Dear Editor,
On Aug. 19 I received in my mailbox a flyer from State Sen. Peter Harckham titled “Delivering for Westchester" and “Securing Vital State Funding for Westchester.”
The following bulleted points were offered:
Secured over $12.4 million in funding to support and maintain our roads and transportation infrastructure in Westchester County.
$4.4 million in direct aid to Westchester County municipalities to support local services and help keep taxes down.
$280,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester.
$1.5 million in new funding for the Westchester Works Child Care Scholarship program.
An additional $5 million for Arts Westchester.
$100,000 for Feeding Westchester and $50,00 for Caring for The Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill.
$200,00 for Westchester Community Services.
$260,000 for the Westchester County Youth Program.
$219.5 million in Foundation Aid for Westchester schools in SD-40, an increase of $4.5 million or 2.1 percent, for $329.8 million in total school aid.
Boosted per-pupil Universal Pre-K spending for local schools by an average of 83%
Is this doublespeak, misspeak or just political propaganda?
What wasn’t said, an extra $1.5-$2 billion given to New York city to prop up Mamdani; where over 30% of bus riders and 8% of subway riders are fare beaters and where the congestion pricing tolls were applied.
While the second bullet says “…help keep taxes down,” this again is doublespeak, misspeak or political propaganda. While county, city, town, village taxes and independent district taxes may remain stable or only increase by less than 5%, the same cannot be said for state taxes. While Sen. Harckham may be factual in securing state budget funding, the source of the funding remains the same. The taxpayer is paying more to the county, or the city, or the town or the village or the state or a combination of all. There is no savings for the actual taxpayer.
Doublespeak, misspeak, or political propaganda?
-Jay Kopstein, Yorktown Heights
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