Letter: Please, show us fiscal restraint

To the Editor:

The state Legislature has passed a law capping county property taxes at 3.9 percent per year for the next three years. There are some exemptions to this law that may increase taxes beyond the 3.9 percent amount if the Wabasha County commissioners do not exercise fiscal restraint.

Will the commissioners commit to reducing county spending to stay within the state levy limits? In order to do this, decisions will need to be made. Services such as SELCO, which is requesting a 29 pecent budget increase between now and 2012, may need to be cut from the county budget as a result of the Criminal Justice Center. It is important to realize the operating expenses for our jail and courts have not yet been budgeted or levied for.

So will the commissioners operate the new Criminal Justice Center at the expense of county services? Will Wabasha County taxpayers watch their taxes continue to escalate while services decline? Being sentenced to jail might be the only benefit left for residents in Wabasha County.

Beverly C. Snow

Zumbro Falls

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