Southern Ulster Times Aug. 31 2016

TIMES SOUTHERN ULSTER Vol. 13, No 35 3 AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 3 ONE DOLLAR football Mrs Walsh previews returns Sports Page 20 SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH AND PLATTEKILL Plum Pox Searching for fruit tree virus in region Tax relief Marlboro dodges steep tax hike By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] U.S. Department of Agriculture Plum Pox, also known as sharka, attacks a variety of stone fruit species, such as peaches, apricots, plums, almonds and sweet and tart cherries, and causes acidity and deformities in the fruit. By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] Starting in June representatives of the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] began conducting inspections and taking leaf samples of stone fruit trees in the southern section of Ulster County after a single plum tree was identified to have the Plum Pox virus. Plum Pox, also attacks a variety of such as peaches, almonds and sweet known as sharka, stone fruit species, apricots, plums, and tart cherries, Continued on page 4 WWW.SOUTHERNULSTERTIMES.COM In the past few years Marlborough residents were hit with a perfect fiscal storm that resulted in the closing of two schools, the bankruptcy of the power plants in the Town of Newburgh, and rising foreclosures, all of which left residents reeling when they opened their tax bills. But just this month Patrick Witherow, Director of Business and Finance for the Marlboro school district, was the bearer of a bit of good news. Witherow said although he does not possess a crystal ball that allows him to see five years into the future, he believes “we no longer project major disruptions to the tax rates going forward.” In a presentation to the board and to the public, Witherow said in the spring, using the last available numbers in developing the 2016-17 budget, he estimated there would be a 3.21% increase in the tax rates for Marlborough, Plattekill and the Town of Newburgh. However, he added, “All variables would need to remain constant in the coming year for this to be accurate.” But as in most things in life, things do change: there was the loss of the large parcel designation of the Continued on page 2