Did you know that New York State law requires county government budgets to include a report every year on the value of all real property within the county that is exempt from property taxation? For example, in Ulster County, New York, this year there are 15,673 properties on the rolls Read more…
Earlier this month Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan proposed a $333.8 million budget for 2021 that requires neither a property tax levy increase nor employee layoffs, and with a smaller withdrawal from the county’s savings account (the fund balance) than was made in 2020. At first glance, this seems like Read more…
I know that I promised an article about how the City of Poughkeepsie was going to experience the most transformative change from the current wave of migration from New York City, and that article is coming, but first I wanted to address the notion that this trend is going to Read more…
I really did not want to open the semi-annual survey invitation from Bright Line Watch when I found it in my inbox this past August. This was the eleventh time since 2017 that this team of political scientists surveyed colleagues about the state of the U.S. government, to “monitor democratic Read more…
When I volunteered for military service in 1961 I was required to memorize the six elements of the Code of Conduct for American soldiers, keep a copy of the Code on a card in my pocket and be able to recite them on the spot if commanded to do so. Read more…