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Letter to editor/East
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Churchill tax decrease was assessment adjustment
I am writing in response to the article "Churchill: Budget includes tax decrease" (Jan. 17, East).
The article incorrectly stated that I abstained [in] a tax decrease vote in Churchill and two others voted against a tax decrease. My correction to your article and the reason for my abstention is that the recycling tax increase was taken out of the budget and billed to residents separately. A recycling collection tax is still a tax increase. I voted for none of those tax increases. Even so, what was put into the budget figures was, in fact, a millage decrease to avoid violation of the state windfall tax law and not a tax decrease. The rate was lower, but since the assessed values are higher, it was essentially the same, and many taxpayers may actually see an increase in their actual tax if their assessment increased. In addition, even with removing those tax increases, projected revenue is still an increase to at least 105% of last year's budget.
No reporter was at the council meeting and no one called the borough to get all the facts.
CHERYL R. MCABEE
Churchill
The writer is a Churchill council member.
First Published January 31, 2013 5:10 am
