Star on the Southside Mall settlement made truth a casualty of its fusillade on town Supervisor Davie.
Some facts are in order.
First, the mall's assessment was dropped as a result of the lawsuit in 1996, and the town has cut taxes three times since then. Clearly, the difference in the mall's assessment has had little impact on the town's ability to deliver sensible, tax cutting budgets. Second, Mr. Malone forgot that the single greatest beneficiary of the local sales tax among the county's municipalities is the city of Oneonta. Out of every local sales tax dollar paid at the Southside Mall, the county gets 75 cents, the city of Oneonta gets 12.5 cents and the balance is divided up among the remaining villages and towns in the county, including the town of Oneonta. When it comes to sales tax revenue, the city benefits more from development in the town than the town does, and it goes a long way toward funding various city programs.