“I do not come into this without skin in the game”
A COLUMN By Clayton “Tiger” Hulin
Moving the Goalposts
In October, the Allegany County Board of Legislators will consider adopting a local law that authorizes raising property taxes above the two percent cap. They call it “flexibility.” Taxpayers call it moving the goalposts.
“That cap was meant to protect us. Now, when it becomes inconvenient, the Board is ready to set it aside.”
The Medicaid Burden
Yes, Albany has a habit of shoving costs down to the counties. Medicaid alone eats more than 45 percent of Allegany’s property tax levy. That is a real burden. But before the Board reaches for more from the taxpayer’s pocket, we need proof that every corner of the budget has been squeezed first.
Hard Questions, Honest Answers
Have new vehicles been questioned?
Have out-of-county trips, even for training, been trimmed or moved to Zoom?
Has every department been asked to pull its belt tight?
Most important: has every last employee been asked about their job? Have they been given the chance to say where they could do without, or get by with less? The people on the ground see the waste. They know when a vehicle sits idle, when a contract delivers nothing, when a training trip adds no value.
I worked in the county jail as the evening RN between 2013 and 2021. I never met a deputy or officer without an opinion. Ask them what is wrong, and they will tell you. Not out of malice, not to fault the sheriff, but because that is the personality type, direct, type A, and often right. If leadership listened to that same candor across all departments, they would hear the truth about where money goes and where it is wasted.
Who Should Pay?
It is also time to confront a harder question: who should be receiving county funded services at the expense of the taxpayer? Charity, at its best, lifts people in crisis. But the state’s safety net has grown into a permanent supplement for poor decisions, and counties like ours are left footing the bill.
I do not come into this without skin in the game. My son Camden is profoundly autistic. We will care for him as long as we can, and when that becomes impossible, with one in twenty boys born autistic, we had better figure something out. His Medicaid waiver has been a true blessing. Those doing the work to keep these children covered are angels.
That is the line we must draw. Support for those who cannot help themselves is not waste. It is the truest measure of community. But there is a difference between safety nets and subsidies for bad choices. One protects dignity. The other corrodes accountability.
A trip to the grocery store, shows the disparity. I have stood in grocery lines and watched carts overflow with food I could not afford to bring home. Many are able to afford what many taxpayers cannot.
That is not compassion. That is a system turned upside down.
A Call for Restraint
Before Allegany passes a law to override the cap, the Board owes its people transparency, restraint, and respect. The families who pay these taxes do not have a “flexibility clause” in their budgets. Neither should the government that serves them.
In the end, all anyone can ask is this: whether in Allegany County or Cattaraugus, all houses should be in order before reaching out to the taxpayer.
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Clay “Tiger” Hulin is a Franklinville resident, registered nurse, and family man. You can reach him anytime, claymation_88@yahoo.com
