Letters to the Editor - The Millerton News - 5-27-21

Thank you, Millbrook first responders

This past Saturday, around 8:30 a.m., a blue-sky clear sunny day, flowers-blooming and birds-chirping, as I proceeded in to the intersection of Route 82 South across Route 343, the front end of my Rav4 was sheared off and the vehicle totaled by a driver who blew through a red light at that intersection.

I want to express my deep appreciation to Officer DelGiudice of the Millbrook PD, to the Millbrook Fire Department personnel and to Darius Robustelli of Northern Dutchess Paramedics, all of whom responded promptly to the scene and who exhibited calm and kind professionalism.

God Bless and Thank Goodness for our wonderful First Responders and to our Municipalities (and their taxpayers) who support them! 

Kenneth B. Liegner

Millerton

Vote Amenia Strong and your taxes will go up

A local real estate broker said to me the other day, “If your house (which I bought for $35,000 40 years ago) sold for $1 million tomorrow, the assessor would assess it for the new buyer at $1 million.

Why? Because real estate assessments are based on Fair Market Value, and Fair Market Value is the price a willing buyer pays a willing seller in an open market.

According to a New York Times March 5, 2015, Real Estate article, the houses at Silo Ridge will be “priced at an average of $5 million but are going up to more than $10 million.”

I spoke in favor of Silo Ridge then at the Planning Board because I knew the real estate assessments and taxes for the properties developed there would be good for Amenia’s tax base. Now, the residents of Silo Ridge object to their properties being valued at Fair Market Value — the price they paid for them.

What’s fair is fair. What you paid for your new home is what it’s worth: It’s its Fair Market Value. And that is what a fair and objective assessor should value it at. I think New York State Case Law will support this longstanding precedent.

If the candidates for “Amenia Strong,” all associated apparently with Silo Ridge, win the Republican Primary and then defeat the Democrat slate in the General Election, you can be sure they will disagree with a Fair Market Value assessment. 

If they have their way, their assessments (and real estates taxes) will go down, and your assessment and taxes will go up.

Daniel F. Brown

Amenia