To the Readers' Forum:
As a city resident, I am burdened with a truly onerous property tax; and, while the Jamestown school district is clearly the heaviest burden, a major portion of my property tax does go to the cost of the Jamestown Police Department.
Rural county residents do not share in that cost, yet they expect me and other city residents to additionally carry the cost of the county Sheriff's Department. In fact, when you look at the numbers, they expect us to carry most of the cost of a service that they disproportionately (overwhelmingly) enjoy.
I have lived here for 40 years, yet I cannot recall seeing a sheriff's patrol car in my neighborhood. Ever. Doesn't seem fair.
Maybe the Sheriff's Department should be called the "Rural Police Force"? And maybe the county legislators from Jamestown and Dunkirk are doing a poor job of representing us in Mayville.
John Ritchie
Jamestown