We, the undersigned residents, property owners and business owners of the City of Newburgh do hereby petition the Office of the State Comptroller of the State of New York and the State Legislature for additional direct State fiscal management beyond the oversight currently defined in the Newburgh Fiscal Recovery Act. We urge you to:

REJECT the unprecedented, double digit tax hikes proposed by the city over the next three years:

      • 71% in 2011

      • 28% in 2012

      • 11% in 2013

 We believe that these tax hikes are unfair, unsustainable and unconscionable, and will drive record numbers of homeowners and businesses into foreclosure and potentially bankrupt the City of Newburgh. Ironically, the cover letter to the 3-year plan states that “the City’s major increases in its tax levy over several years can only contribute to an ongoing downward spiral ….from which the City may never be able to recover.”

REJECT the three year financial plan filed by the City of Newburgh with your office in December 2010. We do not believe that the current 3-year fiscal plan will deliver the proposed revenue to satisfy the current Bond Anticipation Notes (“BANs”) or the Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs) on the grounds that it:

     • does not include a credible revenue generating strategy;

     • relies excessively on unsustainable property tax hikes which will devastate

       families and  businesses in the City of Newburgh;

     • fails to address long-term structural budget challenges and unsustainable debt

        obligations.

TAKE DIRECT CONTROL of the City’s financial management and operations to:

     • prohibit future double digit tax increases;

     • provide tax relief to Newburgh residents and businesses;

     • prevent further imprudent budget decisions;

     • take the necessary actions to prevent the City of Newburgh from falling into a

        deeper financial crisis.

In summation we do not believe that the current City Council has the expertise or capacity to manage a city in such dire fiscal straits, as evidenced by their attempt to tax their way out of this crisis, with a proposed, compounded 4 year tax increase of 300% by 2013. The State must step in now to stop this madness before its local elected officials bankrupt the city and destroy the lives of its hardworking families and businesses.

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