Solution very easy

To the editor:

This is my response to the article in the Catskill Daily Mail on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019 regarding the 2 percent tax cap (Twin County officials grapple with tax cap).

I would love to see the 2 percent tax cap to be permanent, however, I do not want to see my taxes go up anymore than they need be; it’s bad enough they be going up for the unneeded $70-$90 million new Greene County Jail soon to be built in Coxsackie.

I do believe there’s a solution to the problem for the many towns and villages. A very simple one, it’s called a merger. The village would merge with their towns.

This would avoid a lot of duplication of services, and save millions of dollars a year. Many towns and village have done this up north for years and it has been working out just fine, with no problems at all.

Just sit back and think how much the residents of the villages of Catskill, Athens, Coxsackie, can save in five years, 10 years and so forth, a lot of money by merging villages with towns.

If we all put our heads together, and sit down and come up with a plan, we can do it. No ifs, ands or buts. And then we don’t have to worry about the pros and cons of staying with the 2 percent cap.

After all we are New Yorkers, we can do it if we really, really want to.

Elton D. Vandermark Jr.

Catskill