NORWICH – Non-profit 501(c)3 organization Reclaim New York convened at Fred’s Inn in Norwich yesterday evening, April 19, to give a presentation on the different ways it opines New York State to be unaffordable, and what the everyday citizen can do to change that.

Roughly 30 Chenango County area-extended residents attended the seminar presented by George Phillips, Southern Tier Regional Director of Reclaim NY, to learn about an apparent lack of affordability and transparency in NYS.

According to Phillips’ presentation, NYS is no longer a sustainable place to live based on the level of expenses associated with residency in NYS.

Reclaim NY alleges that between income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, and basic expenses, the average New Yorker earning median income ends every year in the minus category by about $2,500.

While a number of presentation-goers, who chose to remain nameless, disputed the numbers that Phillips cited, Phillips proceeded without responding to some of these claims, citing timeliness. He did, however, assert that all Reclaim NY’s data on that particular subject was procured from the United States Census Bureau.

Another issue plaguing New Yorkers in particular, according to Phillips, is a lack of transparency and the prevalence of corruption among local and state government.

“We’ve had nearly three dozen elected officials have to leave office because of crimes they’ve committed,” said Phillips. “Very sad situation. We do have a corruption problem.”