Readers’ Column for the week of December 28, 2025

You may call The Owego Pennysaver Readers’ Column at (607) 687-2434, extension 2, 24-hours a day, or email comments to ReadersOP@gmail.com. We reserve the right to revise or reject any messages. Please limit your comments to 100 words or fewer.

Regarding Tioga County’s budget, one of the claims often made in explaining the issue of why property taxes are rising is that NYS mandates make up a large percentage of the property tax levy. (In fact, for 2026’s tentative budget, the claim is that those services, totaling about $30 million, make up 113.36% of the levy.) However, what seems to be missing in the calculation is how the state and federal aid and County Sales Tax (which totals about $45 million) might be used to pay for those services, and hence lower that percentage considerably.

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Glad to hear that Tioga County has the money to buy property for a million plus and has the money to renovate, and tells the taxpayers what good stewards they are with our tax dollars. But they still insist that we pay a 3% tax on our energy needs. Another property off the tax rolls!

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A kind woman left us a note of appreciation for the holiday lights we put up on Taylor Road in Owego but unfortunately, we found her note lying in the snow near our porch door, and her contact information was smeared. We’d love to thank her if she could reach out again. We do know that her name is Jamie. 

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Governor Hochul, please explain why eliminating gas appliances in favor of electric ones is a good thing when currently most of New York State’s electricity is produced using natural gas. You’ve shut down nuclear; hydro isn’t sufficient at this point. I’ve read that you could cover all available land in the state with (expensive, maintenance-heavy, and renewable nightmare) windmills and solar panels, and still not be able to meet all the electric needs of the state.

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“It’s a stance that resonates at a time when more than 1 million state ratepayers are behind at least two months on gas and electric bills that are two to three times larger than they’ve been in prior years. Grassroots movements in Rochester and the Hudson Valley are calling for the elimination of privately run utilities.” (Climate advocates are unhappy with the electric plan’s delayed start.) — USA Network. December 21, 2025

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In response to the reader who asked, “How bad are the schools?” It’s not the schools; employers don’t want cashiers to do math. Everything is done for them; the screen tells them how many quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies ( along with a visual). If you pay in cash, they give your change back in a lump, without counting it back to you. Even worse, if you noticed a mistake, not even a thank you! We’re giving up our ability to think for convenience.

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I have checked the Pennysaver over and over, and nothing has been said about the HEAP applications that people have put in months ago. I know it was held up for a while, but then the governor said no, it was opened up now. But we still haven’t heard anything. I would certainly appreciate some kind of update on it. Uh, we’re getting into bitter cold weather now, and we’re getting a little bit nervous about our HEAP allowances. Thank you.

National Political Viewpoints

Imagine, if you will, a world where people believe that the temperature of the planet can be controlled by giving more money to the government. — Mama Gump

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I might be old, but I remember when we fought against communists instead of electing them. — Studebaker Hawk

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The Republicans have had 30 years to come up with a health care plan, ever since they disparaged Hillary Clinton for trying to get one passed. They have come up with NOTHING. After listening to several interviews from members of the administration last weekend, I’m convinced that anything bad that happens in the next three years will be the fault of Joe Biden. I’m sure of this because the Republicans are responsible for NOTHING.

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And then there were the redactions. So much of the material was redacted that, in front of television cameras, Jake Tapper of CNN scrolled through an entirely blacked-out 100-page document on his phone and said, “That’s the transparency we’re getting here.” — Heather Cox Richardson. December 20, 2025

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Trump has reached a new low even for him; he had plaques installed under the presidential portraits with his own twisted version of history, along with the usual name-calling. In my 75 years, I have never been ashamed of our president until Trump was elected. His childish behavior, racial slurs, vindictiveness, and bullying are an embarrassment to the once dignified office. The cabinet members of TV personalities, bloggers, and those supporting him only make the situation worse; some were former rivals who had nothing nice to say about him, yet now they support every word that comes out of his mouth.

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Democrats today are saying no one, even the president, is above the law; so our question is, how come illegal aliens are? — Melvin T. Loophole 

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“In a new interview with Vanity Fair, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles confirmed that President Trump is mentioned in the Epstein files. Yeah, I’ll bet. If I had to guess, he’s mentioned in the Epstein files like the whale is mentioned in ‘Moby-Dick’ – every other page.” — Seth Meyers

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Democrats, instead of constantly bashing the president, why don’t you concentrate on getting Hochul out of office before she does any more damage to our state?

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Donald Trump would be an all right president if he would just shut up.