Letter to the Editor: Accusations Won’t Change That Wrong Town Tax Rates Were Publicized
When the writer of the letter in last week’s paper, “Apology is in Order After Baseless Claims Made Against Yorktown Officials,” accused me of being an obstructionist and conspiracy theorist, he obviously hadn’t heard my comments at the December budget hearing. Or, if he did hear them, he chose to ignore them.
At the televised hearing, I very clearly acknowledged that, like past supervisors, I unwittingly had been using the wrong tax rate information for years as supervisor, councilperson and resident. It was only after realizing my error, which was using a December estimated tax rate instead of the actual April tax rate when comparing the impact of taxes over two years, that I spoke up and brought the error to the board’s attention. The comptroller acknowledged that there was a difference between the two tax rates.
My issue is that when the error was brought to the board’s attention – and was not disputed – in the spirit of honesty and transparency, the board should have changed the comparison between 2020 and 2021 town taxes. It didn’t. Instead, the board continued to tell taxpayers, incorrectly, that it was “holding the line” on taxes when, in fact, many taxpayers will see an increase in their town tax bill in 2021.
All I did was tell the truth. I’m not the one who should apologize.
Susan Siegel
Yorktown Heights
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