I just received my school tax billing(s) in the mail today. This tax has risen by 7.7 percent over last year, which, I assume, is the increase for all those residents subject to this tax. As I recall, the budget had gone up at 3 to 4 percent; so that budget increase drove a school tax increase of double that amount in terms of percentage.

For those mathematicians around, you may confirm that an increase of 7.7 percent annually would approximately double the school tax in 10 years or so. Since my income does not rise by 7.7 percent per year and since it is quite likely that we will be asked to support budget increases of 3 to 4 percent per year; other than asset shifting, when do the taxpayers who actually pay the bills begin to have a substantial voice in our collective checkbook?

Paul Drezner