Call to file appeals
Is this a conspiracy? Dear Editor:
The headline for an article appearing in the Herald-Standard July 12 reads: “Revenue source dwindling, Greene County officials examine coal losses.” The article states that Greene County chief assessor John Frazier addressed a group the previous day in Carmichaels regarding the matter.
Why does the article fail to specifically identify “a group” which was addressed? Why the secrecy? Does the writer, Steve Ostrosky, believe that the average Greene County reader would not be interested in such a detail? I hardly think so. Over the years I have grown to respect and admire Mr. Ostrosky for his illustrative, high quality writing and the accuracy and depth of his reporting.
At the beginning of the recent Greene County property tax reassessment, Mr. Frazier mailed questionnaires to self and special interest owners of business properties.
Farmers were included thereby endowing that group with the benefits of two worlds: The agricultural world plus the commercial world. In other circles this practice is called double dipping.
Attention is called to the fact that the overwhelming majority of Greene County property owners received no questionnaire regarding property tax reassessment.
That relatively humorous group was kept in the dark. They are the residential homeowners.
Is that who Mr. Frazier addressed in Carmichaels on July 11? Who knows? The article doesn’t say.
Do we still have a free press in Southwestern Pennsylvania? Or have we somehow wound up with mere pamphlets of political propaganda?
Paul Lagojda
Cumberland Township
Editor’s note: The story identified the group as representatives of the Carmichaels Area, Jefferson-Morgan and Southeastern Greene school districts.