Rejected!

The following letter was rejected for publication in the Syracuse Post Standard. Craving public approval, I put it here for your approbation and apprecation.

About three years ago, I tried to write a joke on the editorial page modeled on the DestiNY PILOT. In it, I suggested my wife and I upgrade our house in Syracuse rather than pay property taxes.

Since we aren't real estate developers, no one took us seriously. We bought our house, improved it, and have paid all our taxes. In contrast, DestiNY has recently filed some paperwork.

So here we go again. There's a new proposal to build a hotel downtown, but according to the developer, without a chunk of taxpayer money, the project is a no-go. The city and county are being conned into going along with this on the grounds of increased sales taxes that will come about when hordes of conventioneers descend on Syracuse.

Since everything has worked out so well with the funding and construction of DestiNY, I'd like to try another proposal. What if we forgo paying our property taxes for five years and buy a big-screen TV? The city and county would get an immediate infusion of about $500 in sales tax, and it would help to stimulate business in our under-utilized living room. Suddenly, everyone will want to come and visit us-just like the convention center downtown. And besides, my wife says that without a tax break, the project is a no-go.

It's funny to read in the personal finance columns never to spend more than you can afford, when local developers cry that they can't afford to build without tax breaks. If it needs that much help, maybe it shouldn't be built. Just like it would be wrong to ask you to pay for my big screen TV, I don't want to help someone else pay for their Marriott.

Sincerely,

Dave Sipley
Syracuse