Sunday Opinion: Property tax cap, Memorial Day
Morning, everyone. Another soggy blustery North Country day in store. Might as well curl up with the Sunday opinion pages, right?
The Adirondack Daily Enterprise and the Plattsburgh Press Republican are both signaling strong support for the idea of a property tax cap, though both have some caveats and concerns.
The Press-Republican notes that without accompanying mandate relief, “local schools and governments may have to take drastic steps that we will all regret.”
a tax cap is viable only if the state isn’t going to keep piling on more costly requirements without providing any funding. For municipalities, the biggest burden is the local share of Medicaid costs…For schools, the heaviest weight comes from state requirements that they describe as outdated, inflexible and expensive.
The Enterprise shares those mandate concerns, but says local governments should also be given the authority to raise more revenue through sales taxes and higher property taxes, if local residents choose.
[The property tax cap] must ensure local control by allowing local residents to overrule it in the voting booth, perhaps by a 60 percent majority. If people want to pay more to fund their own government functions, it would be undemocratic for Albany to stop them.
The Glens Falls Post Star, the Watertown Daily Times and the Burlington Free Press use today’s lead editorials to focus attention on Memorial Day.
The Post Star has a powerful remembrance of William Aiken of Whitehall who died in Vietnam in 1970.
When Little Billy’s body arrived back in the United States, Big Bill went down to meet the plane. Catherine said her husband undressed his son and saw the three bullet wounds on his body. He told her about them, but she never saw them herself.
“I know things happen for a reason,” she said. “God balances things out. No one has a whole loaf of bread.”
The Watertown Daily Times, meanwhile, nods at the many heroes whose sacrifices aren’t heralded or talked about.
Many have sacrificed all for the country, ideals and way of life that we cherish and love. We could not have done without them.
Monday is an occasion to honor, remember and thank these great Americans.
The Burlington Free Press, meanwhile, lists by name all forty of the Vermont soldiers who have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
To remember these servicemen to honor their sacrifice.
Tags: opinion
If pensions and/or benefits are excluded from the tax cap, then it is a TCINO, tax cap in name only.
Smoke and mirrors to put another falsehood on their resumes, that does nothing constructive, and mostly is destructive.
Forgetaboutit when it comes when it comes to our fearless leaders in Albany every saying, “The buck stops here.” The new mantra is the “buck stops at local schools and governments.”
If the state wants to mandate something, it should pay for it through the income tax. Otherwise it is just a bunch of fraudulent vote buying.
I am troubled about the Memorial Day holiday. We have Armed Forces Day to honor the military for its service. We also have separate days on our calendar to honor each individual branches of our military. There is Flag Day to honor our flag. Of course, we have Veterans Day to honor all of our veterans who have served in our military. We have the fourth of July to honor our Declaration Of Independence. I always thought Memorial Day was specifically for honoring our war dead; those who have served and died. Originally, it was to honor the men who died in the civil war and was called Decoration Day. Years later, it was amended to be Memorial Day and it was to honor the dead from all of our wars. It seems like all of these holidays have lost their separate and distinct meanings and have just come to be patriotic, military celebrations headed up by Hollywood stars, entertainers and parades. I miss the distinctions, as I think there was value in contemplating the different meanings of each commemorative day.