A recent Siena Research Institute Poll finds New York state residents support a property tax cap. Great.
In the meantime, when many area school districts reduce educational quality and programming for students while raising taxes, guess what? Residents vote and approve - almost overwhelmingly - the spending plans.
Just one more mixed message sent by Chautauqua County - and the rest of our region - to Albany. Our state capital, more than five hours to the east of us, rarely helps Western New York, our numerous leaders often parrot.
Well really, what do we expect from Albany?
When residents say high taxes are a major burden forcing many to flee Western New York, how do they respond?
All area school districts were given a vote of approval for their budgets - not because they were good budgets, but probably because residents want to show support for their schools.
But we do support our schools. We have dedicated administrators, teachers and staff who produce some high-quality students. All too often, however, those students graduate and leave our area due to the lack of opportunities for jobs here.
When the region is shrinking quickly as ours is, quality jobs are hard to find.
In the May 15 OBSERVER editorial, we asked voters to reject school spending plans - not as a message to area district leaders, but one that Albany would hear loud and clear. If a majority of voters turn down budgets, it is a stronger voice to truly reform of our educational system.
So, in unison, Western New York and Chautauqua County residents can say: Albany our taxes our too high!
Our reaction: We approved 93 percent of our school budget votes statewide - many with tax increases.
How is Albany supposed to respond? Are they supposed to listen to our high-tax gripes or judge us by our voting actions?
