“The more you earn, the less you keep,

And now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord my soul to take,

If the tax collector hasn’t got it before I wake.” -Ogden Nash

All I can think of to say is wow! Will the next revolution start in Windham? Now it is more than obvious that the balderdash from Baldacci is bovine scatology as far as property tax relief is concerned in our most wonderful state of Maine that ranks No. 1 in its tax burden.

I reviewed my reevaluation on-line as I did not receive it in the mail as of writing this column. I was astonished that it nearly doubled. There is no chance of me selling my house for what the assessor came up with for a value. Talking with folks around Windham shows that I am not alone in my disgust with property taxes in this town and state.

We all heard members of our government, both school and municipal, say that there would be no tax increase because of this fiscal year’s budget. If your taxes increased or if you believe your evaluation was greatly exaggerated by the Windham Tax Assessor’s Office, then it is time for you to join in the fight for fair taxation.

Maybe it’s high time for a hiring and spending freeze in the town and school departments of Windham. It’s also time to look at restructuring our local government to reduce costs. I suggest privatizing Public Works as a start. Keep a small skeleton crew for emergencies and minor building repairs. Have a supervisor that can work with private contractors for everything else. During last week I have heard more comments about Public Works than any other department. Those comments were not words of praise.

We should also privatize school busing in this town. Keep a few drivers on hand to handle such things as sports or emergencies. Subcontracting should save us a bundle of money and will promote the growth of small businesses. Even the maintenance of the school buses should be subcontracted. Other municipalities do this very successfully.

I would like to take time to thank the Windham Tax Assessor for the successful passage of Maine’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights this coming November. It’s the only game in town that will begin to control our runaway government and its caustic spending. Many fine folks are coming out of the woodwork to support tax and spending reform in Windham and all over Maine, too.

Please let your councilors know how you feel, especially if you feel you can no longer afford to stay in Windham. The next formal council meeting is July 11.