TABOR never says it
would lower taxes

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

E-mail this story to a friend

Unfortunately for Arnold Clark, TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) wouldn't help him with the problems he laid out in his letter (Oct. 12). TABOR doesn't include any provision that would keep property values down. It doesn't cut taxes either, so it's a good thing for Clark that the mill rate's gone down.

That's right, nowhere in the TABOR bill does it say it will lower taxes. What it does say is that town budgets have to grow based on the federal rate of inflation, a number set by the national Department of Labor. Inflation reflects the cost of goods for an average family. When our towns have to buy plows and fire trucks, does it make sense to base their budgets on the cost of milk and eggs?

TABOR also bases budgets on changes in population. But the law says that towns have to use statistics from the U.S. census, taken every 10 years. If a town grows faster than the census predicts, their budgets will be too small to serve those new people.

Proponents say that TABOR doesn't require cuts in services, but they don't acknowledge that if we try to run a government on a family's budget, we will not have good government. Then they insinuate that TABOR would ease taxes. The bill is 13 pages long, and on Nov. 7 voters will see three lines.

There is more to this than its authors want you to see. Please read the bill, consider the consequences, and vote "no" on 1.

Sasha Hayes-Rusnov

Winslow