To the Editor:

When my wife came up here from the south to live with me in Potsdam, one of the first questions she had was “how many governments do you have up here?” My answer to that question has always been (and remains) “too many.”

I find in all the arguments that have appeared here and in the daily papers about the” Town vs. Village” that this is still an issue even with people who have lived here all their lives, and it leads to a lot of misunderstanding among us. Much of this is just plain foolishness -we are all in this together.

So let’s put all of this in order ---all of us are residents in the Town of Potsdam and pay taxes to it every January. Many, however, have the added and delightful task of paying Potsdam Village taxes in this merry month of June, no matter how much the village government continues to foul up. Then, once again in September, all of us again end up paying school taxes There is simply no let-up.

Ok -in all these governmental bodies, there is not a single one that has the label of “ Town Out of Village, “and I think it is time that we recognized that fact, despite the efforts of some to create it and thus cause further unnecessary division. As a village resident, I could very logically sit here and moan about my neighbors less than ½ mile away having many of the advantages of village life (schools, colleges, churches, all kinds of shops, movies etc.) without paying a cent in village taxes. And who does pay both village and town property taxes? None other than we village residents and all those businesses within our boundaries upon which both town and village residents rely. Furthermore, in my recent memory (35 years worth) there are town residents just a shade farther beyond village limits who have built all kinds of new houses, knowing full well that they could thus avoid paying village taxes and yet partake of many goodies that the village has to offer. Smart move? Sure. Historically, no one really cared, but life is a lot more complicated today, but now we DO care, and the scales need balancing.

I happen to think that dissolution would solve a lot of problems. Right now, some in the village find joy in the fact that their Potsdam Village taxes would drop, forgetting that their Town of Potsdam taxes would accordingly rise. In the long run, with no village government, I feel that all of us, Town and Village alike, would benefit, and that taxes would eventually level out to the benefit of all. With one entire layer of government gone along with all of its very evident faults, how could it be otherwise? It will take time, but it will be worth it.

We all beef about too much government in our lives, and here is an opportunity to do something about it. All of this is a “no-brainer” unless we allow it to be otherwise with all our petty differences. I hope we do it and do not blow it. There are those who would love to see us do just that. And they are the very ones who have led us down the primrose path over the past ten years.

Dick Hutchinson

Potsdam