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Trying to survive

Thousands of retired seniors have exhausted their life savings after being retired for 10 or 20 years, and are trying to survive, because our government for the first time in 238 years of existence, has been the force behind inflation by allowing and promoting the sharpest increase in prices and devaluing of the American dollar, that America has ever experienced.

This all happened and was the most severe during the retirement years of the elderly of today who are in their 70’s and 80’s. Here is an exact quote of prices taken from my check stubs when I retired in 1995, as compared to the check stubs of 2014. These totals are based on four utility bills: Light bill, phone bill, servicing furnace and a tank of heating oil. The total was $310.00 in 1995. These same services in the year 2014 totalled $1,195. That is an increase of $885.00 over a 20 year period.

This increase is more than my social security check is. I am not alone, there are thousands who receive less than I do. How could an elected state official, publicly state that to replace property tax revenue with an income tax hike, wouldn’t benefit the constituents he represents, because the median income of residents in he city of Williamsport is $32,000 a year, compared to hundreds upon hundreds of retired elderly who receive around $10,000 a year, and the highrise and housing projects within the city are filled with seniors.

Without subsidized housing in Williamsport many of these seniors would have empty refrigerators. If our dysfunctional laws would have been properly updated, most of those seniors would still be in their castles called home. Another local legislator reiterated, “Not a good idea.”

The third local legislator cried it would lose the taxes on commercial properties. There is a crisis taking place under the noses of these lawmakers. What is proper is to exonerate retired senior citizens who own the home they are living in from paying taxes on it. Non-working seniors are not in the same class as businesses. We are sick of hearing excuses and alibis, because there are none.

We retired seniors living in our homes are not being subsidized by the government, but we are being forced to hand two of our 12 social security checks a year to the county and school districts, leaving our yearly income at $8,000 a year. Concerning our state law, this is legalized corruption and very demanding to seniors when lawmakers practice their authority by not adjusting to the times, which in plain language is doing a great injustice to the elderly citizens of this state.

Weldon C. Cohick Jr.

Linden

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