Letters to the Editor

Last year, taxes went up. This year, fees are going up. We must ask ourselves if this is a means of helping the revitalization of the city or just another straw on our backs. Fees are just another form of a tax. Fees for improving your house in any shape or form may start to cost you more.

This week the first of three hundred survey cards were sent out to the homeowners that voted in the last election. The survey cards look like the sample card below. If you received one please take some time to read and send the survey back. It will not cost you anything other than a little time.

The proposed 2016-2017 Oswego school budget of $79,510,611 is the amount of money that the Oswego City School District can afford. Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul is no longer an option; Peter has run out of money!! Voting this budget down will not restore any of the cuts involved to reach this budget number.

May 12, 2016, Government Day at the Oswego County Legislature: a day when junior high schoolers come to the legislature to see how government works. Well today they got a lesson in political integrity and political accountability and it didn’t cost them a thing. Most political majors in college pay a minimum of $150 a credit hour.

As the Fulton Board of Education has adopted a budget for the 2016-2017 school year, and it has been presented to the voters of our community for their consideration, I hope that all eligible voters will cast their vote on Tuesday, May 17.

I would like to encourage everyone to get out and support this year’s budget. This year’s budget is a modest increase in spending from the previous year. The spending increase is 2.47% similar to what anyone might expect their own spending to increase from year to year.

This past week I was present at a political gathering that was attended by some of Oswego County’s elected officials and also several of our state representatives. During the gathering one of the state representatives asked me a question regarding a resolution and a request for the state to change a home-rule law. This representative and the majority caucus are looking to change a rule that each and every elected official in the state must follow.

I am writing to you in regards to the OCSD budget presentation on Tuesday April 5, 2016. As outlined by Dr. Dean Goewey, the budget is one of the tightest and includes job and programing cuts like we have not seen in recent times. As a taxpayer in this city, I have a hard time swallowing the idea that all areas of OCSD will be “deeply impacted,” as Dr. Goewey stated.

The Friends of the Oswego Library respectfully asks the citizens of the Oswego School District to support the Oswego S.D. Public Library by visiting their polling locations on May 17 and vote yes for the levy that has been placed on the ballot.