To the Editor:

Is Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow a chronic liar? Does he create a toxic, unproductive environment? You can continue to believe him, or you can compare his statements to the facts. From my interpretation of the facts, I say he needs to step down immediately.

He is again claiming on social media that the financially inept team of [Randy] Bashwinger, [Sean] Lyons and Palow took extreme measures in the 2022 and 2023 budgets by temporarily and drastically reducing property taxes to offset the impacts of the pandemic on town residents for a couple years.

That is absolute hogwash. They did have a “COVID rebate” in the 2022 budget for property owners, but that was just more hogwash used to buy votes. Don’t believe anything Mr. Palow says.

In reality, former supervisor Sean Lyons was the actual budget officer for the town in 2021 when he proposed the ridiculous 2022 budget. He is quoted in The Enterprise saying he stands behind his (recorded) claim at the meeting where he proposed the permanent 87-percent drop in property taxes.

He very clearly intended it as a permanent reduction. I provided the meeting recording with a letter to the editor on Jan. 26.

On the recording, he proposes a permanent, extreme tax reduction and he clearly states that, if anyone increases taxes over the 2-percent tax cap for the next 20 years, they will be doing something very wrong.   Does that sound like a temporary measure to address COVID impacts?

Is two years less than Mr. Lyons’s 20-year projection? Does 750 percent exceed the 2-percent tax cap? It would be comical if their financial incompetence didn’t destroy your town’s finances.

His tentative 2022 budget actually did include a $200 “COVID rebate” to be paid from federal COVID relief funds to the owners of each parcel of land in the town. Look at the 2022 tentative budget. It’s there.

Attached is a recording of Mr. [Leo] Vane laughing as board members discuss subdividing their property to be eligible for multiple “COVID rebate” payments.

They continued this deceptive ruse throughout the proposed 2022 budget process making it appear that every landowner would get a $200 “COVID rebate” for each parcel they owned. It’s in the 2022 preliminary budget as well as the tentative. It’s on record.

But once the election was over the “COVID rebate” was not identified in the final budget! Where did your rebate go? It appears it was just sucked up into the payment of general expenses. 

So, think about that. They did indeed have an actual COVID relief plan for the suffering residents of Berne, but it was not a drastic reduction in property tax, it was a “COVID rebate” and it was just another lie from that GOP board.

They dangled it there for the residents to see all through the budget process, but then took it away in the final budget after Election Day. Did you get your $200 COVID rebate for your vote? It’s all on record.

Mr. Lyons is then quoted in response to my Jan. 26 letter saying it’s all Joe Biden’s fault! Biden surgically destroyed the finances of one small upstate town leaving all the surrounding towns un-impacted? More hogwash.

This crazy tax reduction was simply intended as a permanent, impractically low, and ridiculous tax rate. On the recording, in reference to the 20-year statement, Mr Lyons also says:

“We won’t have to raise it a full percentage point when we already have so much extra money …. we are already over taxing.”  The inspiration for the ridiculous tax reduction was simply inspired by extreme anti-government ideology, not empathy for any struggling residents.

Mr. Palow suggests everything he does is acceptable because residents aren’t coming to board meetings to complain. As a fellow board member, he had me investigated at taxpayer expense multiple times and attempted to have me arrested for a bunch of ridiculous nonsense.

He threatened me repeatedly, continuously harassed me, and advised me to step down from the board and move out of town in the first “executive session” I attended with him.

Should I go to one of his board meetings to complain about the ridiculous, stupid problems he creates? Who wants to go to meetings to be escorted out by the police?

Do you think the Republican board members are really lying when they said they had to quit the board because Supervisor Palow creates an unproductive, toxic environment?

The toxic Mr. Palow is the one who should step down and leave town.

Joel Willsey

East Berne