Lowering debt will lower tax burden in M'town MiddletownMayor, Gerard Scharfenberger, in a recent rebuttal letter "Mid. Mayor disputes inaccuracies in letter" (Nov. 28) states that a letter which was published by the Independent was filled with inaccuracies. Unfortunately, the mayor never pointed out what facts he considered inaccurate. In my letter, "Total bond costing Middletown residents $2,300 each" (Nov. 20), I asked a simple question. Why is it necessary to issue a $3.8 million bond to dredge Shadow Lake when the citizens of Middletown have been told repeatedly that a state grantwould pay for it?Was it inaccurate to state that the cost to issue this bond was $750,000 of the taxpayer'smoney?Or does themayor dispute the fact thatMiddletown's bond debt has increased from $48 million to over $75 million since 2001 and now costs the equivalence of $2,300 per citizen? Instead of answering my queries, Mayor Scharfenberger and his Republican colleagues justify their penchant for bonding and Middletown's subsequent bond debt by pointing to neighboring democratic-controlled towns. He states that they are near their 3.5 percent cap for bonding, whileMiddletown is currently at .78 percent. This is essentially ameaningless figure. Themayor has continually referred to this figure as proof that they are not overbonding, but the bonding companies are looking at how much a municipality can bond for without defaulting, not what the individual taxpayers can afford, it also does not take into consideration the needs of these towns. This is an odd way to justify debt and wasteful spending of taxpayers' dollars in Middletown. What other towns spend on bonding is of no concern or relevance to the citizens ofMiddletown, taxpayers inMiddletown only care about what is happening in our town, not someone else's. With the recent revaluation of Middletown concluded, homeowners are awaiting their new tax bills. Many older homeowners are worried that they will have to sell their homes and move elsewhere to make ends meet, bonding debt is a real concern to these people because it affects their lives. It is simple, if you lower the debt, you lower the tax burden and peoplewill be able to stay in their homes. MichaelMorris Middletown