Tax assessments, describing worker deaths and living longer

Replace property tax assessment

Your editorial "Assessment mess a statewide issue" [July 20] is about an ongoing problem that is not going away. I’ve been advocating scrapping the whole assessment program and replacing it with a property tax system based on the square footage of a property multiplied by the community tax dollar amount.

It would be reviewed every year or so. People would be allowed to do whatever they want with their house or business within community zoning rules. This would be a big help for seniors on fixed incomes who need to do repairs.

But I don’t think anything will change. Too many have vested interests, such as tax grievance firms that donate money to politicians. We need someone who will not be influenced to keep the system.

— Mark Schaier, Oyster Bay

Killed ‘in the line of duty’ not for all jobs

Although I was saddened to learn of the death of the sanitation employee when a tractor trailer collided with his truck, I take exception to Newsday writing that he was killed "in the line of duty" ["Sanitation employee killed," News, July 26].

Unfortunately, we have teachers who have been shot, construction and railroad workers killed in accidents, etc. None of them has been categorized as "in the line of duty."

I thought that expression was reserved for those who put their lives on the line every day in occupations such as, but not limited to, police officers, firefighters and the military.

— Christine Robinson, Bellmore

Another perspective on life expectancy

Your editorial "Life expectancy gains bring hope" celebrates the advances made in life expectancy [July 26]. I am a 92-year-old woman in fairly good health who thinks we are already living too long.

— Trude Hassberg, Flushing