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Permalink Reply by John T Tunison on August 25, 2012 at 6:43am

This can't come soon enough for me. I'll be 70 in a month and am running out of time. Our farm is part of a
Revolutionary War land grant and has been passed down through seven generations. It looks like taxes will
force my children to sell out to the Amish, as with no exemptions, school and property taxes are $600month
and rising. An agricultural exemption requires proof of $10,000 gross annual income from specified endeavors
and it may not always be possible to rent to satisfy requirements. Other exemptions, for combat service and
VA disability, don't apply. Few landowners can afford to own or farm without outside income. As the tax base
declines from land going back to the Federal Government (Finger Lakes National Forest) or is placed in
conservation easement arrangements, or even just reverts to a lesser taxable value by being abandoned to
grow up in scrub brush by vacation home buyers, ever increasing government service demands shift the tax
burdens to those few remaining. Urban and suburban dwellers rely on sound bites and news clips, and it is easy
to scare them in their ignorance, as media incited fear is all they have ever known. The callenge is to find the political
backbone to overrule attempts by "home rule" activists to ban something that can be safely done with proper oversight
using licence fees and taxes on the gas companies to provide the necessary funds to employ and train enforcers.
If everyone shot a letter or email to all of their elected representatives at all levels, that simply said " I am a taxpaying
voter and I support responsible drilling with oversight" this will get resolved quickly.

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Permalink Reply by gary smith on August 25, 2012 at 8:04am

the effects of to many liberals in your state assembly.

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Permalink Reply by David Perotto on August 25, 2012 at 10:56am

Or socialist, such as Barbara Lifton from none other than Ithaca NY.

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