up and running

Well, I still have to do some things as far as the setup, but I've got the petition for empire zone reform up and running. Email all your friends. Empire zones are a statewide program, so anyone in NY state should consider voicing their opinion.

Meanwhile, County Exec candidate Ed Ryan spoke up about our property tax surplus. Seems we have $16 million over the proposed reserve revenue level, so Ed says we should give it back to property owners. The other County Exec candidates? Magnarelli says it would be better to have a balance between the need for property tax cuts and job development programs. Mahoney says she'll consider any proposal that returns money to the taxpayers. Sweetland accuses Ryan of reiterating the policy that he and Ryan cosponsored in 1999, and states he is working on a plan. He further states that he worries about what to do in the long term if the surplus is given back, in other words, what if we come up short next year.

They've all got points. Certainly, coming up short is something to worry about, but taxes throughout NY state are way too high and upstate is paying for it. Job development is certainly beneficial, but property taxes are driving people out of the area. As for myself, I think some of it should be given back, and I think job development is something we need to work on whether or not we've got a surplus, but we do need to keep some in case of future shortfall.