To the Editor:

Recently dozens of elected officials of Towns and Villages of St. Lawrence County were listed in an ad as supporters of Elise Stefanik.

How can local leaders turn their backs on local property taxpayers?

While the House of Representatives passed a bill in May to distribute desperately needed funds to States and municipalities as they suffer lower revenues and higher costs from the pandemic, Stefanik voted against it.

Stefanik and her mentors — Trump and McConnell — passed income tax cuts that benefitted the super-rich, but refuse to provide relief to states, schools, and municipalities whose revenues are derived mostly from property taxes and sales taxes, paid primarily by middle-income households.

How will police, school teachers, highway crews, correction officers, and water treatment workers get paid?

Middle-income families in the North Country will face unavoidable tax hikes in coming years, even as our incomes falter. These tax hikes will be especially severe if Stefanik, Trump, and the Senate Republicans are re-elected and continue to grant tax breaks for the rich and deny aid to States, schools, and municipalities.

Without federal aid, counties and schools can only rely on taxes paid by hard working middle-income families like those in the North Country.

Robert Penski

Colton