Diane Valden reports in The Columbia Paper that the Ancram Town Board voted themselves raises at their Dec. 16 meeting. The board, “wishes to adjust certain elected officials’ salaries to reflect the 5.9 percent increases in the cost of living index between 3Q 2020 and 3Q 2021.” The Town Supervisor’s annual salary was increased from $4,950 in 2021 to $5,250 in 2022; Town Board members went from $2,875 to $3,050; the Town Highway Superintendent increased from $60,500 to $64,100; and the Town Clerk salary went from $32,000 to $33,950. And everyone on town payroll is getting a raise, though the amounts differ. Politically, the raises come at a good moment, as property taxes will go down by 5 percent in 2022 in Ancram. No citizen made a comment at the public hearing prior to the vote. But citizens still have time to challenge the raises with a permissive referendum. This means, if a petition requesting a public vote on the matter signed by 10 percent of the number of votes in the last gubernatorial election is submitted within 45 days of the vote, then a public vote must be conducted. Read more about this story in The Columbia Paper.