The City Budget & Mathematical Wizardry

Below is a copy of a letter to the editor that addresses a detail that seems to have escaped everyone else's notice. Instead of waiting for it to be printed in the local newspapers (snail news), you can read it now.



Dear Editor:

27 = 35.

Am I the only person who noticed this bit of mathematical wizardry?

I am referring to a notable detail that appeared in a Press-Republican article on September 19th. The article, "City of Plattsburgh budget crisis," discusses the increase in the tax levy for the year 2006. It mentions that the common council approved what was "widely reported as a 27-percent increase." Then the article states: "The increase actually turned out to be 34.71 percent when the numbers shook out, the Press-Republican learned this week."

Since then the figure has been simply referred to as a 35-percent increase, as if the "official" number of 27-percent never existed.

This leads to some questions:

1. Who "shook out" the numbers?

2. How were the numbers shook out?

3. Do citizens have to "pre-shake-out" any numbers being bandied about by the mayor and the council?

Recently the figure of a 25-percent increase for 2007 has been mentioned. Or is that really a 35-percent increase after some shaking?

Luke T. Bush

Plattsburgh, NY 12901