An open letter to Wayne Allen, Cayuga County manager; members of the Cayuga County Legislature Ways and Means Committee; and the members of the Cayuga County Legislature:

This letter is in response to the article in The Citizen on Oct. 31, on the proposed county budget. Mr. Allen has put together a budget proposal that only calls for a 4.5 percent tax levy increase!

He applauds the department heads for showing fiscal prudence and holding the line on all costs.

I guess Mr. Allen doesn't realize that the economy of the entire world is in extreme difficulty and that “holding the line on costs” to create a public budget is totally irresponsible! The responsible action would have been to direct the department heads to reduce their budgets by at least 10 percent, aiming to reduce the county budget by $14 million.

Blaming under and unfunded state program mandates doesn't justify tax increases as has been argued in the past. Gov. Paterson is convening a special legislative session on Nov. 18 to search for ways to trim the state budget and this example should be followed right down the line.

Cayuga County continues to “put it to the taxpayers” regardless of the state of the economy. Remember earlier this year when the county voted to not cap the tax on gasoline as was occurring in the state, neighboring counties and the city of Auburn?

Do you see all the “nuisance” county taxes on your utility and home heating bills?

And don't forget the county sales tax that Mr. Allen recognizes will be down $500,000 next year! (In case Mr. Allen doesn't realize why the sales tax revenue will be down, it is because the people don't have the money available to spend! Increasing the tax burden will not increase the sales tax revenue!)

I am personally calling for the Ways and Means Committee to immediately reject the proposed budget and direct Mr. Allen to craft a new budget that reduces expenses by at least 10 percent. I am asking all taxpayers in Cayuga County to pressure their legislators to push the Ways and Means Committee and the county manager to show fiscal responsibility and reduce the expenditures by at least 10 percent in the coming year.

We, the taxpayers, must adjust our spending as prices rise when our income is either fixed or declining and we should expect and demand that our public officials do the same. That is the only way that we can hope to bring the local economy back to a healthy state.

If Mr. Allen doesn't understand this simple truth, perhaps he should be replaced by someone who does. As we have heard for the past 20 months, now is the time for change and change at the county level means becoming fully fiscally responsible!

Richard L. Coalson

Niles