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» Letters Cont. from pg. 6 If you don’t have an employee campaign but would like to give to United Way of the Adirondack Region, please call 518-563-0028. You can also visit our website, unitedwayadk. org, for more information on the 42 agencies served or to view our campaign video. ■ Kathy Snow, Plattsburgh
Amazon offers option to donate to emergency squad
To the Editor: Did you know that you can donate to the Elizabethtown-Lewis Emergency Squad painlessly? Just go to smile.amazon.com, choose the Elizabethtown-Lewis Emergency Squad as your charity of choice and every time you place an order, Amazon will donate to the emergency squad in your name. Amazon has already donated over $6 million to charities. So simple and free! ■ Judy Martin, Elizabethtown
Republican “tax reform” is a tax cut for big business
To the Editor: Congress has done it once more, and the present administration has joined in! Tax reform is the name of the new way to
get the top one percent and big business and windfall. They also want to abolish the “death tax” which will benefit the wealthy! Speaker Paul Ryan tells us most Americans will only have a “post card” to fill out to file their taxes. I have to ask: What is wrong with the 1040A tax form? This is what the majority of Americans already use and a fifth grader could fill it out! Ryan tells us most households making $59,000 a year, with four people, will see $1,182 returned. The key word here is “most.” Some small businesses will benefit but others will not. One thing is clear and it’s that big business will see two trillion dollars in tax cuts. This is at a time when we are already 23 trillion in debt. Our president told us he would cut our debt, not add to it. They also want to take out the deductions for medical expense, interest, state and local taxes as well as the miscellaneous that would cover those who had no insurance and lost their homes. Yes, folks, the Republicans have once more proved they are the party of “big business!” What about those in nursing homes and those with thousands of dollars of out of pocket expenses for drugs and hundreds of thousands on dialysis with high out of pocket expenses?
The Times of Ti Sun | November 11, 2017 • 7
Those with new homes paying thousands in interest payments will lose the deduction under the bill set forth by Congress and the administration. This a present from Ryan and our president as he stated, “this will be a Christmas present to the American people.” Hopefully they won’t give us and anymore presents! ■ Gary Philip Guido, Ticonderoga
GOP tax bill will benefit the wealthy
To the Editor: The House tax bill will provide huge benefits for the wealthy and for corporations, while any benefits to middle-class taxpayers are questionable. Numerous provisions will benefit high earners. The top tax rate does stay at the current 39.6 percent, but taxes on the wealthy will still be substantially cut. The estate tax, kicking in at $5.9 million, will be phased out over five years. The alternative minimum tax, created to ensure that the wealthiest pay at least some taxes, will end immediately. Real-estate developers, hedge-fund and private-equity managers will continue to benefit from carried-interest and pass-through
rules under which their tax rates are below the income-tax rates they would otherwise pay. As a candidate, the president pledged to end to the carried-interest loophole. Business taxes will fall from 35 to 20 percent. Based on past history, the benefits are more likely to go to stockholders rather than to workers. In contrast, any benefits to middle-class households are much less clearcut. The standard deduction will double, but the lowest tax bracket goes up from 10 to 12 percent. The tax credit for seniors will disappear. State and local income tax deductions will be gone, while the property tax deduction will be capped at $10,000. These provisions will hurt many taxpayers in high-tax states such as New York. Mortgage interest-rate deductions will be capped. Deductions for medical expenses will be eliminated. Interest on student loans will no longer be deductible. With all these deductions gone, many middle-class households may actually see their taxes increased. If Republicans really want to help the middle class, they could simply pass targeted tax cuts for moderate incomes, rather than rather than expecting us to settle for some future, vague trickle-down effect. ■
NCCC offers olive branch to county College seeks to improve communication channels with lawmakers By Keith Lobdell STA FF W RITER
ELIZABETHTOWN | Members of North Country Community College were on hand at the Essex County Board of Supervisors meeting Nov. 6 to bring lawmakers up to date on campus activity. “We would like to do as much as we can,” Dr. Steve Tyrell, president of the college, said. “We want to communicate with you as much as possible and plan to be here at the Dec. 5 meeting.” “I would like to see these communications between the board and college as much as possible,” responded North Elba supervisor Roby Politi. On the communication front, Tyrell said staff member Chris Knight will be creating a newsletter which will be sent to members of the board to provide regular updates on school events and issues. As far as programs, he said the school is looking to start offering an EMT basics course in the spring semester for
both non-credit and credit-bearing tracks. “We are continuing to look at ways to meet your challenges,” Tyrell said. “We our protecting our backyard because and will not give up a space to someone who is coming from here.” “I applaud the fact it is going to be something offered and it gets the needle moving,” said Newcomb supervisor Wes Miga. “But it’s not a dramatic degree. Maybe there should be a critical care course or paramedic course. That’s how we move people fro the scene to the hospital and it is also where a great employment opportunity would be.” Miga added programs like those would be needed within the Essex County communities soon, as well as outside of the county. “This is critical and a huge opportunity for employment both within and outside the county,” he said. “We are not an exporter of talent, but we could be. These are positions that are just as much in need as are doctors and nurses.” “That is something that will be needed over the next 10 years and we are going to have to the people who are trained and ready to fill these jobs,” said County Manager Dan Palmer.
NURSING PROGRAM QUESTIONS
Minerva Supervisor Steve McNally expressed concern that Essex County residents may be getting passed over in the nursing program.
ELECTION RESULTS
“Are we turning qualified Essex County people away from those programs and giving those positions to Vermont students,” said McNally, addressing the Ticonderoga nursing program. “I know there are a lot of kids from Minerva who are going to the nursing program at Adirondack and we want to know why they are not being enrolled in our county’s program.” “We look at the scores and take the best of the best,” Tyrell said. Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava said NCCC needs to understand the college’s original mission was to serve local residents. “It was for the communities of Essex and Franklin counties, and somewhere along the line, we have lost that focus,” he said. “To be very frank, there are 58 Essex County students and you do the math with what we contribute and the charge back program, we are giving a lot of money where are students are using very little of this program.” Tyrell said the 58 student number did not represent the entire student body from Essex County. “A lot may not go full time, they may go part time,” Tyrell said. “Others may not go to college right away. We are serving people in Essex and Franklin county in the hundreds. I see that frustration with the supervisors that kids are not coming right out of high school, but there are a lot of non traditional students who are utilizing our services.” ■
Few surprises in Essex County races Land bank amendment passes in a squeaker By Pete DeMola EDITOR
TICONDEROGA | It was a good night to be an incumbent in Essex County. All three incumbent town supervisors facing contested races racked up huge 3 to 1 victories over their opponents after polls closed on Tuesday night. Ticonderoga Supervisor Joe Giordano defeated his predecessor Bill Grinnell, who waged in a write-in campaign in an effort to win back the seat he lost in 2015. Unofficial returns from the Essex County Board of Elections revealed Giordano, a Republican, receiving 78 percent of the vote, and a write-in candidate, 22 percent. “I am humbled by the vote of confidence in yesterday’s election and grateful to be entrusted with guiding town direction for another term,” Giordano said. Wilmington Super visor and Essex
County Board of Supervisors Chairman Randy Preston bested Bill Sibalski 78 to 22 percent, winning a sixth term. North Elba Supervisor Roby Politi scored a sixth two-year term, easily routing Brian Barrett 74 to 26 percent. Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague and Essex County Coroner Francis Whitelaw ran unopposed and were re-elected to four-year terms. Ten county supervisors ran unopposed for re-election: James Monty (Lewis), Noel Merrihew (Elizabethtown), Tom Scozzafava (Moriah), Joe Pete Wilson, Jr. (Keene), Steven McNally (Minerva), Mike Marnell (Schroon), Michael “Ike” Tyler (Westport), Shaun Gillilland (Willsboro), Archie Depo (Jay) and Charles Harrington (Crown Point) will return to the Essex County Board of Supervisors in January.
BALLOT PROPOSALS
Voters resoundingly defeated a ballot proposition to hold a constitutional convention by a decisive 60 point margin. A proposal to bar public officials convicted of felonies from taxpayer funded pensions was also approved by wide margins. Despite concerns from advocates that the
controversy generated from the convention would trickle down the ballot, Proposal 3, which would create a 250-acre land bank in the Adirondacks and Catskills, narrowly passed by a 3.5 percent margin. The measure, which garnered broad support by a coalition of stakeholders in the Adirondacks, will make it easier for local governments to access state land for public infrastructure projects. Full returns from Essex, Hamilton, Franklin, Warren and Clinton counties — all containing large tracts of state Forest Preserve — came in shortly before midnight, putting the totals over the top.
DOWN BALLOT RESULTS
Ticonderoga Town Councilman David Woods won re-election with 775 votes, with Joyce Cooper and Health Towne winning seats on the board, 662 and 334, respectively. A write-in candidate received 133 votes. Fred Hunsdon, Sr. and Chattie VenWert are not seeking re-election. The landscape provided to be favorable for incumbents across all local races in southern Essex County. Following a contentious campaign that saw the lawmakers come under criticism for their
votes on the Stewart’s expansion project, Schroon Councilman Roger Friedman and Councilwoman Meg Wood fought back a challenge from Don Miller, a write-in candidate, with vote totals at 307, 325 and 204, respectively. William H. Tribou III and Thomas Erikson ran unopposed for town justice and assessor, respectively. Incumbents in North Hudson were also re-elected: Robert Dobie and Marshall Gero were the top two vote-getters in a four-person race for town council, with 92 and 72, respectively, fending off challenges from Bryan Caza, 56, and Tammy Brown, who received 45. Deborah Duntley and Bruce Caza ran unopposed for town justice and assessor, respectively. Candidates in Crown Point and Moriah also ran unopposed. Matt Brassard took the Moriah Town Council seat being vacated by Timothy Garrison, and Lucille Carpenter won another term. Paul Mazzotte will return as assessor. In Crown Point, Sherlene Simpson-Barrows and Walter Worth both ran unopposed for re-election on the town council. Eugene Ingleston was re-elected as highway superintendent with no opposition. ■