Monroe Democrats on taxes

To the editor: The most common complaint heard on the campaign trail is “taxes are too high.” School taxes lead the way in increases, with recent hikes in the double digits. Town taxes have risen at a slower pace but our services have decreased instead of expanding with the growing population. How can we find a balance between providing the services and town facilities we need (including a better library, parks, and recreation facilities) and not taxing ourselves out of our homes? Alicia Vaccaro, Audra Schwartz and John Rios have answers. Monroe needs to expand its Light Industrial zoned properties and provide incentives to develop these corridors. More tax revenue from local businesses will reduce the tax burden on Monroe homeowners. Monroe’s commercial tax base is only 18 percent of our total tax revenues compared to Woodbury’s 32 percent. No wonder we can’t afford a new library, new recreational fields or a town pool. Our focus will be increasing our commercial tax base by developing Monroe’s Light Industrial zoned properties with office complexes, medical arts buildings, storage facilities and/or warehouses. These types of businesses generate tax revenues that far exceed what they require in services and bring higher paying jobs to the area, so that the people who live in Monroe, can work in Monroe. By comparison, the present large retail box stores increase traffic and provide only low-income jobs. This is not the type of development that we want to see for the remainder of Monroe’s Light Industrial land. Through incentives targeted at the right kinds of businesses and by working with organizations which can assist us in providing “shovel-ready” locations which are more marketable to the businesses that we want to attract, we can achieve a higher commercial tax base and stabilize taxes for residents. Also, we will not continue the present Town Board’s practice of rezoning our Light Industrial land so that developers can build more homes. Remember, more homes equal more school children - and that means higher school taxes. We will seek public and corporate grants to ease the burden of our taxpayers and will investigate starting a grant administration program designed to locate and/or create grant funding most beneficial for our town. We have a responsible plan for getting our taxes under control. Another reason to vote for Alicia Vaccaro for Town Supervisor and Audra Schwartz and John Rios for Town Board. Sincerely, Alicia Vaccaro, Village of Monroe Audra Schwartz, Town of Monroe John Rios, Village of Harriman