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Southern Ulster Times , Wednesday , August 31 , 2016
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar .......................................... 12 Craig McKinney ................................ 9 Classifieds ...................................... 30 Crossword ...................................... 32 Highland ......................................... 24 Letters to the Editor ........................ 9 Marlboro ........................................ 22 Obituaries ...................................... 26 Opinion ............................................. 8 Police Blotter ................................... 4 Plattekill ........................................ 23 School News ................................... 28 Service Directory ........................... 35 Sports ............................................ 40
PUBLIC AGENDA
TUESDAY , SEPTEMBER 6 Marlborough Planning Board 7:30 p . m ., Marlborough Town Hall . 21 Milton Tnpk , Milton . Highland School Board , 7pm , Highland High School , 320 Pancake Hollow Rd . Highland
WEDNESDAY , SEPTEMBER 7
Lloyd Town Board , 4 p . m . Lloyd Town Hall . 12 Church St ., Highland . Plattekill Town Board , 7 p . m ., Plattekill Town Hall , 1915 Rte . 44 / 55 , Modena .
HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
The office of the Southern Ulster Times will be closed on Monday , Sept . 5 in observance of Labor Day . Deadline for all classified advertising and legal notices is Friday , Sept . 2 at 4 p . m . All other deadlines remain the same .
Marlboro dodges steep tax hike
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Roseton power plant as of June 2016 , there were changes made in the value of Marlborough , Plattekill and the Town of Newburgh and there was a change in the equalization rate for the Town of Newburgh . He said his calculations left him with Marlborough and Plattekill residents seeing a 0.66 % increase in their tax rate and Newburgh residents seeing a 0.97 % increase .
Witherow said the large parcel designation gave “ somewhat of a preferential treatment ” to the power plant owner . He said three provisions have to be in place for the plant to receive this status .
“ They have to have a taxable assessed value in excess of $ 5 million , they have to represent 5 % of the total wealth of the taxing jurisdiction and the other one is if you pull that parcel out of the Newburgh properties and they set the equalization rate and you put it back , there has to be at least a 5 % change in that equalization rate ,” he said . He pointed out that the last proviso is calculated by the state .
“ I think there ’ s probably some witchcraft involved [ because ] how do they determine the equalization rate ?” he asked . “ That is the one we ’ re not able to measure and that ’ s the one that defaulted out of that [ large parcel ] status this year .”
Witherow said because of the loss of this designation , he had to recalculate because of changes in local and county assessments and new equalization rates ( to make it fair across all three municipalities ), which pushed the final tax rates for the coming school year to the 0.66 % and 0.97 % levels for Marlborough / Plattekill and Newburgh , respectively . There still may be some very minor adjustments made because of the PILOT agreement with the power plant .
In the past year Marlborough ’ s overall assessed value grew by $ 1,555,839 for a total of $ 697,615,534 ; Plattekill dropped by $ 630,112 to $ 44,321,380 ; and Newburgh jumped significantly by $ 8,132,531 to $ 485,844,423 .
Witherow said the spike of 10 % in taxes that was projected to hit in the 2017- 18 school year is not going to happen because it is built into the calculations for the 2016-17 school year .
“ We ’ re lucky that this year with that loss of the large parcel there were enough
Pride of Ulster variable changes to mitigate that impact ,” he said , adding that Newburgh ’ s growth and Marlboro ’ s negative tax levies for two consecutive years were also factors in knocking out the stiff increase .
Witherow pointed out that in 2016-17 Newburgh residents with the basic star exemption will pay $ 207.51 less than this year , which equates to a 4.41 % decrease . Those with the enhanced star will pay $ 153.01 less ( a 4.53 % decrease ) and residents with no star exemption will pay $ 253.11 less – a 4.34 % decrease .
“ The reason this is happening is because of the significant growth in Newburgh ’ s taxable assessed value ($ 8,132,5310 ) and hence , True Value ,” he said , adding that the equalization rate change from this year to next also played an important role . He said this means that although Newburgh is collectively being asked to pay more , individual residents will actually pay less in taxes from last year to next because of the increase in overall assessed value of the town .
“ Since we are pulling from more pockets , the amount we need from any one individual is less than the previous year ,” Witherow pointed out .
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The Southern Ulster Times , ( USPS 022-586 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , N . Y . 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , N . Y . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Southern Ulster Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . 12550
Newly installed Eagle Scout Devin Egan , 14 , was presented with a Pride of Ulster County Award at this month ’ s meeting of the Ulster County Legislature for attaining scouting ’ s highest rank . Pictured L-R mother Donna Egan , Legislator Herb Litts , Scout Egan , father Joseph Egan and Legislator Kevin Roberts . Egan , along with fellow scouts , insulated a room in the Plattekill United Methodist Church on Rte . 44 / 55 in Modena .