Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that after several years of higher tax bills, Cairo's tax rate is going down if the proposed budget is passed. Councilperson MaryJo Cords said, “Last year we went up 7.5 percent, this year we went down 5.6 percent.” At the Nov. 6 town board meeting Cairo resident John Vandenburgh said, “We are not going to get any surprises?” In previous years Town Supervisor Jason Watts had signed off on, and the town board approved, town budgets that were publicly sold as tax cuts, but actually contained errors that forced the town to raise taxes. This year Watts said, “I want to say we have done everything in our due diligence to make sure that is not going to happen.” Watts blamed previous administrations for the budget errors he and the town board approved. Watts also said Nov. 6 that he has not been able to find a certified public accountant to review the town’s books and that the New York State Comptroller’s Office can't do an audit because of staff shortages. The town board will vote on the proposed 2024 budget at its Nov. 15 workshop meeting. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.