal year, almost $2.2 billion was collected by the administration of Gov. Mario M. Cuomo. Of that, 93% went not to highway and bridge repair, but to the general fund to non-transportation spending, state records show."

Would it not be far better for the present administration to do better than this? The ideal would be for all the money to go where it is supposed to go? Perhaps there would be no need for borrowing.

RCTA
PO Box 145
East Greenbush, NY 12061

www.capitalpost.com/rc/rcta.html

The taxpayer group is your voice to alert the public on matters involving the use of your money by public servants.
New members are needed to support our goals, which are excellence, accountability, and cooperation.
Give us a call.

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