(The following letter was sent to Governor Eliot Spitzer and is printed here at the writer's request.)

There is not supposed to be any sales tax on home heating fuel in New York state. I went to three places to buy bundles of firewood to help keep my 81-year-old old body warm and warm my wife, who is younger.

I'm retired, living on a fixed income and paid $15,708 in real estate taxes in 2007.

Why do all these stores charge me sales tax for bundles of home heating firewood? Suppose I heated my house with a kerosene heater; would I have to pay a sales tax on the kerosene? (Probably yes.)

Give me a break! Give everyone a break!

Robert W. Persons