Delaware County, New York, ranked the 10th worst place to own a home in by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

According to the ranking of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ranking the 50 worst places to own a home, Delaware County, New York, takes the honorary 10th worst place to own a home in the United States.

While one cannot control natural disasters, such as flooding, the question is - why only the Arctic Alaska rivals Delaware County, New York, in the cost for home heating and cooling?

I can attest that even the cooling costs in South Carolina are several times less than in the poor rural area of Delhi, New York.

The report was also quoted in one of the minutes of a local township in Delaware County in 2016, adding the following information:

"The mean household income is 30% lower than the state median household income.  Further, demographic projections by Cornell University show a decline of population of 43% for the age group 0 to 60 and an increase of 21% for ages 60 to 85".

And, despite declining population, and because of the high heating and cooling costs, as well as because more and more properties are bought up by New York City and New York State, in order to freeze development of those lands and to keep the water it drinks out of this "Watershed area" clean without running the cost of filtering it - Delaware County keeps increasing its County and school budgets.

But, when the state buys up land, it takes that land off tax rolls, increasing the burden on those homeowners who do not have exemptions and must pay taxes.

These homeowners in Delaware County, New York, are liable for their County taxes at the threat of foreclosure of their homes - and that is in addition to the County official's rampantly stealing from the County taxpayers by:

1. putting out millions of dollars worth of taxpayer money out without bidding, likely to friends and family members;
2. having no accounting for inventory bought with taxpayer money (according to Delaware County's answer to my FOIL request);
3. using taxpayer-bought cars as personal vehicles;
4. likely, using taxpayer-paid for cell phones, for personal use, otherwise there is no need for a county with a population of 47,000 people to have a monthly cell phone bill on 321 pages;
5. having multiple pet non-profits "founded" by local government officials and their relatives and friends through which local budgetary money is funneled;
6. creating full-time jobs, with benefits, for friends - where friends either do not have to come to work, or where work is unnecessary for the County business.

So, apparently, the household owners in Delaware County, wealthy and not-so-wealthy, are supporting on their backs the opportunity for New York City to drink its water unfiltered, and the opportunity for Delaware County "elite" family clans to not work, but to live well.

I say, New York City should start paying back to homeowners of Delaware County for the restrictions in development of the area that amounts to an extra tax upon homeowners that make Delaware County so unattractive and costly in terms of home ownership.

And, the FBI should finally clean up corruption in Delaware County, if nobody else dares to.