Letters to the Editor

A Real Team Effort

Dear Editor,
We would like to thank Rye High School Junior Varsity Basketball Coach John Aguilar and his team for their appearance at the Port Chester Nursing Home on a recent weekend. This is the fourth year that the team has visited with and entertained the residents at the home.

The players involved the residents in various basketball activities and brightened their day. The residents, including our mother, who played basketball at Rye back in the 1940s, really enjoyed the event. The coach and his team should be commended for this.

Sincerely,
Brian and Lisa Dempsey

Rescind the City Tax Increase

The following letter was written to the City Council and forwarded to us by the author for publication.

Dear Editor,
As a country we have entered a period of time when the economy is doling out crushing blows to individuals and businesses and has the potential of presenting real threat to the family-friendly, diverse and vibrant community of Rye.

Thus, I write to respectfully share my strong concern about a property tax rate increase of 4.48% in 2009. While 4.48% is better than the previously proposed rate of 5.95%, it is still too high. Many Rye residents will lose jobs, with bleak prospects for getting new ones in the immediate future.

There are more homes on the market in Rye than any time in past decades. The City’s tax increase will make selling homes by the elderly or those who must sell in these times a bigger challenge as our tax rate increases consistently outpace real income growth and CPI.

There is no incentive to buy a home or start a business in Rye in these times when you can go 15 minutes north to Connecticut, where taxes are dramatically lower.
Respectfully, I think the City Council needs to go back to the table and take a harder look at the budget for 2009. Allow me to suggest that you start by redlining the 2% pay raises allocated for management.

We are collectively in for a very rough times in the months, and perhaps years, to come. There are people in Rye who will struggle to keep a roof over their head, put food on the table and pay the utility bills. Please, do not kick the citizens of Rye to the precipice by pushing astronomical property tax rate increases.

I don’t envy the Council’s position and I do appreciate the work that you must undertake to deliver a fiscally sound and conservative budget regardless of the economy.

I do hope to see a revised 2009 budget for the City of Rye, with a tax rate increase of between 2.5 to 3% — or lower. To me, that would be more appropriate for these challenging economic times.

Sincerely,
Carol Bullock-Walter

The Negative Impact of All That Rock Salt

Dear Editor,
What is with the way rock salt is dumped on Rye City sidewalks? It is dropped unevenly as modest mounds, almost large enough to stumble on in front of the Milton Road Cemetery, along the Purdy Avenue sidewalk by the public parking lot next to CVS and on Locust Avenue across from the Rye YMCA to name a few places.
Why can’t the salt be spread evenly and mixed with sand? It would make for safer sidewalks and be less expensive. The massive amounts of salt deteriorate concrete, causing tripping hazards and reducing sidewalks’ useable lifespan. The excessive salts degrade the environment, negatively impact all surrounding plants, inhibit future growth and leach directly into Blind Brook.
Sincerely,
Christopher Cohan