Murray resident appreciates Sidonio’s efforts to save taxpayers’ money

Editor:

Joe Sidonio has been raising concerns about the Town of Murray water loss long before he became the Town Supervisor. He said 40 to 60 percent of water in town hasn’t been billed since January 2018. That cost Murray water customers tens of thousands of dollars a year in water we paid for but didn’t use.

If Joe hadn’t been elected this would never have been addressed. After reading “Murray votes to refinance water district debt,” I’m grateful for Joe’s efforts saving us $631,000 in interest payments.

After watching the YouTube video of a town meeting, I wish that some of the town employees would develop a better working relationship with Joe and realize they work for the town’s people. The goal should be to work together to reduce our tax burden, not create a toxic work environment.

Also, as stated on the Murray website’s February 2021 Supervisor’s Corner, the town board voted against health care reforms they agreed to during the budgeting process. “By far the most significant development in February was the repeal by the town board of the 2021 health care reforms which had been worked on so hard last year. The projected savings and health care policy agreed to during the budgeting process were in exchange for the across the board, expected pay raises. This reversal results in a 23.7% increase in health care costs from 2020. (Motion by Bower, Second by Hendel, Town Board Yes, Supervisor. No.”)

Joe goes on to state, “In Murray our healthcare priorities are 2-fold: – Our top priority is to provide the best health care for our employees and officials. – Our next priority is to balance the best health care coverage with our ability to pay for it now and into the future.”

Here’s another example of Joe working to save the taxpayers money while being fair to everyone.

As a veteran on fixed income, I appreciate your hard work, Joe.

Jim Johnson

Murray