Editor,
Every week one of the highlights of my reading of the Lakes Region Weekly is Lu Bauer’s column. She is thoughtful, insightful and informative. Her comments on TABOR were valuable to read.
Think about it. Should we allow one-third of the people to control what happens in our community? That is what is meant when a “super majority” of two-thirds is required. Should we vote in something that will restrict how local municipalities run their government and budget? Shouldn’t we learn from other places how this has or hasn’t worked?
I don’t want to have to inform myself on every financial thing that comes before the city and the schools. In addition to examining individual items, they have to be balanced knowing the big picture. I’m happy to have my representatives do that studying for me and don’t want to tie their hands behind their backs in the process. As things are now, I can attend meetings and voice my opinion, if I so choose.
As I understand it, TABOR’s restrictions rely on data of assessment, evaluation and population, figures which are not annually updated. So changes in a community will not be realized, nor put into effect for many years after the fact. Could this not cripple growing communities like ours? Or will we have to hire more assessors and do re-evaluations more often?
Lu Bauer deserves our support in helping us understand issues such as this. No doubt we won’t always agree on everything but we certainly like to get her perspective. Thank you, Lu, for your weekly column and thank you to the Weekly for publishing it.
Delene Perley
Windham
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