April 24, 2004

VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS

Mr. Bill Tulipane, Supervisor
Town of Kent
531 Route 52
Carmel, NY 10512

Dear Mr. Tulipane:

I am about to become a resident of the Town of Kent in Putnam County. I purchased 34 acres of land last year and am building a house. The address of my property is 67 N. Knapp Court in Hopewell Junction.

I am writing to express my disappointment (perhaps disgust would be more accurate) with the activities and behavior of the “civil” servants of your town. Individually, these issues are not much, but the cumulative effect compels me to write at this time. Here is a list of my grievances.

1. Having to put up a $15,325 cash bond for erosion control and not getting any interest on my escrow account. I could have opened an account at www.ingdirect.com in the name of the town and could be getting 2% interest on my money. It’s unbusinesslike and unacceptable that I am forced to put such a large sum of money aside for such a long time without getting any interest. The town should at least be splitting the interest with me.

2. The unpleasant attitude of Jeanne Ryan and Arthur Singer when I questioned:

a. the large dollar amount of the required erosion control bond and not being able to purchase a bond from an insurance company
b. the town’s estimated cost of maintaining the erosion control in the event that I failed to do so, which was 300% more than two estimates I received from real people in the real world

The message basically was, how dare Jamie Powers question the little regulations of the petty bureaucracy of the oh-so-important Town of Kent. Here I am, a new resident of the town, who bought 34 acres and is building a nice house and will pay a chunk of taxes that will go towards paying the salaries of the town’s employees. If I treated one of my clients at work the way they treated me, I would become unemployed very quickly. Maybe they think I won’t bother to vote?

Mr. Bill Tulipane, Supervisor
April 24, 2004 – Page 2

3. Due to an error made with respect to tax mapping by Putnam County and the Town of Kent when I purchased my property in March 2003, I was sent a tax bill for more property than I actually owned. I paid $8,800 in taxes at the end of January 2004. When I questioned the acreage shown for one of the parcels, then and only then was it discovered that the tax bill was incorrect. I was assured that my tax refund would be forthcoming shortly. One calendar quarter has now elapsed. My telephone message to Catherine Locascio last week has gone unanswered and unacknowledged.

By the way, the tax bill assessed my property at $300,000 although I paid less than half that for the property in March 2003. Not only have I not received my tax refund, I have not received a revised bill with the correct acreage and the new assessment so that I can challenge the over assessment.

4. Due to the same tax mapping error created by Putnam County and the Town of Kent, Christopher Boryk, your Assessor, sent out a memo on February 4, 2004 to all and sundry on the Planning Board and elsewhere. A copy is enclosed. As you can see, the memo states (incorrectly) that there was an illegal lot line revision when I bought the property in March 2003. Shortly after this memo went out, I was asked to contact the Building Inspector, who told me that I would not be able to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy for my new house until the Planning Board had approved this lot line revision.

5. At that point, I contacted my surveyor, the firm of Badey & Watson in Cold Spring. At my expense, my surveyor went to the Putnam County office of records and met with George Michaud, Director of Real Property Tax Services for the County. It was discovered that the county as well as the town had not recorded my purchase properly. This information was provided to Mr. Boryk by letter from Mr. Michaud on March 5, 2004. A copy is enclosed. My surveyor sent me a bill for $1,050 for straightening out this mess. A copy is enclosed. I would like to be reimbursed by the county and the town for this expense inasmuch as the problem was not of my making, and I should not have to be in the position of checking up on the work performed by the county and the town and resolving their errors.

6. As of today, almost two months later, Mr. Boryk has not sent out a memo which corrects his first memo and notifies the Planning Board that no illegal lot line revision has taken place, and the Building Inspector has not been notified officially that no approval is needed for my CO. Good thing my house isn’t finished and I don’t need the CO just yet.