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