To the Editor:

I want to say as Rich Filkins and I went door-to-door campaigning for Rich in the fall of 2017 to be a town councilman, it was for the residents, the taxpayers, of Westerlo and not for a party although, yes, he had to run on a party line, which was the Republican ticket.

He didn’t and still doesn’t think “party” but rather he is doing his job for the residents of Westerlo. When he was elected, he listened to all the people in the town who spoke to him about their concerns.

This being his first year in “politics,” he is finding it very hard to get the suggested ideas of the Westerlo residents to the top of the slate for board meetings; therefore, this is why he did the impromptu resolutions at the December 2018 meeting [The Altamont Enterprise, Dec. 6, 2018, “GOP wants more town oversight on finances in Westerlo”].

First and foremost, he knows that most of the people in the town of Westerlo are not wealthy and so our taxes, which is the bottom line, are important to us.

In April 2018, Mike Conners, Albany County’s comptroller, came to speak to the town residents, letting us know there is a serious decline in the sales tax collected by the county. Therefore, the share Westerlo receives will go down, which is attributed to all the folks shopping on the Internet where sales tax for the county is not collected.

Rich said, “We have to find ways to save and trim budgets so not to let our residents’ taxes go up,” and he had several ideas the town could consider such as:

— Transfer-station permits to stop dumping by non-residents and better recycling;

— Making the youth program a 501(c), which would make it eligible for grants;

— Readdressing the employee handbook that does not include the towns part-time employees;

— Billing for emergency services;

— Converting the street lights to LED [light-emitting diodes]; and

— Re-evaluating land taxes.

The town of Westerlo hasn’t been reassessed in decades so the state-set equalization rate for Westerlo is less than 1 percent of full-market value, the lowest by far in Albany County and what tends to happen without regular town-wide revaluation is that land that has been in a family for years, even generations, often doesn’t get assessed at the same value as new property is sold for. This means newcomers to town frequently pay an unfair share of taxes, a situation commonly known as “Welcome stranger.” If a municipality revalues property fairly, it doesn’t mean that more taxes will be paid; rather, the taxes will just be distributed differently, more evenly and fair to everyone.

However, it seems to me that each time Rich, as well as Amie Burnside, brings ideas up to discuss at a workshop (where he was informed they had to be discussed first) they are either are told to get more information (like compare other towns), whether or not it needs the town attorney approval, so it goes on hold till the attorney is contacted.

Or it goes on the back burner for items like the peddlers’ ordinance; height of fences for solar farms; should we have Airbnb regulations; discussing what or what not the Hometown Heroes Committee, under the direction of Amie Burnside, could or could not do (when all the committee needed was permission from the town to allow the banners to be hung on the utility poles); and last but not least the rush to pass the budget.

Not only that, at town board meetings, after all the department and committee reports are read, the clerk gets the information recorded and then all approved, by the time new business comes about, the supervisor is trying to adjourn the meeting as he is watching the clock as it’s “late” and he needs to leave.  

I do feel bad his wife is very ill and I personally like both of them, but at the same time the town needs to conduct its business.

I try to get more town residents to come to the meetings and the most common answer is, “Why? They never get anything done and don’t listen to the interests of the people.” It’s hard for me to argue that and it is very frustrating.

The bottom line is: I personally really appreciate that Rose [Hilltown reporter for The Altamont Enterprise, H. Rose Schneider] does such a great job reporting the town board meetings of Westerlo as well as the concerns of the residents who do come to the meetings and only hope it spurs other residents to come to the meetings.

Betty Peck Filkins

Westerlo

Editor’s note: See related story.