We were just informed that our real estate taxes are going up to almost nine large. By New York standards, this is still a bargain. If I still lived in Westchester, I’d probably have to pay $20K a year for the privilege of living in my own house. But this is East Fishkill, Dutchess County for crying out loud!
My mother in Georgia pays a small fraction of what we pay in real estate taxes and gets just about the same level of “services” as we do, so what is East Fishkill doing with all the extra money? It can’t be snow removal, can it? As far as I can tell, that’s the only major difference in “services”. We have a well and a septic tank, so we don’t get water and sewer service. The road hasn’t been repaired in three years we have been living on it and, judging from its condition, many years have gone by without a visit from the highway department.. I never even see a cop unless I’m at the police station. The fire department is volunteer and supported by donations. The town website does not have budget information, so I don’t know what the city fathers are squandering our money on.
A big chunk goes to the schools, of course, but even there my mother’s county is apparently way more efficient at educating the youngsters than ours is. We pay over twice as much per pupil!
We can’t move further away from the city or our commutes would be prohibitive. They are a real strain as it is. Perhaps we can start a revolt and take a stand in East Fishkill.
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