Frank J. Coury
Guest Column
The Suburban’s Feb. 24 “Your Turn” guest column, “Freeholder Director Answers Criticism,” featured comments by Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel. He stated that my comments, as published in the Jan. 6 Suburban “Your Turn” guest column, “Freeholders Wasting Tax Dollars, Ignoring Requests,” contained a lack of factual accuracy.
Crabiel’s comments, as published, failed to honestly answer my criticisms.
It should be understood that my criticisms of the freeholders’ actions were made in 2004, and I quoted figures from the 2003 Middlesex County budget. So looking at the published record, I stated that the Perth Amboy Salvation Army asked for $35,000 for its homeless shelter program, and the county did not give it a cent for that request. That is a statement of fact. Freeholder Crabiel, in answering that criticism, stated that the freeholders gave $28,603 in 2005. In 2004, when I made my statements, 2005 was not a matter of record. So Mr. Crabiel, I stand by my statement that the freeholders did not give 1 cent to the request of 2003.
Again in 2004, I stated that the Association for Retarded Citizens (The Arc) asked for $45,000 in 2003, and the county did not give 1 cent to that request. This is a statement of fact from the 2003 county budget. Mr. Crabiel answered that criticism by stating money given in 2004 and money anticipated for 2005. I wonder why he failed to state how much was given in 2003.
Another statement I made was that the various charities of Middlesex County asked the freeholders in 2003 for $1.345 million and only received $869,000. These figures come directly from the freeholder budget of 2003. Mr. Crabiel, how much cash did the freeholders provide to the listed charities in the 2003 budget?
I also criticized the spending of $3 million of open space money for the State Theatre in New Brunswick. I, personally, didn’t expect open space money to be spent on a theater. Open space money, as I understand it, is to preserve open spaces from being developed, thus preventing congestion and possibly new home building, which would result in overpopulation in schools, and, ultimately, higher property taxes.
I stated that $12 million (open space money) was wasted on the purchase of the Runyon watershed. The area was already protected from development. So why was the property purchased?
Mr. Crabiel stated that “This year marks the 12th consecutive year that the county equalized property-tax rate has been reduced and the seventh time during those 12 years when the amount to be raised by taxation for the county was actually reduced.” Despite that comment, how come my county taxes increased over the past five years from $650.46 to $854.39? In simple arithmetic, my taxes increased 31.35 percent. I wonder if other taxpayers in the county experienced the same increase.
I would like Freeholder Crabiel to again look at the record prior to 2004 when I made my statements and show where I lacked factual accuracy.
Frank J. Coury is a resident of East Brunswick