I would like to respond to the letter from Mrs. Doris Mark that appeared in both the Cooperstown Crier and The Daily Star, concerning a comment that she made about the School Board.

The tongue-in-cheek referral to "our illustrious board" is in my opinion a hit "below-the-belt." No school board member has any illusions of being "illustrious". The seven members of the present board as well as their predecessors are hardworking taxpayers who volunteer their time and talent to doing the best job possible for the students, faculty and all members of the CVSCS District.

They are well aware of what tax increases mean to those employed and especially to those of us who are retired and on fixed incomes.

School board members are committed members of your community. They are doing a job that is difficult and they do it with pride. Board members are not looking for praise for the job that they do. They come from all walks of life with one common goal; that is to give the students of the District the very best education possible while trying their utmost to maintain the cost factor. I can attest to the fact that it is often a no-win situation.

I would like to invite the residents of the CVSCS District to come to the school and observe the new banners that hang in the front hall. These banners proclaim for all to see that we have been named a "School of Excellence." I hope you feel the same pride in our Board, Administration, Faculty and Student Body that I feel.

You should also feel pride in yourselves for being willing to pay the taxes necessary to make this happen.

Instead of putting down the School Board, let’s rally around them as they try to maintain the highest standards of education for our young people.

Barbara J. Duesler

Retired CVSCS Board Member

Cherry Valley

CYB event a success

On behalf of the Cooperstown Youth Baseball Board of Directors, I want to thank all who participated in the Positive Coaching Alliance Workshops this past weekend. I want to thank Cooperstown Youth Football, Cooperstown Youth Soccer, Clark Sports Center, and Cooperstown Central School for their commitment to the youth of our community and the values of PCA.

To those of you who were able to attend, I hope you found it time well spent. Please spread the word. To those of you who were unable to attend, I urge you to visit the website www.positivecoach.org. I encourage everyone to become involved. Participate in your children’s lives. Learn to support and prepare them better. You have many committed people and organizations committed to the best for our children and community.

David Borgstrom

President

Cooperstown Youth Baseball

Rebates

a good start

Property tax relief is an important part of the new state budget, and I fought to give citizens a refund, or rebate, on what they pay in property taxes each year.

Why not just lower property taxes in the first instance? Well, we are. That’s why we fought long and hard for the STAR program, which cuts school property taxes. The problem with STAR is that higher school spending and local reassessments can dilute its value.

More aid to local governments in the AIM and CHIPs programs is intended to replace local property tax dollars, and two years ago we won a state takeover of the Family Health Plus Medicaid program funded by counties. But government leaders at all levels must work to reduce taxes and what we ask taxpayers to fork over for government services. I hope that school officials will use additional aid in this new state budget to help offset higher property levies.

How does a rebate check help with property taxes? Cash it and take it with you when you go to pay your next property tax bill. It’s that much less from your own pocket.

Sure, we have to continue to work on longer term strategies for reducing property taxes, like structural Medicaid reform and mandate relief.

The rebates don’t reduce what town and county officials charge; they do, however, reduce what taxpayers have to come up with to pay their bills. And that’s a good start.

Senator James L. Seward

51st Senatorial District

Oneonta