TIMES
SOUTHERN
Marlboro
considers
long-term tax
projections
ULSTER
Vol. 11, No 48
3
NOVEMBER 26 - DECEMBER 2, 2014
3
ONE DOLLAR
Dukes downed
in semis
Page 48
SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH AND PLATTEKILL
Season of giving
Community Action Outreach spreads holiday cheer
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
Patrick Witherow, director of Business
and Finance for the Marlboro School
District, condensed a multitude of documents and spread-sheet calculations down
to a nine-page PowerPoint presentation
that gives a sobering look at the district’s
long-term financial future through the
2021-2022 school year. Though modest
tax rate increases are expected for the
next two years, residents are facing a
possible tax rate increase in the 2017-18
school year estimated at 11.52 percent for
Marlborough and Plattekill and a 4.43 percent hike in Newburgh. Witherow stated
that his numbers are not “set in stone” but
are projected given current assumptions.
Witherow said the continued devaluation of the Roseton power plant is a
critical factor in the overall fiscal picture
for the district. In a court approved agreement, Roseton’s 2013 assessment of $108
million, with school tax revenues of $6.6
million, will drop to $28 million by 2019
with an accompanying school tax bill of
$2.5 million – a loss that totals $4.1 million in revenues during this time frame.
This coincides with the start in 2016 of a
PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] agreement for the neighboring Danskammer
power plant that reduces their assessment
from $49 million to $15 million. This, in
turn, cuts their school tax bill from $3
million to $1.1 million but moving forward
Continued on page 4
Dolly Decker [R] and friends donated food items to the local Highland Community Action Outreach in time for Thanksgiving. Pictured
L-R Linda Auchmoody, Barbara Ritshie, Michelle Rizzi, Susan Lyke Cooper and Dolly Decker stand in front of a van full of food that will
be donated for the holiday.
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
Highland real estate agent Dolly
Decker has been part of an effort this
year to bring food items to the Highland
Community Action Outreach on Church
Street. that will be distributed to needy
families in the area for Thanksgiving.
Decker and friends provided
Community Outreach with 16 pans,
each filled with 10 food items that will
be donated to Community Outreach,
who supply the actual turkeys. Decker
said previously they donated the fixings
for 79 families to the Kingston Outreach
organization.
Decker is a member of the Ulster
County Board of Realtors [UCBR] who
contribute money, time and goods that
go toward a variety of charitable causes,
such as this local food drive.
In the past the UCBR has assisted
Ellenville and Woodstock with food and
contributed money to outfit four bedrooms with furniture at the Patriots
WWW.SOUTHERNULSTERTIMES.COM
Project Veterans Home in Kingston,
where temporary shelter is provided to
returning Veterans to help them transition back into society.
In August the UCBC donated 275
backpacks filled with school supplies to
children going back to school through
the county’s child protective services
agency.
“We try to make it where we spread
through the county,” Decker said, adding that this year they targeted Highland
with food assistance.